Outreach and Advocacy Project

Safety Planning

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A safety plan is a personalized, practical plan that includes ways to remain safe while in a relationship, planning to leave, or after you leave. Safety planning can involve how to cope with emotions, tell friends and family about the abuse, take legal action, stay safe at home, and more, all depending on what feels most important and comfortable to you. Safety planning can mean planning around one incident or occasion or can be a long-term, ongoing process. It can be overwhelming to think about how to increase your safety or create a plan around safety. You can always connect with a confidential advocate to assist you with safety planning whether that is to talk through how you want to move forward with a report or make a plan for leaving a relationship – confidential advocates can help. You can always connect with the Outreach and Advocacy Program’s Response Lead for assistance with safety planning:

Example Plans and Resources

You can always meet with an advocate to get assistance and support in the safety planning process, which may be helpful in identifying safety risks not commonly thought of. Connect with an advocate through the Outreach and Advocacy Project for in-depth safety support.

On Campus

If you decide to make a report to the Title IX office at PCC, you may be able to receive safety accommodations after the investigation begins. Please visit the “Reporting Options” tab, and you will find more information about the Title IX department.

Public safety escorts: you can always request a public safety officer to escort you to and from classes, to your car in the parking lot, or any other location on campus, if it would help you feel safer. Call the PCC non-emergency public safety line to do so:

  • Public Safety
  • Non-Emergency Line: 971-722-4902
  • Emergency Line: 971-722-4444

Protection Orders

A protection order can be something that folks pursue in order to become safer from an abusive person. Typically a protection order is just one part of a more broad safety plan. There are 5 major types of protection orders which are listed below. You can always speak with an advocate here at PCC to discuss your options and whether or not you are eligible for a protection order, see contact information above.

  • Sexual Abuse Protection Order: a Sexual Abuse Protection Order (SAPO) is available in certain cases where a person was subjected to unwanted sexual abuse by another person who is not a family member or intimate partner.
  • Family Abuse Prevention Act Orders (Most Common Form of Protection Order, also known as Restraining Order): a FAPA order prohibits the person who is causing harm from engaging in a certain behavior to the person filing the order.
  • Stalking Order: a Stalking Order is a court order that tells a person who has made unwanted contact with you or a member of your immediate family or household to stop this behavior.
  • Extreme Risk Protection Order: an Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) is a court order that prevents a person who is at risk of hurting another person or committing suicide from having or getting deadly weapons, including firearms.
  • Elderly Persons and Persons with Disabilities Abuse Prevention Act (EPPDAPA) is a court order that orders the respondent, or the person named in the order, to stop threatening or abusing, and to stay away from you or the elderly or disabled person you are filing on behalf of.
  • Restraining order hotline: Volunteers of America HomeFree provides a hotline specifically geared towards answering any questions related to protection orders. You can call this number during business hours (Monday through Friday, 9am-5pm) to speak with an advocate about whether or not a protection order is right for you, eligibility requirements, and safety planning.
    • 503-802-0506