There are three things every school and every college (and other organizations open to general public) needs to pro-actively PREVENT numerous types of incidents, fears and concerns including:

• Lying awake at night fearing the worst
• Being overwhelmed by negative media scrutiny and social media escalations
• Increasing violence, diversity, inclusion, sexual assaults, bullying and other incidents
• Uncomfortable meetings with disgruntled students and parents…and attorneys
• Compliance and soaring liabilities due to the lack of legal/audit-ready documentation
• Constantly feeling like you are in reaction mode…over and over again
• Student athlete related headlines, hazing, sexting and other related incidents
• Students ruining their life and/or lives of others or feeling their only option is suicide
• And numerous others…

It is interesting that the three things needed by every school and every college have been clearly identified over and over in numerous post-event reports as the key reasons why hundreds of preventable incidents and tragedies were NOT PREVENTED.

These three things have also been mentioned in countless guidelines, state laws and federal laws.

And on the positive side, these three things are proven and effective in helping change leading schools and colleges to more successfully and more pro-actively prevent incidents, violence, meetings, frustrations, lawsuits, liabilities, tragedies and numerous other challenges.

The three things:

• “Prevention Assessment – Community-based and Institution-based”
• “Threat Assessment and Prevention Team – Community-based and Institution-based”
• “Community-based Threat Assessment Team and Prevention Platform”

“Prevention Assessment”

While nearly every Educational institution has conducted a Security Assessment (sometimes required by state law), it is almost impossible to find an Educational institution that has conducted a “Prevention Assessment”. This disconnect is scary and misguided when you consider and compare what Security Assessments deliver…and what people really want.

Try this at your school or college, ask students, parents, faculty, staff, administrators, school board members and community members if they would prefer PREVENTING or REACTING to a shooter, stabber, sexual assault, suicide and numerous other incidents at their Educational institution…everyone prefers PREVENTING. Yet, a Security Assessment is focused on identifying gaps in your “reaction time” to a threat and your perimeter security’s ability to “react to a threat” on campus or at your institution’s front door…talk about an old school dogma that needs change leaders!

A “Prevention Assessment” is focused on identifying silos, disconnects and gaps in the ability of the School or College to pro-actively intervene and PREVENT preventable incidents, liabilities and tragedies.

To learn how a “Prevention Assessment” can benefit your institution and your community or to schedule a “Prevention Assessment” for your school or college or community, click here.

“Threat Assessment and Prevention Team – Community-based and Institution-based”

Most Educational institutions have created a school-based or campus-based Threat Assessment Team (TAT), Emergency Response Team (ERT), Behavioral Intervention Team (BIT) or CARE Team. Unfortunately, most teams end up fulfilling the role of threat/emergency response team most of the time because the team members are not aware of pre-incident indicators and concerning behaviors that were observed much earlier in the intervention and prevention timeline. (A Prevention Assessment will identify indicator awareness gaps and community disconnects that keep teams in reaction mode.)

Survey data and post-event reports also reveal most school-based or campus-based Threat Assessment Teams are not participating on a Community-based Threat Assessment Team.

Why should schools and colleges participate on a “Community-based TAT and Prevention Team”?

Because nearly every post-event report involving an incident or tragedy at a school or college reveals community-based resources (community mental health, community law enforcement, community health care, city/county government, community corrections, community child protection services, community non-profits, community members (families, neighbors), and etc.) were aware of pre-incident indicators and other “key pieces of the puzzle and indicator dots”. Even though the evidence-based data is overwhelming, fully functioning Community-based TAT and Prevention Teams rarely exist.

When a Community-based TAT and Prevention Team is trained, equipped and real-time-connected, they can be more pro-active (than reactive), more pre-active (using community-based data to identify patterns and trends) and more effective by collecting and sharing the right information with the right people in the right place at the right time so they can do the right things to prevent incidents and tragedies rather than react to them.

“Community-based Threat Assessment Team and Prevention Platform”

Most Educational institutions utilize school-based or college-based “systems” – student records systems (SRS/SIS), employee records systems (ERS) or department-based case management systems to collect the dots, assess the dots, connect the dots, perform interventions and preventions and document their actions. Unfortunately, evidence and lessons learned expose how these old school systems are not effective (especially community-wide) and these “systems” can create significant and costly liabilities for schools and colleges. Sadly most school and college Administrators don’t even realize the liabilities they are creating!

Several change leading schools and colleges have realized prevention is needed and needed right now!

These change leaders have taken pro-active steps by implementing a “Community-based Threat Assessment Team and Prevention Platform” and the results they are experiencing are very different and very impressive.

Why else is a “Community-based Threat Assessment Team and Prevention Platform” needed?

Data and post-event evidence from hundreds of previous incidents and tragedies expose pre-incident indicators were almost always observed by individuals throughout the community – family members, neighbors, counselors, law enforcement, health care personnel, individuals involved in social media communities and numerous other community-based resources and individuals – but without a central community-based platform, indicators observed by individuals in the community end up in a silo.

Without a central “Community-based TAT and Prevention Platform”, schools and colleges are not equipped with the right tools to collect, assess and connect those critical pre-incident indicators (dots and pieces of the puzzle) from community members and resources that reveal the bigger picture. And when the dots are not collected, not assessed and not connected, schools and colleges will more than likely not have the probable cause and evidence they need to justify additional intervention and prevention efforts (see 6 Essential Steps to Prevention). In many previous cases, the pre-incident indicators could have provided probable cause and evidence for an “onsite visit”. Sadly we know this is true because multiple mass shooters even mentioned in their manifestos how close they were to being caught…but they eluded being caught because an onsite visit did not occur.

In light of recent attacks of evil in Colorado Springs and San Bernardino, more pro-active, more pre-active and more immediate prevention tools and solutions are clearly needed and these three things are needed in every school, every college, every organization and every community immediately!

• “Prevention Assessment – Community-based and Institution-based”
• “Threat Assessment and Prevention Team – Community-based and Institution-based”
• “Community-based Threat Assessment Team and Prevention Platform”

Be a change leader for Prevention in a world of reacting…act now.