This is a new guideline



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| |A SPECIAL EDUCATION |N |

| |GUIDELINE FOR |U |

| |SAFE HOME VISITING |M |

| |PRACTICES |B |

| | |E |

| | |R |

| | |23 |

TO: Superintendents, Principals, Business Managers, Counselors, Nurses and Special Education Professional Staff

FROM: Holly Windram, Jamie Nord & Jeff Menigo

DATE: May 2011

This is a new guideline.

The purpose of this guideline is to provide staff with a protocol for safe home visit practices along with a brochure that will assist families in enabling the best outcomes for their child while participating in early intervention services.

Safe Home Visiting Practices &

A Protocol For Reporting Unsafe Situations

Safe Home Visiting Practices

It is recommended that early childhood itinerant staff discuss these practices and the protocol with their school administrator.

Initial Home Visits

1. Interview referring source prior to the home visit about the family and location if possible.

2. Go with a colleague during the screening and assessment meetings.

3. With your colleagues, decide to make team visits all the time to specific homes and enter that in the child’s education plan.

All Home Visits

1. Take a colleague, if that can be arranged.

2. Leave your caseload including names, addresses and telephone numbers with secretary.

3. Leave your daily schedule on a big white board in your office/classroom as well as with the secretary.

4. Check out/check in with a colleague or building secretary.

5. Inform your co-worker with address and approximate time of home visit appointment.

6. Park your car on the street if possible.

7. Call before your scheduled home visit.

8. Always carry your cell telephone with you.

9. Assess the house once you step inside for exits.

10. Back up your car into the driveway.

11. Keep your car keys in your pocket.

12. If there are people hanging around outside and you feel intimidated, don’t stop but call to reschedule the visit.

13. Arrange for the home visit at a neutral site.

14. Don’t go alone, but try to team up on home visits with another teacher, speech clinician or an Early Head Start teacher.

15. Call police immediately if threatened or if you notice anything suspicious such as an ammonia smell.

Unsafe Situations

Animals

1. If dogs, geese, chickens, un-tethered fierce barking or big dogs, etc. are present, stay in your car until the owner controls the animal/s. Use your cell phone to contact the owner or honk the horn.

Home Appearance

1. Filth, animal feces, infestation of rodents.

2. The home visitor is vulnerable to unsanitary conditions in the home (musty, mold present).

Smoke

1. There is cigarette smoking during the entire visit with no effort to extinguish the cigarette when asked.

2. Marijuana evident.

Drugs/Alcohol

1. There is evidence of methamphetamine “Meth” (chemical odors, garbage containers with numerous bottles and containers used for cooking meth, evidence of chemical waste dumping in yard).

2. You overhear “drug” conversations.

3. When the residence is in a “known” drug neighborhood.

4. If adults in the home are drinking or appear intoxicated, leave immediately. If young children are present, make mandatory report.

Weapons

1. Weapons are within reach of children (swords, handguns, rifles).

2. Unusual weapons are within easy reach.

Contagious diseases

1. Family reports someone in the home has a contagious disease (pink eye, strep, lice, ringworm).

When to be on guard

1. Being left alone with biological parent who is angry at the school and/or the county for charges of “poor parenting.”

2. School staff should never be expected to conduct a home visit in a “supervised situation” when no one from the county is present.

3. When there is an “open” CHIPs petition and the child is still in the parent’s home.

4. One of the parents present has a known mental illness.

5. A member of the opposite sex is present and sets an uncomfortable tone in room.

6. The adults are dressed in highly inappropriate clothing (men in briefs, women exposing excessive cleavage).

Local law enforcement offers advice

1. The home is unsuitable for safe home visiting when the local police officer “cautions” you about the address.

2. If your “gut” instinct tells you things aren’t right – LEAVE IMMEDIATELY!

Protocol For Reporting Unsafe Situations

It is recommended that early childhood itinerant staff discuss the unsafe situations listed here and use this reporting protocol with their school administrator.

1. Immediately after the home visit, email or telephone your direct supervisor/building principal to meet him/her face-to-face to express your concerns about the situation.

2. At the same time, document in your “Contact Log” the visit and the conditions of the visit and your concerns.

3. The building principal will talk with you about your offering the family a “warning” or a condition for future home visits.

4. Principal will work with you to compose a letter to the family about the home visit and conditions for future home visits. This letter will describe the “unacceptable situation” and state a neutral (school) site for future home visits.

5. Principal determines next steps for home visiting staff.

Reminder

1. You are a mandated reporter because you are employed by a child-serving agency.

2. The report should always come from the person who was in direct contact with the child who made the statements regarding the abuse/neglect.

3. If a mandated reporter fails to make a report to an investigating agency, the person mandated to make the report is guilty of a gross misdemeanor.

| | | |

|WHO May Be Involved? | |Early Intervention Services |

| |Your Child’s Early Intervention Team Includes: | |

|Parents/Guardians/Caregivers | |Home |

|Education | |Visit |

|Early Childhood Education | |Brochure |

|Early Childhood Special Education Teachers | | |

|Physical Therapists | |[pic] |

|Occupational Therapists | | |

|Speech Language Pathologist | | |

|ASD Specialist | | |

| | | |

|Consultants: | |Your Child’s Case Manager is: |

|Teacher of the Hearing Impaired | | |

|Teacher of the Vision Impaired | |Telephone: |

|Audiologists | | |

|School Psychologists | | |

|Behavioral Analyst | | |

|School Nurse | | |

| | | |

| | | |

|[pic] | | |

| |*Please note that Minnesota law requires professionals who work with | |

| |children to make a child protection report if they know or have reason | |

| |to believe: | |

| |A child is being neglected or abused or | |

| |A child has been neglected or abused within the preceding three years. | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

|WHAT is a Home Visit? | |

| |HOME VISIT Guidelines |

|A home visit provides opportunities for: | |

|addressing your child’s/family’s needs in your home |We hope your family will respect the following: |

|sharing information | |

|learning new skills |Be actively involved during the visit. |

|providing support | |

|coordinating services and early intervention appointments |Notify your child’s Case Manager if you need to cancel the visit. |

| | |

|WHAT Do We Do? |If someone in the home is ill (fever or strep throat, pinkeye, impetigo, lice, upset stomach within the last 12 hours, etc.) please notify your |

| |child’s home visitor prior to the visit. We go to many homes and want to avoid spreading germs between households. |

|We use play activities to help your child learn: | |

|[pic] [pic] |Take care of your child’s hygiene needs (diaper changes, toileting accidents, runny noses, sticky hands, etc.) during the visit. |

|motor skills | |

|talking |Many people are affected by allergies caused by smoke and pets. Please, no smoking and keep your pets in another area during visits. Let us know|

|understanding |if we need to be aware of sensitivities in your family. |

|problem solving | |

|social skills |Please restrain outside pets before the home visitor arrives. |

|self-help skills | |

|We provide ideas/activities for you to do with your child during the |Because we want the best outcomes for your child, please reduce distractions (TV/radio off) and have an area cleared so your child can work with|

|week. |us. |

| | |

|During the home visit, we share progress/concerns or other information |Discuss with the home visitor the involvement of other children in your home. |

|regarding your child/ family. | |

| | |

| |We are eager to work with your family as a team. Feel free to discuss questions and/or concerns at any time. |

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