Brevard County Public Schools’ School Climate and Safety Initiative

• In Event: Mental Health and Law Enforcement School Safety Partnerships

Abstract

The Brevard County Public Schools’ School Climate and Safety Initiative is a comprehensive mental health program that seeks to build partnerships among school personnel, law enforcement officers, and community-based mental health providers. The initiative is a 3-tier program that involves placing social workers from a community-based mental health provider at five elementary, middle, and high schools to 1) train school personnel on techniques for identifying and responding to youth mental health needs, 2) train law enforcement officers on how to respond to youth in crisis, and 3) work with at-risk students and their families. This presentation will involve a detailed overview of these program components as well as preliminary data from the Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA) training for school personnel and the Crisis Intervention Training for Youth (CIT-Y) for local law enforcement officers. Our preliminary results suggest that placing social workers in schools to train teachers, law enforcement officers, and work with students and families is an effective strategy for building alliances among community-based service providers, school personnel, and youth and their families.

Authors

• Kristina Childs, Univeristy of Central Florida

• Kim Gryglewicz, University of Central Florida

• Terri Keim, Brevard Public Schools