Best Practices in School Crisis Management Evidenced Based School Counselor Conference Dr. Stephan Berry Troy University

Goals of the Workshop This presentation does not have time to cover all the evidenced based best practices Strategies for implementing best practices will be described Ineffective crisis strategies will be described A brief overview of evidenced-based practices will be described Participants will receive a list of evidenced based resources

Debunking Myths: Schools are Safe While all violence in schools is tragic, schools are safer than nearly any other setting in America. Young people are about 50x more likely to be shot or killed in non- school settings (Cornell, 2015). With an average of 21 student homicides distributed across 125,000 schools, the typical U.S. school can expect a student to be murdered about once every 6000 years (Cornell, 2015, p. 380). Violence in America and homicides in particular are at their lowest levels since the 1960’s (Smith & Cooper, 2013).

Characteristics of Effective Schools and Safe/Secure Classrooms 1.Focus on academic achievement and foster enthusiasm for learning. 2.Involve families in meaningful ways. 3.Develop links to the community. 4.Emphasize positive relationships among students and staff. Teachers and students learn and use each other's names. 5.Treat students with equal respect. 6.Discuss safety issues openly. 7.Create ways for students to share their concerns and help students feel safe expressing their feelings. 8.Have in place a system for referring children who are suspected of being abused or neglected. 9.Offer extended day programs for children. 10.Promote good citizenship and character, and build a community of learners (using collaboration between students and teachers, school and home).

Characteristics of Effective Schools and Safe/Secure Classrooms 11.Identify problems and assess progress toward solutions. Classroom meetings are held to discuss issues and solve problems. 12.Support students in making the transition to adult life and the workplace. 13.Develop and consistently enforce school-wide rules that are clear, broad-based, and fair. 14.Classroom management includes firm, fair, and consistent rules and procedures. 15.Use of learning centers and the opportunity for cooperative group work. 16.Leisure areas exist for discussions, downtime, and reading. 17.Books and magazines readily available. 18.Displays of students’ in-progress and completed work. 19.Plants and objects that assist students in developing an identity of the classroom space as “ours.” Dwyer, Osher, & Wagner (1998) and Strepling (1997)

School Crisis Response Options No Response The event is not traumatic or the crisis reactions can be managed by traditional school resources Site-Level Response The event is traumatic, however, student crisis reactions can be handled by school site-level crisis intervention services District-Level Response The event is traumatic and may overwhelm school site-level crisis intervention teams Mutual Aid Response The event is traumatic and the severity of crisis reactions not only overwhelms school site-level crisis intervention teams, but also district-level crisis teams

Evidenced Based Practices in Creating Safe and Successful Schools The following recommendations were the result of a joint effort of the following organizations: American School Counselor Association National Association of School Psychologists School Social Work Association of America National Association of School Resource Officers National Association of Elementary School Principals National Association of Secondary School Principals

Evidenced Based Practices in Creating Safe and Successful Schools: Integrate Services Through Collaboration Collaboration between school staff and community-based service providers is critical Behavioral, mental health, and social services are all framed within the context of school culture and learning Resources provide instructional components: e.g. high teacher quality, high academic standards, curriculum Resources provide organizational/management components: e.g. shared governance, accountability, budget decisions Resources provide learning supports: e.g. mental health services

Evidenced Based Practices in Creating Safe and Successful Schools: Implement Multitiered Systems of Supports (MTSS) MTSS encompasses the following: Prevention and wellness promotion Universal screening for academic, behavioral, and emotional barriers to learning Implementation of evidenced-based interventions Monitoring of student progress in response to interventions Systematic data-based decision making about services needed for students

Evidenced Based Practices in Creating Safe and Successful Schools: Improve Access to School-Based Mental Health Supports Access to school-based mental health services improves student’s physical and psychological safety, academic learning, and social- emotional learning School-based counselors provide early intervention to prevent or mitigate crisis events School-based counselors can provide staff development training in the area of crisis management School counselors support teachers through consultation and collaboration

