How should CHWs approach safety planning with clients experiencing domestic violence?

• A. Use risk assessment, validate concerns, connect to confidential resources, develop a safety plan, and respect client choices.
• B. Break safety planning into steps and force the client to leave the home.
• C. Ignore safety concerns unless there is visible injury.
• D. Provide only contact information for shelters without planning.

Answer: (A)

Approach safety planning as an empowerment-based, confidential, and trauma-informed process. Start with a risk assessment to understand how dangerous the situation may be, how it escalates, and what specific threats exist (for example, prior violence, leverage the abuser uses, access to weapons, and patterns that put the client at risk in the near term). This helps determine the level of need and the most urgent actions without assuming what a client should do.

Then validate concerns and experiences. Acknowledge the fear, pain, and control that the client has endured. Validation builds trust and makes it safer for the person to share details and consider options. It also reinforces that their safety values and choices matter.

Connect to confidential resources that fit the client’s circumstances. This means providing information on shelters, hotlines, legal aid, medical and mental health services, housing resources, and transportation options, but only with the client’s consent and in a way that protects their privacy. The goal is to expand options, not to disclose information or expose the client to additional risk.

Develop a concrete, individualized safety plan with the client. This plan covers different scenarios—at home, in public, during a potential separation or exit, and during activities like work or school. Include practical steps such as safe escape routes, important documents to secure, access to funds and transportation, a list of trusted contacts, code words for signaling danger, and plans for protecting children and pets. The plan should be realistic, culturally appropriate, and revisited regularly as circumstances change.

Respect the client’s choices throughout the process. Do not pressure someone to leave or to take actions they are not ready for. Safety planning is ongoing and adaptive, honoring the client’s autonomy while providing information, resources, and support to reduce risk.

In short, the best approach combines assessment, validation, confidential connections, collaborative planning, and respect for the client’s decisions, all kept within a confidential, trauma-informed framework.