1017-4           HOME VISITS SAFETY

Personal safety is always the first concern when conducting home visits. Follow the highest standards for safety in relation to home visits.

Case manager’s responsibility is to:

• Make sure the client has been informed of the home visit.

• Never show up “unannounced.”

• Document every attempt to contact and/or notify the client of the perspective visit.

• Plan on doing home visits with a partner whenever possible. The partner can be another case manager or a representative from another agency. If using the client’s natural support as the partner, be sure that person is someone other than a family member or family friend. A suitable natural support could be a clergy member, a counselor, or another professional that can potentially be used as a witness should issues arise during the visit.

• Leave an itinerary of your scheduled home visits with your agency.

• Take a fully charged cell phone with you.

• Call the office between home visits to report your status.

• Case managers are advised not to take a purse, wallet or credit cards. No documents relating to other clients and home or office keys should be taken. If a case manager decides to bring any personal items, they should be locked in the trunk.

• Make sure your vehicle is locked, in good repair, has adequate gasoline and is parked in a well-lit and safe place, should you need to leave unexpectedly.

• Do not go into a non-common place in a client’s home like a bedroom or bathroom. Keep the meeting place within the home as neutral and safe as possible.

• Use your intuition.  If a home visit feels unsafe do not proceed. Make a plan with the client to reschedule the meeting as soon as possible.

• Know you have the ability to asses a situation and make safe judgment calls.

• If safety becomes an issue during a home visit, it is imperative that the case manager immediately contact emergency services and their direct supervisor. Case Managers, whether DPA employees, or case managers providing services through other state contracted agencies MUST follow agency safety plans and protocols set forth by the agency they are representing.

• Adequately document the occurrence and put a note in both CANO’s & CLNO’s  and in the hard copy file, making it clear that a safety issue has occurred during a home visit.