Mental Health and Law Enforcement School Safety Partnerships

Session Submission Type: Complete Thematic Panel

Abstract

This panel highlights ongoing projects funded through the National Institute of Justice’s Comprehensive School Safety Initiative (CSSI) that includes law enforcement and mental health practitioners working together with school administrators to address safety issues. Problem behaviors in the school such as bullying or truancy may be indicative of a mental or behavioral health problem. However, lack of awareness of this relationship has been cited as a factor associated with the use of an inappropriately punitive response or a missed opportunity to provide services to prevent more significant violent behavior at school. The presentations on this panel will discuss distinct approaches developed to better identify and respond to students with mental or behavioral health issues as well as preliminary results from evaluations of these approaches.

Sub Unit

• Area IX: Juvenile Crime and the Justice System / 60: Schools, School Violence, and Bullying

Individual Presentations

• Brevard County Public Schools’ School Climate and Safety Initiative - Kristina Childs, Univeristy of Central Florida; Kim Gryglewicz, University of Central Florida; Terri Keim, Brevard Public Schools

• School-Based Efforts to Help At-Risk Youth - George B. Pesta, Florida State University; Daniel P. Mears, Florida State University

• How Mental Health Professionals Serve as Consumers and Providers of Information in School Safety - Joseph McCrary, WestEd-Atlanta; Kathryn Grogan, WestEd; Dally Pelaez, Miami Dade County Public Schools

• Promoting School Safety: A Comprehensive Emotional and Behavioral Health Model - Sharon Hoover Stephan, University of Maryland School of Medicine; Jill Haak Bohnenkamp, University of Maryland School of Medicine; Meghan Kozlowski, University of Maryland

Chair

• Mary Poulin Carlton, National Institute of Justice