Personalized Safety Plan

NAME:_________________ DATE: _______________
INCIDENT #_____________ OFFICER:____________

The following steps represent my plan for increasing my safety and preparing in advance
for the possibility for further violence. Although I do not have control over my partner's
violence, I do have a choice about how to respond to him/her and how to best get myself
and my children to safety.
 
STEP 1: Safety during a violent incident. Women cannot always avoid violent
incidents. In order to increase safety, battered women may use a variety of strategies.
 
I can use some or all of the following strategies:
 
A.  If I decide to leave, I will _______________________________. (Practice how to get out safely. What doors, windows elevators, stairwells or fire escapes would you use?)
B.  I can keep my purse and car keys ready and put them (place)____________________ in order to leave quickly.
C.  I can tell ________________________ about the violence and request they call the
police if they hear suspicious noises coming from my house.
I can also tell ____________________ about the violence and request they call the police
if they hear suspicious noises coming from the house.
D.  I can teach my children how to use the telephone to contact the police and the fire
department.
E.  I will use ________________________ as my code with my children or my friends so
they can call for help.
F.  If I have to leave my home, I will go ____________________________.  (Decide this even if you don't think there will be a next time.)
If I cannot go to the location above, then I can go to _____________________________.
 
I can also teach some of these strategies to some/all my children.
 
A.  When I expect we are going to have an argument, I will try to move to a space that is
lowest risk, such as ______________________.
(Try to avoid arguments in the bathroom, garage, and kitchen, near weapons or in rooms
without access to an outside.)
B.  I will use my judgement and intuition. If the situation is very serious, I can give my
partner what he/she wants to calm him/her down. I have to protect myself until I/we are
out of danger.
 
STEP 2: Safety when preparing to leave. Battered women frequently leave the residence they share with the battering partner. Leaving must be done with a careful plan in order to increase safety. Batterers often strike back when they believe that a battered woman is leaving a relationship.
 
I can use some or all of the following safety strategies:
 
A.  I will leave money and an extra set of keys with _______________ so I can leave quickly.
B.  I will keep copies of important documents or keys at ___________.
C.  I will open a savings account by _________________, to increase my independence.
D.  Other things I can do to increase my independence include:
___________________________________________________________.
E.  The CEASE shelter's 24-hour crisis line number is (423) 581-2220.  I can seek shelter
by calling this number.
F.  I can keep change for phone calls on me at all times. I understand that if I use my
telephone credit card, the following month the telephone bill will tell my batterer those
numbers that I called after I left. To keep my telephone communications confidential, I
must either use coins or I might get a friend to permit me to use their telephone credit
card for a limited time when I first leave.
G.  I will check with _________________ and ________________ to see who would be able to let me stay with them or lend me some money.
H.  I can leave extra clothes with ____________________________.
I.  I will sit down and review my safety plan every ______________ in order to plan the
safest way to leave the residence. _________________ (Domestic violence advocate or
friend) has agreed to help me review this plan.
J.  I will rehearse my escape plan and, as appropriate, practice it with my children.
 
STEP 3: Safety in my own residence. There are many things that a women can do to
increase her safety in her won residence. It may be impossible to do everything at once,
but safety measures can be added step by step.
 
Safety measures I can use include:
 
A.  I can change the locks on my doors and windows as soon as possible.
B.  I can replace wooden doors with steel/metal doors.
C.  I can install security systems including additional locks, window bars, poles to wedge
against doors, an electronic system, etc.
D.  I can purchase rope ladders to be used for escape from second floor windows.
E.  I can install smoke detectors and purchase fire extinguisher for each floor in my
house/apartment.
F.  I can install an outside lighting system that lights up when a person is coming close to
my house.
G.  I will teach my children how to use the telephone to make a collect call to me and to
____________________ (friend/minister/other) in the event that my partner takes the
children.
H.  I will tell people who take care of my children which people have permission to pick
up my children and that my partner is not permitted to do so. The people I will inform
about pick-up permission include:
_________________________________________(School).
_________________________________________(Day care staff).
_________________________________________(Babysitter).
_________________________________(Sunday school teacher).
_________________________________________(Teacher).
_________________________________________(and
_________________________________________(Others).
I. I can inform _______________________________(neighbor),
________________________________________(Pastor), and
______________________________________(Friend) that my partner no longer resides with me and they should call the police if he is observed near my residence.
 
STEP 4: Safety with an Order of Protection. Many batterers obey protection orders, but
one can never be sure which violent partner will obey and which will violate protection
orders. I recognize that I may need to ask the police and the courts to enforce my
protection order.
 
The following are some steps that I can take to help the enforcement of my protection
order:
A.  I will keep my protection order _____________________(location).
(Always keep it on or near your person. If you change purses, that's the first thing that should go in.)
B.  I will give my protection order to police departments in the community where I work,
in those communities where I usually visit family or friends, and in the community where
I live.
C.  There should be a county registry of protection orders that all police department can
call to confirm a protection order. I can check to make sure that my order is in the
registry. Telephone number of the county registry of protection orders is
______________________________.
D.  For further safety, if I often visit other counties in Tennessee, I might file my
protection order with the court in those counties. I will register my protection order in the
following counties: ____________________________________________________.
E.  I can call the local domestic violence program if I am not sure about B, C, or D above
or if I have some problem with my protection order.
F.  I will inform my employer, my minister, my closest friend and
____________________ and _____________________ that I have a protection order
in effect.
G.  If my partner destroys my protection order, I can get another copy from the Hamblen
County Justice Center by going to the Circuit Court Clerk's office.
H.  If my partner violates the protection order, I can call the police and report a violation,
contact my attorney, call my advocate, and/or advise the court of the violation.
I.  If the police do not help, I can contact my advocate or attorney and will file a
complaint with chief of the police department.
J.  I can also file a private criminal complaint with the district attorney. I can charge my
battering partner with a violation of the Order of Protection and all the crimes that he
commits in violating the order. I can call the domestic violence advocate to help me with
this.
 
