NEW PALTZ — Recognizing the countywide shared goals of bolstering school safety, Ulster BOCES secured a $400,000 federal grant from the U.S. Department of Justice aimed at helping county school districts mitigate the threat of school violence through a Behavior Threat Assessment (BTA) program.
The three-year initiative is grounded in providing support to students and cultivating a nurturing and positive school environment.
The program is an evidence-based approach to school safety that focuses on identifying risk factors and taking proactive measures to safeguard students’ mental and physical well-being, helping to steer them away from a path that leads to violence.
To bolster the initiative, a partnership has also been established with Navigate360, a professionally crafted online case management software that provides evidence-based solutions that align seamlessly with the “CASEL framework,” which focuses on building knowledge, skills, and attitudes across five key areas of social and emotional competence.
The tool allows team members to collaborate, in a streamlined and consistent manner, while still preserving confidentiality. Data is only collected for the purpose of teams looking at preventative measures to support students.
“The BTA program is a solution-based approach to violence prevention that focuses on early intervention by addressing issues such as bullying, teasing, and other forms of conflict before they become violent behaviors,” said Dr. Barbara Tischler Hastie, coordinator of School Development/Instructional Services Ulster BOCES.
The grant also supports training on suicide awareness and other mental health concerns and includes a workbook created by Cornell.
To date, Rondout Valley, Wallkill, Ellenville, and New Paltz Central School Districts have been participating in the program, which involves training multi-disciplinary teams that may include school administrators, mental health professionals, school resource officers, school nurses, special education educators, and other staff as appropriate.
