Welcome!

This course provides a framework for creating spaces where guests seeking services at short to long term residential programs can feel safe. Of course, this is also about staff safety, but in many residential programs, guest and staff safety go hand in hand.

One of the recurring themes that will come up throughout this course is the idea that prevention is the best medicine in terms of dealing with confrontation and escalation in the workplace. Keep this in mind throughout. This is a concept that you can see every day if you walk into a Walmart store. Notice the greeter? Studies have shown that people are less likely to shoplift if they are greeted when they enter a store, and Walmart understands that.

The same can be applied to residential support programs – if people feel welcomed, and understand how the program is set up and rules that will impact their stay, they will be less likely to be confrontational in the future.

However, good preventive strategies won’t prevent every unsafe situation with guests. This course will also cover a few interventions you can use to de-escalate situations, and when you might need more help.

This online component covers three video demonstrations, and a reflective exercise to prepare you for our upcoming in-person training.