This section provides resources for creating safety plans for victims and their children, including State and local examples.
Advocacy Matters: Helping Mothers and Their Children Involved With the Child Protection System (PDF - 420 KB)
Family Violence Prevention Fund (2003)
Provides useful resources for advocates working with women affected by domestic violence who are involved with child protective services. Includes information on helping mothers create a safety plan.
Create a Safety Plan
Loveisrespect.org
Explains how having a safety plan can help get out of an abusive situation and provides safety planning tips for before and after leaving and addresses family and friends and includes an interactive safety plan creation tool.
Customizing Your Safety Plan
DomesticShelters.org (2019)
Reviews elements of a safety plan and how to create one when considering leaving an abusive partner.
Domestic Violence: How to Get Help When You Are Scared of the Consequences
Home Security List
Describes signs of an abusive relationship, how to prepare for emergencies, and how to create an escape plan.
Domestic Violence Safety Plan: How to Create, Implement One
Healthy Place (2019)
Provides information on safety planning when in a situation of domestic violence and discusses how children fit into the plan.
Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies: Home Visitor Safety Card
Futures Without Violence (2020)
Presents a card that home visitors can give women that provides safety resources and addresses the impact of domestic violence on their parenting and children. The card folds to the size of a business card. Additional safety cards are also available.
Honor Our Voices
Avon Foundation for Women, Minnesota Center Against Violence and Abuse (MINCAVA), and Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare (CASCW) at the University of Minnesota
Presents an online learning module of practice guides and digital stories designed to increase the awareness and sensitivity of shelter advocates and other providers to the needs of children and suggests promising ways of enhancing services for children exposed to domestic violence.
How to Begin Safety Planning
The Center for Relationship Abuse Awareness (2019)
Offers interview guidelines for professionals working with a domestic violence survivor on creating a safety plan. The questions address coping strategies and resources, acknowledging feelings and emotions, finding out about supportive people, and more.
Improving Health Outcomes Through Violence Prevention: Model Partnerships Between Community Health Centers and Domestic and Sexual Violence Programs [Webinar]
Futures Without Violence (2017)
Discusses how to establish and expand partnerships between community health centers and domestic and sexual violence agencies. The webinar also discusses an evidence-based clinical intervention for addressing and responding to domestic/sexual violence in healthcare settings and highlights successful partnerships.
Leaving an Abusive Relationship
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office on Women's Health (2018)
Presents information on considerations when leaving an abusive relationship including who to talk to, how to stay safe, what to pack, where to go, financial considerations, shelter information, and more.
Safety Planning
Domestic Violence Resource Center (2019)
Discusses safety planning and provides ideas for safety during an argument, when preparing to leave, in your own home, with a restraining order, on the job and in public, and more.
Safety Planning With Children
National Network to End Domestic Violence (2017)
Offers information about developing a safety plan with children and describes what to tell children, what to do during violence, how to get to safety, legal considerations when taking children, and supporting children.
State and local examples
Creating a Safety Plan
The People's Law Library of Maryland (2018)
Provides a model that includes a form for survivors to fill out when planning for their safety after a violent incident. The form includes information on how to stay safe during an incident, when preparing to leave, in the home, in public, with drug and alcohol use, and in relation to mental and emotional health.
Domestic Violence in Child Welfare (PDF - 555 KB)
Virginia Department of Social Services (2015)
Presents Virginia's manual for dealing with cases of domestic violence within child welfare, which addresses safety planning.
Key Goals: Ensure Victims of Domestic Violence Receive Risk Assessment and Safety Planning at All Points of Contact With Helping Professionals
Georgia Commission on Family Violence (2019)
Summarizes safety planning for domestic violence, sexual assault, and child welfare program professionals so that they may help in developing potentially life-saving plans. The resource lists essential aspects of the safety plan and provides examples of how safety plans can make a difference.
Ohio IPV Collaborative
Ohio Intimate Partner Violence Collaborative
Highlights the activities and accomplishments of the Ohio Intimate Partner Violence Collaborative, a group of community partners that addresses practice at the intersection of child protection and intimate partner violence, particularly in the context of an alternative response practice approach.
Parenting Plans
Oregon Judicial Department
Offers information to help parents create parenting plans that are age appropriate for their children and a good fit for families. The site also offers a list of safety focused guides and Spanish-translated guides.
Safety Plan for Immigrant Women Who Are Victims of Domestic Violence
Ayuda, Inc. (2016)
Offers a self-help plan for immigrant victims of domestic violence to protect against the immediate threat of violence and develop long-term steps to prevent future violence.
Safety Planning
Iowa Victim Service Call Center (2019)
Describes the elements of safety planning while living with an abusive partner and safety planning with children in the home, with pets, and while pregnant.
Safety Planning
New York State Coalition Against Domestic Violence (2019)
Reviews how to create a safety plan and some precautions to consider when preparing to leave an abuser.
WSCADV Model Protocol: Safety Planning for Domestic Violence Victims With Disabilities
Vera Institute of Justice, Center on Victimization and Safety (2020)
Provides a sample protocol from the Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence to help domestic violence programs expand their advocacy practices to provide quality services to victims with disabilities.