STEP 5: Safety on the job and in public. Each battered woman must decide if and
when she will tell others that her partner has battered her and that she may be at
continued risk. Friends, family and co-workers can help to protect women. Each woman
should consider carefully which people to invite to help secure her safety.
 
I might do any or all to the following:
 
A.  I can inform my boss, the security supervisor and ____________ at work of my
situation.
B.  I can ask ___________________ to help screen my telephone calls at work.
C.  When leaving work, I can ______________________________________________.
D.  When driving home if problems occur, I can
____________________________________________________________.
E.  If I use public transit, I can ________________________________.
F.  I will go to different grocery stores and shopping malls to conduct my business and
shop at hours that are different than those when residing with my battering partner.
G.  I can use a different bank and take care of my banking at hours different from those I
used when residing with my battering partner.
H.  I can also ____________________________________________.
 
STEP 6: Safety and drug or alcohol use. Most people in this culture use alcohol. Many
use mood-altering drugs. Much of this use is legal and some is not. The legal outcomes of
using illegal drugs can be very hard on battered women, may hurt her relationship with
her children and put her at a disadvantage in other legal actions with her battering
partner. Therefore, women should carefully consider the potential cost of the use of
illegal drugs. But beyond this, the use of any alcohol or other drug can reduce a woman's
awareness and ability to act quickly to protect herself from her battering partner.
Furthermore, the use of alcohol or other drugs by the batterer may give him/her an excuse
to use violence. Therefore, in the context of drug or alcohol use, a woman needs to make
specific safety plans.
 
If drug or alcohol use has occurred in my relationship with the battering partner, I can
enhance my safety by some or all of the following:
 
A.  If I am going to use, I can do so in a safe place and with people who understand the
risk of violence and are committed to my safety.
B.  I can also __________________________________________.
C.  If my partner is using, I can ____________________________.
D. I might also ________________________________________.
E.  To safeguard my children, I might ____________________ and
__________________________________________________.
 
STEP 7: Safety and my emotional health. The experience of being battered and
verbally degraded by partners is usually exhausting and emotionally draining. The process
of building a new life for myself takes much courage and incredible energy.
 
To conserve my emotional energy and resources and to avoid hard emotional times, I can
do some of the following:
 
A.  If I feel down and ready to return to a potentially abusive situation, I can
________________________________________________________________________
B.  When I have to communicate with my partner in person or by telephone, I can
________________________________________________________________________
C.  I can try to use "I can . . . " statements with myself and to be assertive with others.
D.  I can tell myself- " _______________________________________
_______________" - Whenever I feel others are trying to control or abuse me.
E.  I can read _____________________ to help me feel stronger.
F.  I can call ________________, _______________ and __________ as other resources
to be support to me.
G.  Other things I can do to help me feel stronger are ____________________________,
_______________ and _____________.
H.  I can attend workshops and support groups at the CEASE shelter or
_________________________, or ___________________ to gain support and strengthen my relationships with other people.
 
STEP 8: Items to take when leaving. When women leave partners, it is important to
take certain items with them. Beyond this, women sometimes give an extra copy of
papers and an extra set of clothing to a friend just in case they have to leave quickly.
 
Money: Even if I have never worked, I can legally take ½ of the funds in the checking
and savings accounts as Tennessee is a community property state. If I don't take any
money from the accounts, he can legally take all money and /or close the account and I
may not get my share until the court rules on it if ever.  If there is time, the other items might be taken, or stored outside the home.  These items might best be placed in one location, so that if we have to leave in a hurry, I can grab them quickly.
 
When I leave, I should take:
 
Identification for myself
Children's birth certificates
My birth certificate
Social Security cards
School and vaccination records
Money
Checkbook, ATM (Automatic Tellers Machine) card
Credit cards
Keys - house/car/office
Driver's license and registration
Medications
Welfare identification, Work permits, Green card
Passport(s), Divorce papers
Medical records - for all family members
Lease/rental agreement, house deed, mortgage payment book
Bank books, Insurance papers
Small saleable objects
Address book
Pictures, Jewelry
Children's favorite toys and/or blankets Items of special sentimental value
Telephone numbers I need to know:
Police Department "Emergency" - 911
Morristown Police Department - 585-2710
Morristown Police Department Victim/Witness office - 585-4674
Community Effort Against Spouse Abuse - 581-2220 or 1(800) 304-2220
Hamblen County District Attorney's office - 581-6700
Hamblen County Circuit Court Clerk's office - 586-5640
Domestic Violence Hotline - 1 (800) 356-6767
Work number______________________
Supervisor's home number_____________________
Minister ____________________________
Other ______________________________________________________
I will keep this document in a safe place and out of reach of my potential attacker.
 
IF YOU NEED HELP IN FILLING OUT THIS PLAN YOU MAY ASK THE
MORRISTOWN POLICE DEPARTMENT VICTIM/WITNESS UNIT, CEASE
SHELTER PERSONNEL OR THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S VICTIM/WITNESS
OFFICE OR A CLOSE AND TRUSTED FRIEND.