Best Practices for Behavioral Threat Assessment and Management

Following the tragic school shootings in Parkland, FL and Santa Fe, TX in 2018, the Secret Service launched an initiative to provide updated research and guidance to school personnel and other public safety partners on the prevention of school-based violence.

That year, the NTAC released Enhancing School Safety Using a Threat Assessment Model (2018), which provides actionable guidance for schools on creating a targeted violence prevention plan to decrease the risk of students engaging in harm to themselves or the school community.

The eight recommended steps serve as a blueprint for implementation and can be tailored to the specific context and needs of the school, its students, and its community.

STEP 1: ESTABLISH A MULTIDISCIPLINARY THREAT ASSESSMENT AND MANAGEMENT TEAM • Form a team representing a variety of disciplines within the school community including at least:

„ Teachers (general and special educators) „ Administrators „ Individuals with social, emotional, behavioral (SEB) expertise (e.g., counselor, social worker) „ Individuals with mental health expertise (e.g., school psychologist, social worker) „ School safety specialists (e.g., school resource officer, local law enforcement liaison)

Local education agencies can structure the team to best meet the local needs and available resources through school-based teams, a central district-based team, or a combination of both.

The team’s job is to receive reports of concerning student behavior and situations; gather additional information to better assess the student’s risks and needs; and identify interventions, supports, and resources to reduce the risk of harm to self or others and make positive outcomes for the student more likely.

Teams meet whenever concerning behavior or situations are brought to their attention. They also meet regularly to discuss implementation, continue learning and refining best practices, and continue monitoring the progress of students who are being supported.

While some schools or districts refer to their team as a Behavioral Threat Assessment and Management (BTAM) Team, others have opted to use other names such as Assessment and Care Team (ACT) to emphasize the care-based nature of the work or Behavioral Intervention Team (BIT) to highlight focusing on a spectrum of concerning behaviors.

Teams are encouraged to establish a low threshold for intervention and support. This will position the team to more comprehensively address a continuum of behaviors and identify students in distress before their behavior escalates to the point of harm to themselves or those around them.

Students may display behaviors that prompt concern from those around them (e.g., classmates, friends, teachers, and family) in various ways, such as observable risky behavior; concerning or threatening statements made in person, online, or in text messages; or submitting assignments with bizarre or unusual content or statements. When behaviors prompt concern, those around the student need a method for reporting and sharing their concerns.

Schools and districts should encourage bystanders (e.g., students, staff) to report prohibited and concerning behaviors that may indicate a safety risk or that a student is in need of resources or supports.

By offering multiple reporting methods (e.g., email or online form, text or mobile application, phone number, trusted adult) BTAM teams can reduce or remove barriers to reporting and make it accessible and safe for the community.

For strategies and guidance on creating and enhancing a central reporting system, see Improving School Safety Through Bystander Reporting: A Toolkit for Strengthening K-12 Reporting Programs (Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency & U.S. Secret Service, 2023).

While a multidisciplinary BTAM team can likely handle most reported incidents and concerning behaviors with school-based or community resources, some situations may necessitate law enforcement intervention due to the severity of the concern.

Reports involving weapons and/or imminent/immediate safety risks (e.g., presence of a weapon, threats of serious violence) should be immediately relayed to local law enforcement.

„ Teams are encouraged to consider when they will request local law enforcement support to assist with assessing or gathering information and establish relevant guidelines for that process.

Considerations may include safety concerns for students or family members, student health and wellness, existing district policies and resources, and actions beyond the legal scope of the district.

Depending on the situation, local law enforcement may support the team’s assessment of the concerning behavior by partnering with a social worker to conduct a welfare check at the student’s home, speaking with a student’s parent or guardian, checking for the presence of weapons and safe storage in the home, or other law enforcement actions which help the team better understand the context surrounding the student’s concerning behaviors and the risk of harm the student may pose to themselves or others.

