Advantages of a Threat Assessment System- Shared ownership, shared responsibility and decreased liability.
Community agencies have the confidence of knowing that they are in good
company and that no one person or agency shoulders the weight of
decision making without consultation and support from the others.
- Expeditious but methodical. Turn around time can be within hours allowing efficient safety planning, supervision and necessary intervention.
- Community collaboration.
Community collaboration brings community support into the process and
thus decreases the pressure and worry within participating agencies such
as schools, mental health and the courts. For example, with the Student
Threat Assessment System, collaboration lowers the potential conflict
between the schools and parents by reducing the focus on the schools and
expanding it to the entire community. Community collaboration allows a
united stand.
- Identification of risk in clear terms. The
system is defined in language and terms that are common and easily
communicated to the public, parents, teachers and students.
- Interventions and supervision strategies that fit the situation and accurately address risk. The
goal is an accurate and realistic understanding of situations that pose
a risk of violence. Thus the strategies used to decrease that risk are
fitting to the situation and not over-reactive or avoidant.
- Adult system increases supervision and awareness of risk within
community; School system safely keeps students in school rather than
rely on expulsion or other means to remove them and thus leave them
potentially unsupervised. Over 95% of the assessments conclude with a
supervision plan that is implemented at an education site.
- Increases both the physical safety and psychological safety of schools and the community. As
confidence and a sense of safety increases, teachers, students and
community members are better able to teach, learn and work without the
distraction of fear.
- Based on research and is legally defensible. See bibliography and links.
- Recommended by US Departments of Education, Justice, NAAG, IACLEA, NASPA, MHEC, and practitioners through the nation. See bibliography and links.
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