Safety Plan

Checklist

What you need to take when you leave

Safety When Preparing to Leave

• Always try to take your children with you or make arrangements to leave them with someone safe.
• Determine who would let you stay with them or be willing to lend you money.
• Leave money, an extra set of keys, copies of important documents, and extra clothes with someone you trust.
• Open a savings account in your own name to start to establish or increase your independence.
• Keep the shelter numbers close at hand along with other important numbers.
• Remember – leaving your batterer can be the most dangerous time.

Safety In Your Home

• Inform Neighbors and landlord that your partner no longer lives with you and that they should call the police if they see your abuser near your home.
• Rehearse a safety plan with your children.
• Inform you children’school or day care about who has permission to pick up your children. (Give them a copy of your restraining order.)
• Change/add locks on your doors and windows as soon as possible.
• Change your telephone number.

Safety On the Job and In Public

• Decide who at work you will inform of your situation. This should include office or building security (provide a picture of your batterer if possible).
• Arrange to have someone screen your telephone calls if possible.
• Devise a safety plan for when you leave work. Have someone escort you to your car, bus or train. Use a variety of routes to go home if possible. Think about what you would do if something happened while going home.

Your Safety and Emotional Health

• If you are thinking of returning to a potentially abusive situation, discuss an alternative plan with someone you trust.
• If you have to communicate with your partner, determine the safest way to do so. Have someone with you.
• Have positive thoughts about yourself and be assertive with others about your needs.
• Plan to attend a support group to gain support from others and learn more about yourself and the relationship. Contact Domestic Violence Solutions at 964-5245 for support groups.
• Decide who you can call to give you the support you need.
• No one deserves to be abused.

If You Are a Teen in a Violent Relationship

• If things in your relationship don’t feel right to you, talk about it with someone you trust.
• Decide which relative, friend, teacher, or police officer you can go to in an emergency.
• Contact a domestic violence advocate at Domestic Violence Solutions at 964-5245 to learn how to obtain a restraining order and make a safety plan.
• Remember – you should never have to feel afraid in your relationship!
• NO means NO!