Should social workers be allowed to visit clients alone? ⚠️ POSSIBLE TW ⚠️

Question

Yesterday in Perth, a social worker was visiting a client. She got stabbed, but managed to drive to a nearby cafe. She died before she got to the hospital.
As a youth work student, this scares me. I know one day there’s a chance that I will be in a situation where I could be alone with a client in their house.
Of course there’s other potential situations that could unfold with workers being alone in a clients home.
I’m all for sending workers out in pairs. It’s dangerous to be alone. However, funding can make this an issue for not-for-profit services.

Answer

I thought it was protocol to have an officer present when a social worker visits a home? If not, they really should just because of things like this.

Answer

My mom is a social worker (CPS) in CA and I *think* it’s up to her to assess whether she needs support from the Sheriffs/PD before visiting. Visiting someone with a history of domestic violence or heavy drug use, for instance, might make her use police (she told me she prefers to use Sheriffs over PD). She’s also gone in pairs but typically SWs are stretched really thin with work and county budgets, that they can’t realistically go in pairs every time.

Answer

It should be done on a case by case basis, there are millions of homes that are completely safe for a social worker to visit alone and only a handful where they would be at risk.
Maybe the very first visit to a home or first time meeting a family should always be in pairs and then a judgement call can be made as to whether single visits are appropriate from then or or if a second person is needed. 
A huge issue would be that social services are already massively underfunded and overworked, if they had to wait for two people to attend every home visit then vulnerable children and adults are more at risk as waiting times for accessing support would be much much longer.

Answer

I was a social worker. Sure - the plan sounds great! But it all comes down to the fact that it’s just not possible do work in pairs all the time.  There’s too much work to be done in too little time.  No one had time to sit around for someone else “just in case” when they had (a ton of) their own work to be doing. 
It’s sad but that’s how it was.

Answer

I've gone into client's home alone my entire career. It'd be nice to have a partner but companies wouldn't financially support that.

Answer

I work in the field and have ended up requiring major reconstructive surgery due to behavioral incidents on the job. I actually lost most of the function to one of my arms as a result of it. 
I still don’t think it’s necessary unless there’s a cleat history of violent behaviors or SI/HI. As an overwhelming majority of individuals served are non-violent, and among those individuals it’s mainly towards themselves. Not only that but we were be sacrificing time and money that could be used to reach more individuals in need.

Answer

I have a degree in social work, but I will not practice as one in part due to not feeling comfortable going to homes alone. Sadly, though, social service agencies cannot afford for two people to go out. So, while I believe they should go with another person, it isn’t feasible from a fiscal perspective. 
Also, for therapy work, two people isn’t the best. Therapy tends to be what social workers do in my state, not as much case management (as they tend to do in other states/countries). At least for where I live, I’d prefer them to have a radio or button to push for immediate police response if things go south.

Answer

goodluck getting someone to go with you. shirt staffed everywhere. you cant carry, or have pepperspray etc. if you truly think it's a bad place to go alone we call the cops before hand and one goes with us.

Answer

A social worker in Perth has more of a chance of dying in a car crash on the way to a home visit than getting stabbed, this is a rare and isolated event that is not normal or common in Perth WA

Answer

For the most part yes. It is a job hazard, and the rare circumstance doesn’t warrant twice the cost on the system. The system is already under funded, costs need to be justified, and the 1% doesn’t justify the added cost. If you’re uncomfortable, leave and request law enforcement. If the person is known to be violent, request law enforcement to go with you from the start.

Should social workers be allowed to visit clients alone? ⚠️ POSSIBLE TW ⚠️

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