The assessment process and procedures that a multidisciplinary threat assessment team implements should help form a more accurate understanding of the student’s thinking, behavior, and circumstances in school, at home, and in the community. The goal is to evaluate the presence of factors that may indicate the possibility of harm to self or other members of the school community.

Teams should establish protocols to gather information from a variety of sources (e.g., the student of concern, classmates, friends, family, disciplinary history, academic assignments, school records, and previous interventions) to ensure they are identifying any relevant concerning behaviors and accurately assessing the student’s risk and needs. This will better position the team to provide more appropriate resources, supports, and interventions.

To ensure accurate assessment, teams should evaluate a student’s concerning behaviors in the context of their age, social and emotional development, and disability status.

To more comprehensively assess concerning behavior, teams should organize their information gathering around themes such as bullying and harassment; mental health and substance abuse; concerning communications; stressors; recent downward progressions in behavior, mood, or social activity; home life factors (e.g., ACEs, present living situation); academic performance; school disciplinary history; inappropriate interest in concerning topics (e.g., past school attacks or mass attackers); weapons use and interest in violence; previous contact with law enforcement; social networks; recent losses or loss of status (e.g., shame, humiliation, loss of significant relationship); and motivation for behavior.

Additionally, assessment considerations should include home, school, community, and virtual settings to understand the context in which the student is operating and illuminate behavior indicative of social, emotional, and/or psychological distress as a response to the environment.

Once the team has completed its thorough assessment, it can use the information gathered to develop individualized plans to provide appropriate, student-focused interventions, resources, and supports designed to manage and reduce any risk of harm.

Any student assessed by the multidisciplinary team as posing a risk of harm to themselves or others should receive an individualized support and management plan tailored to their unique behaviors, needs, strengths, and stressors designed to increase the likelihood of positive outcomes.

If data collected during the assessment indicate that behaviors are interfering with a student’s academic or functional performance the team should consider if a referral for special education evaluation is appropriate.

BTAM teams should consider the four guiding principles for support and management (see Figure 1 on page 12) when establishing plans. This includes adopting a prevention mindset and establishing plans that: „ Address factors of concern and promote positive factors, „ Redirect possible motivations for violence, „ Create an environment in which violence is less likely, and „ Leverage collaboration with the student, their family, school staff, and community partners who can contribute to the student’s success.

This will help fully address the contextual factors contributing to the student’s behaviors, needs, or stressors.

Inviting the student to actively participate in the support planning process can enhance buy-in and engagement.

Given the risks and adverse outcomes associated with exclusionary discipline, support and management plans should prioritize interventions that promote or restore connection and belonging and minimize a student’s time excluded from the learning environment, if possible.

Teams should meet regularly to monitor the plan’s implementation and the student’s level of progress and success.

Schools should actively maintain positive school climates featuring safe, respectful, and trusting cultures that support students’ social and emotional well-being, while clearly specifying expected school behaviors needed to maintain an effective learning environment.

All school staff should encourage communication between adults and students, intervene in social conflicts, and actively confront bullying behavior.

Schools should encourage and support teachers in building positive, trusting relationships with students and work to create an environment where students feel seen, heard, connected, and cared for. This will empower students to share concerning behavior when they observe it.

STEP 8: PROVIDE TRAINING FOR ALL STAKEHOLDERS

School safety is everyone’s responsibility. Everyone has a role to play in prevention.

BTAM teams should identify the training needs of all prevention partners, including faculty, staff, administrators, students, parents/guardians, school resource officers, and community-based partners such as local law enforcement.

Anyone who may observe concerning behavior or notice concerning communications should be trained in what to report and how, and those involved in the assessment process should receive training to prepare them for success in identifying, assessing, and intervening when concerns arise.

Teams are encouraged to provide training tailored to the audience’s unique needs that address the goals and purpose of the behavioral threat assessment approach, the steps and processes involved, the type of information that should be brought forward, and how individuals can report their concerns.

For more information on these eight best practices, see Enhancing School Safety Using a Threat Assessment Model (National Threat Assessment Center, 2018).