Partnership Provides Basic Threat Assessment Training for Nebraska Schools

The Public Policy Center and the Nebraska Department of Education are continuing their efforts to provide threat assessment training to Nebraska schools. This virtual K-12 school team training supports the Safe2Help report hotline, which has been funded by the Nebraska Legislature. It aims to help schools form or enhance teams focused on identifying, assessing, and managing the risk/threat of targeted violence posed by students, staff, and community members towards the school community.

Threat Assessment teams work to prevent an incident or event by studying human behavior and putting pieces together when dots (information) do not connect. They connect those dots of information to put together a picture to determine if the behavior someone is exhibiting is concerning behavior and if that behavior is a low, moderate, or high concern of someone carrying out targeted violence toward others or themselves. Threat Assessment is a key preventive measure to assess the credibility of a threat and manage that threat.

Objectives for the two-day training include:

  • Distinguish between credible threats and non-credible threats
  • Identify and use the principles of threat assessment in school settings
  • Demonstrate effective strategies for assessing levels of concern
  • Formulate strategies for monitoring and managing risk
  • Describe effective threat assessment protocols appropriate for school settings
  • Apply principles of threat assessment and management to case examples

Trainers:

  • Dr. Mario Scalora, Director of the University of Nebraska Public Policy Center
  • Dr. Denise Bulling, Senior Research Director at the University of Nebraska Public Policy Center
  • Dr. Jolene Palmer, Nebraska Department of Education, Director of School Safety and Security

Register for the Training