Like every other day at Topnotch Group Home for Youth, residents come back from school around three o'clock, have dinner at five and then make phone calls home between 7 and 8 p.m.

Tonight everything was running smoothly until Jeremy got on the phone and refused to get off once his five minutes where up.

When the two staff on duty, Mike and Sally, heard Donna scream out, "Get the *£*¢¶§! off the line now Jeremy.", they left their office and headed towards the phone which was located in the hallway a few doors down from the staff's office.

Once in the hallway Mike heard Jeremy say, "If you don't get out of my face, you're going to be eating this phone!" Mike immediately called out, "Hey, settle down Jeremy!" Donna chimed in, "Ya, and get off the phone it is MY turn!"

Phone usage at a residential program often prompts spontaneous arguments when a resident refuses to get off, once their allotted time is up.

What is Mike and Sally's goal?
Every intervention should have a goal that staff are working towards. In Response, the primary goal of every crisis intervention is safety, both personal and scene safety.

Mike and Sally are not presently in danger. The scene is potentially dangerous though, since Jeremy has threaten Donna. Staff's goal then, is to make the scene safe.

Was Mike's initial statement "Hey, settle down Jeremy!" working towards making the scene safe?
Often we respond in a fashion that makes us feel safe, but is not necessarily meeting the needs of the resident. Mike's statement was neither good nor bad and possibly Jeremy might overlook what Mike just said. But he might also feel like Staff are targeting him solely.

When a person feels threaten they are likely to only focus on the threat and not hear the rest of the intervention.

What else could Mike or Sally have said?
During Response trainings we like to discuss the first words that you would say to a resident when making an intervention. Participants have found this beneficial in pointing out what statements escalate or de-escalate the scene.

Here are a few examples of neutral statements.
"Let me help!"
"Can one of you tell me what is up" -- This is a "resolution question", but it may get Donna to move away from Jeremy and let him compose himself.

Should staff try to make Jeremy get off the phone?
Forcing a resident off the phone is not the goal of this intervention. Jeremy will have to accept the consequences of his actions if he refuses to get off when staff ask. Getting into a tug of war between staff demanding that he get off and Jeremy refusing will only exacerbate the issue.