Homeless Day

Poverty Day is October 15.  I’ve been reviewing comments on various social work sites on line and wanted to make a comment:  The government certainly needs to put more effort into the homelessness issue, but NOT into housing so much as treatment beds.  I know from personal experience as a cop working in the Mental [...]

Let’s Be Safe Out There

With the economy starting to turn towards recession there’s going to be increaing pressure on families and relationships and that’s going to add work to the already heavy case loads of social workers, home care workers and nurses everywhere.  Increased stress is going to make your clients edgy.  Now more than ever workers in the [...]

Martial Arts Training For Social Workers

I was just reading Simeon Brody’s article Self Defense for Social Workers on The Social Work Blog. He wrote this after reading about social workers taking self defence training following the Naomi Hill homicide in Nebraska. He points out that a recent UK poll shows that 2/3 of social workers would like self defence training. This comes [...]

New Podcast on Violence Against Social Workers

There’s a new podcast entitled Client Violence: Interview with Dr. Christina Newhill. This podcast is 42 minutes long, so you probably want to download this one at home.
The podcast is an interview between social worker Jonathan Singer, LCSW and Dr Christina Newhill, author of Client Violence in Social Work Practice: Prevention, Intervention, and Research [...]

Who’s On the Stairs?

If you are visiting a client in an apartment building, you should never, ever just walk up to the door and knock.  Always listen at the door first to see what it is that you are walking into.
Always check the hallway exits outside the client’s apartment. Make sure that those exit doors are not concealing [...]

Who’s Calling?

If there is any chance that somebody in the residence that you are going to visit speaks a language that you do not understand, it is prudent to have an interpreter along to assist. This may not seem necessary if the client speaks your language, but in times of stress and crisis, persons often resort [...]

Inter-Agency Approach to Dealing with Mentally Disordered People in the Community

Today I received a comment on my blog “Dealing Safely With Emotionally Disturbed People” from Frank, who wrote:
“You will see on my link that there is a very dangerous woman who is loose in our town who has severe mental illness. She has jumped people, stabbed people, threatened her mother, but she still manages [...]

Dealing With Stalkers

Linda, the creator of the Fried Social Worker Blog wrote to me asking:  “Do you have any suggestions for social workers who are concerned about clients stalking them? A few days ago a colleague was telling me of her experience of being stalked by an ex-client. I started searching the web for good resources and [...]

Document for Safety

I was reading an article “Remember Those Who Died in Social Care” on the Social Work Blog talking about social workers who had died in the line of duty.  Mike Broad, the author of this entry, said that:
“…Progressive employers are investing in training that encourages their staff to stay calm and confident, read the signs of [...]

Workers Want Safety Training

In “Is Social Care Work Safe?” I was reading the comments of fellow social care workers responding to the death of Philip Ellison:
Lins:  “When is something going to be done to protect workers?  In Children Services we are told not to go out alone if there is a potential for violence, but how many times, [...]