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Safety Plan Guidelines

Below is the list of safety suggestions for survivors of domestic violence who have disabilities or who are Deaf. These suggestions are not a guarantee of safety, but may help you increase your safety.

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Preparing for an Explosive Situation

• If the person abusing you is your personal care attendant (PCA) or caregiver, try to get assistance done early in the day when you are as mobile and alert as possible in case of an emergency. Try not to have them perform personal tasks (like bathing, toileting, dressing, transferring, etc.) at times when he or she is agitated.
• Try to avoid an abusive situation by leaving your home. If you cannot escape, try to move towards a window so neighbors can hear the struggle or shouting.
• Identify safe areas of the house where there are no weapons and where there are accessible ways to escape. Move to those areas if arguments occur.
• Make sure to keep mobility and other necessary aids nearby you at all times.
• Keep a cordless, cellular telephone, or text pager with you. Call 911, a local domestic violence hotline, or a trusted friend/neighbor. Memorize these emergency and hotline numbers or program them into the speed dial for easier use.
• If you use a text pager, page a friend with a code word or signal to indicate an emergency so s/he can call 911 for you.
• If you have difficulty with communication, use a cordless telephone call to 911. Your call will be traced and assistance will normally be sent regardless of any verbal communication.
• Consider a medical alert device, which can be worn at all times without suspicion, and used to call for help.
• Identify trusted neighbors or friends that can provide you with assistance when you need it. Let them know your situation and develop a plan and signal (visual cue or a code word) for when you need help.
• Create several plausible reasons for leaving the house. For example, if you have a service animal, take him or her for a walk or to the veteranarian.
  
• Call a domestic violence hotline periodically to assess your options and ask them to assist you in developing a safety plan.

Getting Ready to Leave an Abusive Relationship

• Be prepared. Create a plan for how you will escape and practice it.
• Know where you can go to get help that is accessible. Contact domestic violence and other emergency organizations in your area and ask them about their accessibility. Discuss your situation, your accommodation needs, and the ways they can help you when you are ready to leave.
• Make transportation arrangements for when you leave. If you need accessible transportation, be sure to arrange it in advance as most accessible transportation services require advance notice.
• If the person abusing you is your personal care attendant (PCA) or caregiver, identify a back-up PCA/caregiver to assist you to leave the situation and to provide assistance to you once you have left. Contact disability organizations or other service organizations in your area to find a back-up, or ask a trusted friend or neighbor if they can serve this role in the case of an emergency.
• Avoid using email, instant/text messaging (IM), or the internet to make or discuss plans to leave. They are not safe or confidential ways to communicate.
• If possible, call a hotline instead.
• If you use email or IM, use a safer computer and an account your abuser, perpetrtor or stalker does not know about.
• If you are using a TTY, erase the memory on the TTY device.
• Have a trusted friend or neighbor hold the following things for you or hide them in a safe place so you can leave quickly:
• Money,
• Copies of important documents,
• Medical supplies,
• Adaptive equipment, and
• Extra clothes.

Leaving an Abusive Relationship

• Take original copies of important documents with you:
• Birth certificate, driver’s license, passport, and immigration papers
• Social security card
• Marriage license, divorce papers, and custody papers
• Money, credit/debit cards, checkbook, mortgage payment book, car title
• Bank and other financial statements
• Lease, rental agreement, or deed
• Insurance cards and policies
• Medical records
• School and immunization records
• Medications and other assistive technology devices (such as hearing aids, canes, screen readers, etc.) needed by you and your family
• Documentation of past abuse
• Take important personal belongings with you such as:
• Money,
• Copies of important documents,
• Medical supplies,
• Adaptive equipment, and  
• Extra clothes.

After Leaving and Abusive Relationship

• Change your phone number, text pager number, or email address. Get an unlisted number and consider getting Caller ID.
• Change the locks of the doors and windows, if your abuser, perpetrator or stalker has or may have a key.
• Consider installing an alarming security system or motion sensitive lighting system that lights up when anyone comes onto your property.
• Consider renting a post office box or use the address of a trusted friend for your mail.
• Contact your doctor's office and other important offices to change your contact information. Instruct them to keep your information confidential.
• Change the travel routes that you take to places you go to on a regular basis.
• Change your schedule of routine activities. Reschedule appointments that the abuser is aware of and tell the offices to keep the information about your appointments confidential.
• Use different stores and socialize in different places that the abuser is unaware of.
• Consider obtaining a restraining order.
• Keep a certified copy of your restraining order with you everywhere you go.
• Notify trusted friends, neighbors and employers that you have a restraining order in effect and give them an extra copy.
• Contact a domestic violence advocate or attend a support group to support you in your healing process.

At Work

• Tell someone about the abuse.
• Make copies of your restraining order for security officers, Human Resources and other people you trust.
• Give a picture of the abuser to security officers.
• Know the emergency contact information for your workplace.
• Have someone screen your calls.
• Transfer threatening calls to security.
• Have security escort you to and from the parking lot or transportation area.
• Keep yourself surrounded by people, if you are not comfortable alone.
• Keep a record of any threatening activities as evidence of the abuse.

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