Core Competency Curriculum: Chapter 5
Family-Centered Safety Planning
Training Goal: This training will support staff to understand the stressors youth and families face that drive crises so we can support immediate crisis management and to assist families in strengthening their capacities to manage crises independently.
Objectives:
· Understand the nature of crises
· Learn how crisis management relates to a purposeful transition
· Acquire skills to support families in safety planning
· Understand how to effectively support families actively in crisis
Instructions:
After an employee has completed the Training Module of this Chapter, the employee’s supervisor will use this workbook as a follow-up over time to help reinforce the concepts that were shared in the training. We have divided the coaching sessions into 3 sessions however; the final 2 sessions could be combined into one if necessary.
· First Supervision After Training
· Two weeks after Initial Training
· 6 Weeks After Initial Training
The questions below are intended to guide the follow-up based on the training. They are opportunities for the Supervisor to process the staff person’s understanding of crisis intervention and prevention and application of those concepts in his/her work with YAP youth. This is also an opportunity to reinforce concepts and positively recognize or guide through coaching in supervision an employee’s behaviors on the job relative to this area.
Initial Supervision After Training:
· How does crisis management relate to a purposeful transition? Many families served by YAP face ongoing crises where they sometimes lack the skills and resources to manage the crisis effectively. In many cases, this has resulted in their system involvement. By improving their ability to manage crises independently, we reduce the likelihood of future system involvement.
· Why is it important to actively engage the family in safety planning, using voice, choice, and ownership? When we actively engage the family in safety planning, we assist them in developing their own plan. They are more likely to follow their own plan. Furthermore, by engaging them, it encourages them further develop transition assets.
· How does stress influence the family’s ability to manage their own crises? Stress decreases a person’s ability to communicate and reason. As a result, when under stress, our thinking and ability to interact effectively with others is diminished.
· Who is responsible in your program to respond to crisis call? Use this opportunity to see that the YAP worker understands your local program’s protocol pertaining to crisis calls and crisis intervention.
· When do we debrief and Why? Be specific. Debriefing ideally occurs within 48 hours of the crisis being resolved and calm being restored. At this point, the crisis is still fresh in everyone’s mind therefore they are still motivated to prevent it from occurring again the future. At the same time, everyone is calm enough to effectively discuss the events that led up to the crisis, the crisis itself, and participate in planning to prevent future occurrences.
Action steps: In the coming weeks, consider some of the crises faced by the youth and families you work with and what support and resources they need in order to manage these crises independently.
2 Weeks after Initial Training:
What are some of the crises that the youth and families you work with have faced in the past and how have they managed these crises? YAP workers should be able to express some level of knowledge regarding past crises. They should be able to articulate how the family managed the crisis even if the YAP worker would have managed it differently.
What are some triggers associated with these crises? This is an opportunity to gauge the YAP worker’s understanding of the crisis.
What level of support does this family require in order to safely manage their own crises? Provide specific evidence. The YAP worker should identify whether the family requires “do for, do with, or cheer on” and be able to cite specific evidence and aspects of the YAP worker’s intervention methods.
6 Weeks after Initial Training:
· What crises do you anticipate your families will face following their transition from YAP? How will you assist the family in improving their capacity to manage this crisis? YAP workers should express an understanding that families will continue to face some level of crises and be able to realistically anticipate specific concerns for the future.
· Has their ability to manage this crisis improved or gotten worse? Be specific. Staff should be able to offer specific evidence to indicate progress in this area.
· Complete the following behavioral rehearsal
Critical Points: YAP workers must find a balance between promoting the voice, choice, and ownership of the family and ensuring the physical and psychological safety of the youth and their family members. Sometimes, we must help the family shift their priorities in an effort to keep people safe.
Participants in Behavioral Rehearsal: YAP worker and parent
Situation: The parent contacts the YAP worker at 2 am and tells them their child has run away in the middle of the night. The family lives in an unsafe neighborhood and they are fearful the child’s safety is in immediate jeopardy. The parent admits that there was a conflict that turned physical and the child was struck in the face by the parent during the altercation.
Instructions to parent/older youth: You are reluctant to call the police as your family has an open case with child protective services (CPS) stemming from an incident last year where you struck this same child. You are fearful the police will contact CPS and CPS will remove the child from your home.
YAP Staff Behaviors to look for: Check to see that the YAP worker allows the parent to explain the situation and attempt to learn the nature of the crisis. The YAP worker should offer the parent support and remind the parent they are a mandated reporter and will have to report the situation to CPS regardless of the parent calling the police. The YAP worker can problem solve with the parent, potentially utilizing the family’s supports to locate the child. The YAP worker should not necessarily agree to put themselves in an unsafe situation.