Schools’ BTAM teams almost universally have a variety of intervention options available to them when it comes to intervening with a student assessed as posing a risk of harm to themself or others.
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Sample (N = 1384) · Teams answering intervention/safety plan components question
The only intervention not universally available across responding schools—but still widely available—is substance use treatment; 79 percent of schools have this intervention as an available option.
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Unsurprisingly, more secondary schools have access to substance use treatment options than elementary schools, likely because the percentage of youth reporting they use any illicit substance increases with age (National Institute on Drug Abuse [NIDA], 2023).
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Sample (N = 1384) · Teams answering intervention/safety plan components question
For example, virtually all schools use programming to build trusted relationships with adults, but the frequency they use these interventions varies: 53 percent report using this often; 42 percent report sometimes; and 4 percent report rarely using it as an option.
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Sample (N = 1384) · Teams answering intervention/safety plan components question
As an example, while 91 percent of principals indicate that their BTAM team has the option to permanently remove students from school via expulsion or relocation, 30 percent of schools report never using this option.
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Sample (N = 1384) · Teams answering intervention/safety plan components question
For example, 47 percent of schools said their BTAM teams often refer students to mental health counseling or care.
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Sample (N = 1384) · Teams answering intervention/safety plan components question
By contrast, only 17 percent report that they often use special education supports, and 5 percent report that they often refer students to substance use treatment.
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These differences in frequency with which schools use specific interventions are likely related to the types of cases referred to BTAM teams—that is, incidents that involve substance use may be rarer as part of the case types referred to BTAM teams, therefore leading schools to only rarely include such treatment as part of an intervention plan.
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Similarly, special education supports are only appropriate for some students, explaining why schools tend to report using them only sometimes as an intervention.
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could be considered support-focused or supportive discipline interventions meant to modify student behavior (see, e.g., Jackson et al., 2025).
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Restrictive interventions—such as temporary or permanent removal from school or referral to law enforcement—are implemented less frequently.
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Safety interventions can include a range of protective measures to ensure the safety of the at-risk individual, the target of a threat, and members of the school community more broadly.
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Specific examples include daily backpack searches or changes to class schedules.
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As shown in Figure 9.1, these options vary and can include skill-building services, programs geared toward building relationships with trusted adults, special education supports, mental health counseling, or temporary removal from school (e.g., suspension).
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Schools use many of their available intervention options with some regularity as part of their behavioral threat management process.
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Our results also highlight a small number of interventions that are available to school BTAM teams but not employed as widely as expected given the availability.
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School BTAM teams use some intervention options more often than others.
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