Make a Safety Plan

Here are some ideas you can keep in mind when making your Safety Plan:

• Prepare an emergency kit. It should include items that won't be missed but that could help you if you decide to leave and stay in a safe place: spare clothing and comfort items for you and your children, a spare set of car keys, some money, any restraining orders or protection orders that you already have against your partner, prescriptions and/or medicines for you and your children, your credit cards, your checkbook, your drivers license, your social security card and other identification. You could also include any special photos that are important to you, along with your address book, current unpaid bills, insurance papers, your marriage license, your divorce papers, car title, mortgage papers, and house deed. Place the kit somewhere where you can get to it quickly, but yet it won't be easily found by your partner.
• Make an extra set of keys to the car and house and keep them hidden.
• Tell someone you trust about the abuse. People who care about you might have useful advice or be able to offer help.
• Identify several people you could call in an emergency or crisis. Keep their names and phone numbers handy.
• Don't get trapped. Plan the safest way to get out. Identify dangerous locations in the house and plan for a quick exit so that you do not get trapped in those locations where you have no way out to safety.
• Plan with your children. Identify a safe place to them (room with a lock, a neighbor's house) or the safest, quickest way to get out of the house and out of harm's way. Let them know that their job is to stay safe, not to protect you. Practice with your children for an emergency.
• If you feel comfortable calling the police if the violence starts again...be sure to plan how you can easily and safely get to the phone to call for help.  Is there a phone in a room with a door that locks, so you can stay away from your partner while you call for help?  If not, consider making up a code word or signal that you can share with your children or your neighbors, so that they know when they should call the police or get help for you.
• Be careful with alcohol and drugs. Sometimes people who are being abused use alcohol or drugs to deal with the violence and the pain. Unfortunately, alcohol and drugs will only drain your energy, keep you helpless and affect your ability to think clearly and make a good safety plan for you and your children.
• Try to eat well.  Your physical health affects the way you feel about yourself, as well as your ability to cope with stress and to think clearly. If you can cope better and think more clearly, you will have more confidence to take steps to make a safety plan for yourself and others.

You don't have to make your Safety Plan alone. WC&S Advocates on our free and confidential Hotline can help you to make a Safety Plan.

Call 24-hours a day, seven day a week to 412-687-8005 or toll free, 877-338-TALK (8255).