Child and Family Services Policy > Section II - Child and Family Services > II. B. Staff Safety and Critical Safety Cases Policy

Staff Safety and Critical Safety Cases Policy

STATE of Maine

OFFICE OF CHILD AND FAMILY SERVICES POLICY

Approved by:

______________________________________

OCFS, Director

Section

Subsection

EFFECTIVE DATE:

July 12, 2018

LATEST REVISION:

List of related policies that may need to be considered during Staff Safety and Critical Safety Cases

Related Policies

I.SUBJECT

Office of Child and Family Services’ (OCFS) Staff Safety and Critical Safety Cases Policy.

II.PRACTICE MODEL

A. Our organization is focused on providing high quality, timely, efficient, and effective services.

B. As with families, we look for strengths in our organization. We are responsible for creating and maintaining a supportive working and learning environment and for open communication and accountability at all levels.

C. As we work with children, families, and their teams, we clearly share our purpose, role, concerns, decisions, and responsibility.

D. Relationships and communication among staff, children, families, foster parents and community providers are conducted with genuineness, empathy, and respect.

E. Our staff is our most important asset. Children and families deserve trained, skillful staff to engage and assist families.

III.POLICY

The Office of child and Family Services believes that our staff are our most important asset. Recognizing that staff could be in situations where their personal safety is at risk, this policy outlines procedure on what to do to prepare for possible unsafe situations, when to leave unsafe situations, and how to report them.

IV.DEFINITIONS

A. Acts of Aggression: Attempted or actual physical violence directed at a Department employee and violent outbursts that, while not directed at a Department employee, threaten the safety of one or more Department employees.

B. Critical Safety Cases: Situations that require additional activities in order to ensure the safety of Department staff. These include both cases where individuals involved pose a heightened risk because of past behavior AND highly charged situations. The following is a list of situations that qualify as Critical Safety Cases for the purpose of this policy.

1. Any contact with an individual or an individual’s family when that individual

has a known history of:

a. Threats and/or Acts of Aggression against the Department or any Department employee; or

b. A known history of violence (including criminal convictions); or

c. Any case involving domestic violence or allegations of domestic violence. (IV.D-4)

2. Any case when a child is being physically removed from his or her

parent or legal guardian;

3. Any case when notifying a parent, in person, that the Department plans to

file or has filed a Preliminary Protection Order (PPO); or

4. Any case when notifying a parent, in person, that the Department plans to

file or has filed a Termination of Parental Rights (TPR) Petition.

C. Emergency Removal Case: Any case that qualifies as a Critical Safety Case and where the Department must remove a child prior to being able to complete research and/or background checks as required in section V.C.

D. Personal Safety Plan: A plan, created in response to a threat, that is meant to document steps to ensure a threatened OCFS employee can safely complete their job duties. The Personal Safety Plan is created in collaboration between the employee and his or her supervisor. The Personal Safety plan must be fully documented on the Personal Safety Plan Worksheet within one business day.

E. Threat:

1. A Threat may originate from any person, to include (but not limited to): clients, contractors, other employees, and/or outside entities.

2. A Threat directed at an employee which is reasonably related to the employee’s job is considered a Threat, regardless of whether the employee is in the workplace or not when the Threat occurs.

3. Threats include:

a. Anything determined by the employee receiving the Threat to be threatening, including a threatening demeanor, tone of voice, gesture, or a sense of violation of the employee’s sense of security or space.

b. Any oral or written communication or gesture directed to or against any

employee that articulates or conveys an intention to inflict physical,

emotional, or financial harm or to damage property.

F. Threat Report Form: The form completed to report a Threat to the Commissioner’s office.

V.PROCEDURE

A. Threats:

1.When a Threat (whether verbal or physical) is made against a Department employee or a Department employee receives a Threat against the Department, that employee is required to create a Personal Safety Plan with his or her supervisor to address any safety concerns raised by the Threat.

2.All Threats made against a Department employee and/or the Department must be reported to the Commissioner’s office on the form provided by the Commissioner’s office.

a.The supervisor of the staff person receiving the Threat should complete the Threat Report Form with the assistance of the staff person receiving the Threat. The supervisor will then submit the Threat Report Form to the Program Administrator. The Program Administrator will then submit the Threat Report Form to the Communication and Compliance Manager for the Office of Child and Family Services and the Regional Associate Director of Child Welfare Services.

b.When a Threat has been made previously, a Threat Report Form should be completed whenever the individual makes a new Threat (whether against a Department employee, the Department, or another individual involved in the case who is not a Department employee – such as a foster parent, GAL, or Assistant Attorney General).

3. In cases filed with the court or being prepared for filing with the court and involving an Assistant Attorney General as the Department’s counsel, the caseworker or his or her supervisor must notify, by sending the Threat Report Form to, the Assistant Attorney General handling the case, as well as the Child Protective Division Chief.

B. Acts of Aggression:

1. If immediate safety is compromised, staff will leave the location as soon as he or she can safely do so and call 911.

2. After the Act of Aggression has subsided, the staff person will immediately call his or her supervisor to report the situation.

3. Whenever an Act of Aggression occurs, any Department employee whose safety has been threatened is required to create a Personal Safety Plan with their supervisor to address any concerns raised by the Act of Aggression.

4. All Acts of Aggression must be reported to the Commissioner’s Office on the Threat Report Form provided by the Commissioner’s office.

a. The supervisor of the staff person involved in the Act of Aggression should complete the Threat Report Form with the assistance of the staff person involved in the Act of Aggression. The supervisor will then submit the form to the Program Administrator. The Program Administrator will then submit the form to the communication and Compliance Manager and the Regional Associate Director of Child Welfare Services.

C. Critical Safety Cases:

1.In Critical Safety Cases,prior to making contact with the family,the caseworker shall

a. Research past Threats, Acts of Aggression, and known history of violence; and

b. Develop a Personal Safety Plan with his or her supervisor in order to address any safety concerns.

2. In Emergency Removal Cases a caseworker may be unable to complete research and/or a Personal Safety Plan before making contact with the family. In such situations, the caseworker must be accompanied by another caseworker or Law Enforcement.

3. In cases where parents are being notified that the Department will be filing a PPO or TPR, the staff person making the notification should be accompanied by another Child Welfare staff member.

4. During the physical removal of a child from their residence, the staff person completing the removal should be accompanied by another Child Welfare staff member and a Law Enforcement Officer. The caseworker must meet the family or individual in a location approved by the caseworker’s supervisor.

RELATED POLICIES

List of related policies that may need to be considered during Staff Safety and Critical Safety Cases:

IV.D-4 Domestic Violence and Child Abuse and Neglect

Staff Safety and Critical Safety Cases Effective Date: July 12, 2018

Section II, Subsection B