Evidenced Based Practices in Creating Safe and Successful Schools: Integrate School Safety and Crisis/Emergency Prevention, Preparedness, Response, and Recovery Schools need to develop a school safety team who address not only school climate, but crisis planning, response, and recovery Training provided by the school safety team must be relevant to the learning context and maximize use of the school’s existing resources Crisis plans must be continually reviewed and practiced. School safety teams should include: principals, school counselors or mental health professionals, school security personnel (SRO’s), appropriate community stakeholders, teachers, district liaisons, other school personal (transportation, nurses, maintenance)

Evidenced Based Practices in Creating Safe and Successful Schools: Balance Physical and Psychological Safety Assessing the physical security features of the campus access points Lighting Adult supervision – guests are identified and escorted Employ environmental design techniques Playgrounds and sports fields are surrounded by fences or other natural barriers Trees are trees and bushes are bushes Policies ensure students are well monitored Build trusting, respectful relationships between students, staff and families Provide a confidential method to report concerns (hot line, drop box, etc.)

Best Practices in Creating Safe and Successful Schools Employ Effective, Positive School Discipline Effective school discipline: is viewed within the context of a learning opportunity and seeks to teach and reinforce positive behaviors to replace negative behaviors is clear, consistent, and equitably applied to all students employs culturally competent practices safeguards the well-being of all students and staff keeps students in school and out of the juvenile justice system incorporates family involvement

Evidenced Based Practices in Creating Safe and Successful Schools: Allow for the Consideration of Context The culture of the school and community should be taken into consideration when developing policies and procedures School should assess what structures are already in place and which ones are needed Schools should provide primary, secondary, and tertiary interventions that are most appropriate to the school culture Decisions regarding appropriate security measures and policies should be made by the safety committee, not by a unilateral decision maker

Evidenced Based Practices in Creating Safe and Successful Schools: Acknowledge That Sustainable and Effective Improvement Takes Patience and Commitment Every school is at a different place in their readiness to implement the suggestions in this presentation Sustainable change takes time for full implementation Frequent programming changes lead to more resistance to change among school personnel in the future

Final Recommendations for School Counselors and School-based Mental Health Professionals Contribute to ongoing school safety and improved school climate by supporting a school-wide, evidence-based framework that is appropriate to the unique school culture and context. Balance efforts to promote and protect physical and psychological safety. Minimize unsafe behaviors such as bullying, fighting, and risk-taking by providing quality prevention programming. Improve early identification and support for students at risk of harming themselves or others (e.g., threat assessment). Model collaborative problem solving.

Final Recommendations for School Counselors and School-based Mental Health Professionals Provide for consistent, ongoing training of all school staff. Address the range of crises that schools can face with a focus on what is most likely to occur (e.g., death of a student or staff member, school violence, natural disaster). Improve response to crises when the unpreventable occurs. Ensure an organized plan that has appropriately assessed risks to the school and the learning environment and has been adopted by the school safety team to promote a return to normalcy following a crisis or emergency. Promote efforts for ongoing learning and long-term emotional recovery for every student and family.

Nuts and Bolts of Crisis Counseling 1.Attend to the safety, comfort, and other practical life issues first. 2.Begin interventions as soon as possible. However, in disaster situations, counseling may not be appropriate in the first month(Watson, Brymer, & Bonanno, 2011). 3.Model concern, calmness, and competence. Students look to the adults as how to act. 4.Know as many of the facts as possible before beginning counseling. 5.Reflect feeling. This validates their experience and establishes empathic understanding 6.Help the student understand the crisis has occurred. Work through any denial 7.Do not encourage or support blaming 8.Do not give false reassurance. Be truthful and realistic. 9.Recognize the primacy of action. Try to move the student from a victim state to a proactive state. Sandoval, 2013

Ineffective Interventions Highly restrictive physical safety measures alone (armed security, metal detectors) Zero tolerance policies SRO’s used as a substitute for effective disciplinary policies One size fits all interventions Generic safety plans Unilateral decision making

Evidenced-based Crisis Resources SRO’s – as long as they are integrated into school life and school learning Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) Psychological First Aid PREPaRE Curriculum Education of students to “break the code of silence” is one of the most effective safety measures Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Virginia Model for Threat Assessment Incidence Command Systems for Schools (FEMA) Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in Schools (CBITS)