Are you seeing red flags in your relationship with a partner or ex? Do you have a friend or family member whose relationship worries you? You are not alone. myPlan can help you see things more clearly, make decisions about safety, and find resources.
myPlan:
- Anonymous to use
- Protected with a secure PIN code
- Inclusive of all genders
- Provides questions, assessments, and quizzes to learn about the health and safety of a relationship; answers personalize myPlan to your situation
- Includes the Danger Assessment, a research-tested risk assessment used by professionals for over 25 years
- Offers customized strategies for safety planning, online privacy, reaching out for support, emotional and physical health, and protecting children. For friends and family, strategies include how to talk to your loved one, supporting their safety and well-being, and taking care of yourself.
- Provides resources for domestic violence (DV), mental and physical health, legal, parenting, and culturally specific services. Enter a zip code to find your local DV agencies, provided by the National Domestic Violence Hotline, or connect to a hotline advocate directly by phone, text, or chat.
myPlan is backed by Johns Hopkins University research, done with thousands of people experiencing partner abuse. A few things users say about myPlan:
"This may have saved my life, I never thought of putting together a safety plan before”
"It wasn't until I was going through all of the questions that I realized just how bad things really are. Sometimes your vision and mind become clouded just to make it through the day and cope"
"myPlan gave a lot of really, like solid concrete, advice as to what to do for a friend, people don’t know what to say and how to say it."
Safety features:
- No account set up required, myPlan use is completely anonymous
- Changeable icon to hide the app on your home screen
- Set your own secure PIN code to keep your information private
- “Dummy code” option will hide the contents of the app in case you are forced to enter a PIN by someone
- Quick exit button on every page
Safety Notes:
- Abusive people often monitor their partner’s device and online activity. You might not even know it’s happening. Having an app about relationship abuse could put you at risk. If you are concerned about someone discovering myPlan, please take steps to use it as safely as possible.
- The safest way to use myPlan is on a device your partner doesn’t have access to. Abusers often monitor their partner’s device activity. Having an app about relationship abuse could put you at risk. If you are worried about someone discovering the app,
- Make sure your device activity isn’t visible to your partner through “family sharing”. Alert: If family sharing is enabled, your partner may get a notification if you change the settings.
- Make sure your device is not connected to other devices a partner could see through cloud sync (iCloud or Google Cloud)
- Delete myPlan when you are done using. with it, but know it’s not always possible to delete completely from your purchase history. Alert: It’s not possible to delete apps from your purchase history on Apple devices. You can “hide” purchases on your own device, but they can still be discovered, and it will not be hidden from a family member’s purchase history if family sharing is enabled. myPlan is also available by web browser if you don’t want to download it (www.myplanapp.org)
- myPlan is not meant for use if you are in immediate danger – call 911.
- myPlan is not meant to replace real live trained domestic violence advocates and service providers. We know most people experiencing abuse never access formal services. myPlan expands access to personalized safety information with the ease of access and privacy of a device, but we encourage all users to reach out to a professional.
I downloaded this app to see if it was what I needed to help a friend. It has the choice to evaluate the situation and safety plan for a friend or family members, as well as yourself. I am very impressed with the tools it has to help you evaluate your situation and begin safety planning. It is not a replacement for a domestic violence counselor but it's very helpful.