Safety First: Personal Safety and Risk Management for Assertive Community Treatment Teams
This manual is the first of its kind and offers valuable
suggestions, ideas, and recommendations for minimizing safety risks for front-line service providers, administrators, and consumers. The manual is the by-product of a year long project in which the ACT Institute,
co-sponsored by the Illinois Department of Human Services, Office of Mental Health, developed a comprehensive training program to respond to the growing concerns of front-line workers about the significant safety
risks associated with in-vivo, community-based services. These issues were identified during forums convened by the Institute in January and February of 1997. Themes compiled from the forums were used to develop a
specialized training for ACT case managers and administrators. The training was offered on four different occasions, the last taking place in June, 1999. The training and its resulting topical areas were
instrumental in facilitating the development of this manual.
A unique feature of this manual is that it addresses safety issues from
multiple perspectives including those of front-line providers, agency administrators, and mental health consumers and their families. The manual was written by a group of national experts in the field of risk
management and violence prevention. The information is presented in a practical, reader-friendly format, with valuable exercises and handouts for easy reference. The manual is organized into five major sections
which include:
I. An Introduction to Workplace Violence -General Use
of the Manual -Workplace Violence and ACT -Violence and Mental Illness -Factors Affecting Personal Safety of Consumers
II. Organizational Responsibilities -Staff Safety -Sexual
Harassment and Workplace Safety -Assessing Organizational and Environmental Risk
III. Team and Individual Responsibilities -Good Practice as
a Best Protection from Violence -Crisis Prevention -Clinical Risk Assessment -Dealing with Known Risk
IV. Managing Critical Incidents -What to do When Confronted
with a Dangerous Situation -Dealing with the Aftermath of Violence
V. Helping Consumers Develop Personal Safety Skills
-Assessing Consumers' Self-Perceived Safety Needs -Violence and Abuse Histories Among Consumers
You may order the Safety First manual from our Publications page. Orders cannot be made over our Web site. You will need to print off an order form that can be either faxed or mailed directly to us.
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