State Bill Would Protect Caseworkers

A Michigan caseworker's murder spurs protective action by lawmakers and NASW's chapter.

Almost two years ago, child protective services worker Lisa Putman was brutally beaten to death by two women while visiting a home in which two children had been reportedly living in unsafe and unsanitary conditions.

Since Putnam's murder, Michigan legislators have taken action to afford better protections for child protective workers.

Making its way through the legislative process is a bill that would require training state child protective services workers in techniques to defuse potentially violent situations. The bill also includes a measure that would provide self-defense training by certified instructors for those who request it.

A requirement that a caseworker who has a "reasonable apprehension" about safety be accompanied by another worker on home visits is also included.

In addition, the governor found funds for a cellular phone for each worker in an attempt to bolster communication ability for caseworkers who routinely walk into potentially volatile situations.

"It's a pretty strong issue for us," says Doris Sims, government affairs specialist for the NASW Michigan Chapter, which is promoting passage of the bill. However, Sims admits that social workers there believe the proposal, which in early January was awaiting House action and a hearing in a Senate committee, doesn't go far enough.

"The bill itself only requires that home visits be done by two workers in a dangerous situation. That's very hard to predict," she said. "There are numerous reported cases of child protective workers entering the home with one impression, and then it escalates into something potentially dangerous. We'd like to see two child protective services workers on every visit."

Most experts say that there are times no amount of planning can protect a social worker. Last year in New Hampshire, counselor Mark Rowland was shot and killed, allegedly by a father who thought Rowland had come to his home to take his son away.

It was Rowland's first visit to the family's home on behalf of Nashua Children Assistance, which had a contract with the state for family stabilization services. The father had reportedly worked himself into a rage against the state by the time the counselor knocked on the door.

"Unfortunately, Mark could have done very little," explained Tom O'Connor, an NASW member and president of Child and Family Services in Concord.

Caseworkers, particularly child and family service workers, need to be trained, he said. "We train our staff to be aware of everything around them, when not to get involved in a situation and when to walk away."

The threat of violence against social workers is not new. The more economic and social pressures feed feelings of anxiety and helplessness within families, the greater the potential for violence when an outside party attempts to intervene, say experts.

Participants at a 1996 NASW workshop led by Michigan State University professor and social worker Ann Harlan came up with the following tips for keeping safe:

• Don't be alone in the office when seeing clients or go on home visits alone.
• Initiate a phone code system whereby a colleague calls 10 to 15 minutes into a session to check in. Work out code words that indicate problems.
• Carry a cellular phone.
• Make clients and visitors ring a buzzer to get into the office.
• Work with the local police department to establish a code for emergencies.
• Vary your routes and times when conducting daily business.
• Trust your instincts.
• Take a self-defense class.

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Copyright NASW Press, 1998