Education & School Safety

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The Public Policy Center's work in education research is focused on the issues of early childhood education, school behavioral health practices, school safety, threat assessment, and emergency planning and preparedness. The Center has provided extensive support for state and national efforts to assist with implementing threat assessment and other prevention strategies to educational settings.

Recent projects include:

Safe2Help

Supported by a $1.28 million grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, the Center is working with Boys Town to gather and analyze data generated from phone, text, and chat to assess the effectiveness of the system and its impact on schools. The Safe2Help anonymous reporting system is used by students, teachers, and others to report concerns about someone planning to harm themselves, other people, or a building. See the Safe2Help Threat Assessment Teams website for more information.

Evaluation of NE Department of Education’s School Mental Health Project (ESSER)

The University of Nebraska Public Policy Center (NUPPC) evaluated the implementation of Comprehensive School Mental Health Systems (CSMHS) in partnership with the Nebraska Department of Education (NDE). The NUPPC analyzed data, informed decisions on project implementation, reported on project outcomes, and assessed project goals and sustainability plans created by participating school districts. Additionally, the NUPPC supported NDE in the design and administration of the 2024 School Mental Health Landscape Survey, which helped collect data on the status of mental health programs and supports in school districts.

Advancing Wellness and Resiliency in Education (AWARE)

The University of Nebraska Public Policy Center (NUPPC) evaluates two different federally funded Advancing Wellness and Resiliency in Education (AWARE) grant awards from within the state of Nebraska:

In partnership with the Nebraska Department of Education (NDE), our AWARE evaluation in six Nebraska school districts demonstrated expanded school mental health support for youth. The NUPPC partnered with NDE to better understand the impact of the AWARE project in six rural school districts across Nebraska. This project expanded student mental health in schools by implementing tiered mental health interventions, student wellbeing curriculum, school-based therapy, and professional development for teachers and community partners to reduce stigma, increase awareness, and better support Nebraska students. 

Our partnership with Educational Service Unit (ESU) 2 to evaluate their SAMHSA funded Project AWARE grant, which serves 17 school districts within their region, began in early 2024. The NUPPC will support the evaluation of school mental health services and supports provided by the ESU within partner school districts to include staff training and provision of behavioral supports to students, including therapeutic services.

Psych First Aid in Schools

The NUPPC was awarded a SAMHSA Mental Health Awareness Training (MHAT) grant to train Nebraska educators in Psychological First Aid in Schools (PFA-S). To date, the NUPPC has coordinated “Train-the-Trainer” workshops in Nebraska facilitated by Dr. Melissa Brymer of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, developer of PFA-S. The project established the Crisis Support and Safety Technical Assistance Workgroup to engage Nebraska Department of Education (School Safety), Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, Educational Service Units, and Regional Behavioral Health Authorities to foster collaboration, share resources, and address challenges in supporting schools to implement PFA-S. The goal of the project is to equip school and ESU staff in PFA-S implementation, mental health prevention, and promotion strategies.

Services

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Conference & Training Facilitation

For many of our active projects, our staff plan and execute conferences, workshops, and seminars of all sizes, virtual and in-person. This includes event management, technology recommendations, graphic design, communications, and accommodations for in-person and remote-hosted events. Additionally, staff are experienced in managing all logistics for virtual and in-person events. The University of Nebraska Public Policy Center is an approved continuing education sponsor through the American Psychological Association (APA). This means we can facilitate psychologists’ access to continuing education that meets APA standards.

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Grant Development & Management

We pursue and manage funding opportunities to support policy-related initiatives. Center researchers garner both public and private funding at the local, state, and national levels for applied and translational research grants. We work closely with partners to identify funding opportunities, develop grant and contract proposal narratives, create budgets and timelines, execute agreements, manage grant funds in accordance with funder requirements, and submit required fiscal and programmatic reporting.

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Program Design and Evaluation

Center research staff routinely conduct program evaluations in partnership with stakeholders to define questions, plan activities, interpret results, and use findings to recommend and implement changes. We use quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods techniques appropriate to the project. Our programmatic capabilities include survey design, interviews, focus groups, mapping geographic data, overall data analysis, and report preparation.

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Project Management, Strategic Planning & Consulting

Our researchers bring high-level management expertise to projects for all kinds of organizations. We bring research-based insights to executive decision-making, develop organizational structures to achieve desired results; assist with communication planning, agenda setting and creating necessary informational materials; implement research plans; and guide open communication among stakeholders. Our researchers are trained in facilitation and regularly lead stakeholders through strategic planning, problem definition, and consensus-building, as well as discovering organizational priorities, setting goals, and creating action plans.

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Scholarly Research

Our approach is rooted in academic-oriented inquiry and investigation. We provide basic research products for partners such as high-quality and easy-to-understand literature reviews, white papers, and briefing papers. Our researchers come from diverse disciplines, including: Business, Economics, Family and Consumer Sciences, Law, Political Science, Psychology, and Sociology. 

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Stakeholder Engagement & Outreach

We work with stakeholders to design and execute customized frameworks. This includes determining the breadth, length, location, and timing of facilitated events; identifying participants; collecting data from participants throughout the planning or engagement process; creating opportunities for feedback and debriefing; and producing draft and final products based on results. In addition, many of our staff consult with outside organizations and conduct professional presentations on a variety of issues.