November Meeting: Workplace Violence in a COVID-19 World

Topic: Workplace Violence in a COVID-19 World

Speakers: Don Robinson, Jim Sporleder, and Erin Good

This presentation will discuss current trends in workplace violence and related implications to employers both small and large in a COVID-19, work from home environment.

We will provide detailed information regarding the recently updated (June 2020) American National Standard/ASIS National Standard for Workplace Violence.

Lastly, we will describe resources available to employers to address Workplace Violence issues.

Bio's

Don Robinson retired from the FBI in 2015 after 23 years of service. During his career, he specialized in counterterrorism, organized crime, and narcotics investigations. He also served as a regional program coordinator for FBI Domestic Terrorism, Civil Rights, and Organized Crime programs for a tri-state area. Don was a Crisis/Hostage Negotiator for most of his career and has been certified as a law enforcement instructor in California, Virginia, and Idaho. Don led the Coeur d’Alene office of the FBI from 2005 to 20012. In his final assignment with the FBI, Don served as the FBI Legal Attaché in Moscow, Russia from 2012 to 2015.

Upon his retirement from the FBI, he began a second career in behavioral health. Don established one of the first Behavioral Health Crisis Centers in the state of Idaho and served as the Manager of Behavioral Health Crisis Intervention Services at a 296-bed community hospital. In this role, he oversaw the daily operations of the Behavioral Health Crisis Center, an internal Clinical Violence Prevention Program and was the Threat Manager for the organization.

Don is a recognized expert in the field of crisis negotiation, behavioral threat assessment and management, verbal de-escalation, and workplace violence prevention. He has extensive experience in crisis management and response. He has trained foreign and domestic governmental agencies, educational institutions, law enforcement/security entities, healthcare organizations, social service agencies, and community non-profit organizations.

Don is an active member of the Association of Threat Assessment Professionals (ATAP) and is a Certified Threat Manager®

Jim Sporleder: With more than 25 years’ experience in security, Jim is nationally known for his expertise in specialized captivity survival. As an active-duty officer in the United States Air Force, and later as a DoD Civilian, Jim was responsible for directly training some of the most elite units in the military. As a leading subject matter expert in crisis support and repatriation of U.S. Servicemen and women, Jim was responsible for the planning, preparation, support, and execution of numerous repatriation operations reaching as far back as 1993. He played a direct role in the repatriation operations for three U.S. Army soldiers held in Kosovo in 1999, and served as the Repatriation Team Chief, Forward, for the return and debrief of 24 U.S. Navy Crew Members detained in the People's Republic of China in 2001.

Jim has served in a variety of executive roles in the private sector since 2004, where he directed the research, development, and implementation of various programs directly supporting more than half of the Fortune 100 plan and prepare for the emerging security challenges related to Workplace Violence. In that time, Jim was the lead developer and project director for more than 15 safety and security, video-based training productions, and associated Computer Based Training programs, addressing some of the most challenging personal safety and security issues facing today’s work environment.

Erin L. Good has worked in mental and behavioral health for fifteen years, focusing on crisis intervention and response, sexual and domestic violence, and severe and persistent mental illness. Erin earned a Master of Social Work degree from Arizona State University in 2010 and obtained a clinical social work license from the State of Texas in 2014. She acquired a clinical social work license from the State of Idaho in 2017 and became a Registered Supervisor with the Idaho Board of Social Work Examiners in 2018 in order to support the clinical development of behavioral health professionals throughout the Inland Northwest.

Erin has a demonstrated track record of blending evidenced-based clinical practices with teaching and instruction, including teaching a violence prevention education course at The University of Arizona (2008 and 2010), and developing a Masters-level internship program for counseling and social work students at the University of Texas Health Science Center – San Antonio (2012 – 2014). She further served as a social work field instructor through the University of Texas-San Antonio (2017).

In her most recent role, Erin provided behavioral health support services to medical staff in both an acute care setting and within a skilled nursing and assisted living facilities across the region. As such, she facilitated specialized clinical training, best practice education, and intervention tools to empower staff to de-escalate and stabilize psychiatric patients and/or other patients exhibiting violent or aggressive behavior.