What steps can be taken to recover from rm -rf ~
rm is one of those dangerous commands where to "Err is human, but to really foul things up, you need a computer."  rm immediately deletes the files and bypasses the Trash...you don't pass "Go" and you don't "collect $200."

Your best bet is to.... 


Stop using the machine as in ASAP.  The more your use it, the more disk activity, the less of a chance of recovery.
Look at getting something like DiskDrill.  It's free to use but the actual recovery will cost around $100.  There are others, but I found this one works really well for me.
Start a Time Machine regimen and adhere to it.