Prevent 2 Protect, or P2P, is a first-of-its-kind project focused on preventing targeted adolescent violence in schools. P2P takes a multidisciplinary approach, combining expertise from mental health, education and law enforcement to assess and support high-risk K-12 students.
Housed in Michigan State University’s Department of Psychiatry, the project serves four regions — West Shore ESD, school districts in Calhoun and Ingham counties, and Lincoln Park Public Schools. Each region has an Intensive Support Team, made up of a case manager and mentor, and is guided by the project’s hub team, which includes psychiatrists, social workers, educators and law enforcement professionals.
Alyse Folino Ley, a child and adolescent psychiatrist and a professor at MSU’s colleges of Osteopathic Medicine and Human Medicine, is the director of the project. Here, Folino Ley discusses Michigan House Bill 5549, passed on Jan. 21, which focuses on school safety, and how P2P connects high-risk students to the multidisciplinary support they need.
What is HB 5549?
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer recently signed House Bill 5549 into law, which requires school districts and governing bodies to establish Behavioral Threat Assessment and Management, or BTAM, teams. To ensure safety, these BTAM teams use a systematic process to identify, assess and manage potential risks of violence in the school setting. The implementation of BTAM teams is critical in the identification of the potential risk of targeted violence in the K-12 school setting.
How does Prevent 2 Protect enhance the threat assessment process?
When a student makes a threat, it triggers a BTAM in the school. The student is assessed by the school team and, if the threat is deemed significant, the high-risk student is then referred to Prevent 2 Protect. Our Prevent 2 Protect hub and regional team perform a comprehensive multidisciplinary assessment, which includes a psychiatric evaluation and a risk and needs assessment. An Individualized Care Plan is created and implemented by the Prevent 2 Protect regional Intensive Support Teams. Once the BTAM is completed, the Prevent 2 Protect team is deployed to lift the burden off schools and aid in the management of high-risk students.
How does Prevent 2 Protect support schools following a BTAM?
Managing high-risk students can be overwhelming for schools, who often do not have the time, resources, training or support needed to address the complexities associated with managing and monitoring high-risk students in the community. P2P manages high-risk students identified through behavioral threat assessments through the regional Intensive Support Teams comprised of a mentor and case manager. We provide long-term support in the form of resource system navigation, community collaboration and mentorship for high-risk adolescents. Managing high-risk students requires extensive resources, expertise and long-term intervention. P2P ensures that the schools we serve have access to the support they need. We are the bridge between mental health, schools and law enforcement in the management of high-risk kids.
What impact does the project have?
Prevent 2 Protect’s intervention model connects schools, mental health services and law enforcement to create safer school environments. A holistic, multidisciplinary approach to managing the underlying behavioral issues of high-risk students is pivotal in addressing both immediate concerns and long-term complex issues. Since starting our first region, we’ve had over 60 kids referred to the project. Our early intervention model provides high-risk students with a connection to their communities, companionship and a feeling of competence and contribution, which are all critical in mitigating school violence. The project aims to provide schools, families and communities with essential resources to manage high-risk adolescents. The Prevent 2 Protect cross-systems intervention approach is needed now more than ever. By supporting one child, we will save many.
By Lieza Kelmm