School-based teams proactively address student threats of violence to others and to self.
The U.S. Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security state that the best way to lower the risk of student violence is to engage in the process of behavioral threat assessment & management.
"These are not sudden, impulsive acts where a student suddenly gets disgruntled. The majority of these incidents are preventable. Schools need to think differently about behavior, school discipline and intervention.”
- Lina Alathari, Ph.D., Chief of U.S. Secret Service - National Threat Assessment Center (NTAC)
Contact the BTAM/SRA Team
Use an evidence-based, multidisciplinary team approach to identify, evaluate, assess, and support students of concern who present a potential threat to themselves or to others.
BTAM/SRA Professional Development
PCG is pleased to offer professional development via our PEPPER platform for behavioral threat assessment & management processes and procedures.
BTAM 101: by John Van Dreal and PCG
Our Solution
BTAM Solution
PCG’s student Behavioral Threat Assessment & Management(BTAM) solution uses a case management approach and offers multiple pathways to manage threats-to-others and threats-to-self.
We offer out-of-the-box configurations for student threat assessment aligned to state and local guidelines for:
- The Salem-Keizer Student Threat Assessment Team (STAT) model - endorsed by John Van Dreal
- The National Threat Assessment Center/Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services model
- The Comprehensive School Threat Assessment Guidelines (CSTAG) model - endorsed by Dr. Dewey Cornell
Our scalable solution works to support teams in large top 10 school districts such as Broward and Hillsborough counties in Florida, and various small districts and charter schools across the nation.
SRA Solution
We lose more students to suicide each year than we do to mass shootings; threats-to-self far outnumber threats-to-others. According to the CDC, the number of children who took their lives nearly doubled from 2007-2017.
The BTAM solution also includes a configurable Self-harm/Suicide Risk Assessment (SRA) process to support school teams charged with helping those with suicidal ideation.
The SRA solution allows districts to implement a standardized procedure to assess a student’s suicide risk. Using this tool, staff are able to use the same language, which is understood by all, to discuss a student’s status and make plans for appropriate care.
Our SRA process will guide users to gather information relevant to the student’s history, synthesize the information into a prevention-oriented suicide risk level determination, and develop a safety plan as appropriate.
Public Consulting Group (PCG), in partnership with author and expert school psychologist Dr. Terri Erbacher, of Erbacher Consulting Associates, PLLC, is excited to offer four suicide prevention learning modules.
Sexual Misconduct
PCG’s Sexual Misconduct Response solution helps K-12 schools implement a case management approach to capture and handle incidents of problematic sexual misconduct between students. The solution is aligned to support school board policies and codes of student conduct for addressing sexual harassment, intimidation and bullying.
Fire Misuse
PCG’s Fire Misuse Response solution helps K-12 schools implement a case management approach to handle incidents of fire misuse by students. The solution addresses incidents such as improper or unapproved use of fire, e.g. juvenile fire setting, fire lighting, juvenile arson, youth fire setting, child arson, fire play, experimentation, playing with lighters or matches, and other fire-related incidents.
Core Benefits
System Process
The graphic below shows the process a user would follow in our system when performing a Risk Assessment. The process is aligned to your state- and district-specific processes and procedures.
Pathway to Violence
Multidisciplinary teams implement a consistent, structured approach to identify and support students who present a potential risk of violence/aggression, self-harm, or other concerning behaviors.
Our solution helps school personnel identify students who are exhibiting behaviors along the pathway to violence and intervene with supports designed to de-escalate those behaviors in order to mitigate risk.
