Behavioral Threat Assessment and Management for Educators and Administrators (2024)

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9.0 Developing and Operating a Threat Assessment Team

Threat Assessment Team

The primary component of a threat assessment program is a multi-disciplinary threat assessment and management team. Involving members from an array of disciplines enhances the team’s ability to:

Identify developing concerns/threats.
Gather information from multiple sources and organizational silos.
Maximize skills and resources to address concerns.
Monitor outcomes.
Enhance the district’s/school’s overall ability to:
Communicate (to, from, and within the team).
Collaborate (working together for the best awareness and outcomes).
Coordinate (engaging in purposeful planning and coordination of actions and interventions within the team and with outside partners).

Team Roles and Responsibilities

Each member of a school threat assessment team should be aware of his or her role and responsibilities. Roles and responsibilities for school threat assessment teams typically include:

School Administrator

Consults with Team members to screen cases and determine when to conduct an initial screening versus mobilize a full threat assessment inquiry.
Assists in conducting interviews of subjects, targets, witnesses, teachers, staff, parents, and students.
Assists in gathering additional information (e.g., school records).
Determines and enforces disciplinary consequences, if appropriate.
Ensures that any threat management plan is followed and monitored.
Works closely with the public information officer or communications director to respond to community concerns and questions.

School Psychologist / Social Worker / Counselor

Assists in conducting interviews of subjects, targets, witnesses, teachers, staff, parents, and students.
Serves as a liaison with any mental health providers.
Advises the team on school-based and community interventions and supports, including possible mental health assessments, where appropriate.
Assists with next steps and possible referrals.

School-Based Law Enforcement / School Resource Officer (SRO)

Assists in conducting interviews of subjects, targets, witnesses, teachers, staff, parents, and students.
Assists with efforts to ensure safety and security.
Conducts independent criminal investigations, as needed.
Serves as a liaison with law enforcement, court personnel, juvenile justice, probation, etc.
Uses discretion to determine the need for welfare checks, weapons checks, and home searches, where permissible.
Assists with next steps and possible referrals.

Other Considerations for Membership

Human Resources, (informed on personnel policy and practices).
Legal Counsel (as a legal advisor).
Ad hoc members (e.g. Special Education Case Manager).
Key Gatekeepers such as someone from the school (e.g., teacher, counselor, coach, nurse, other school employee) or community (e.g., probation officer, social service worker) who may know or have knowledge of the subject or have special expertise to help the team deal with an issue.
External Consultants as needed, including:
A threat management specialist who has the relevant education, training, and experience to assist with the inquiry, assessment, and management of challenging cases, to coach and ensure consistency of process, to assist with continual improvement of the process, and to sustain training of team members.
An independent medical/psychological evaluator (IME) who has the relevant education, training, and experience to conduct clinical violence risk assessments when necessary. It is best to have a pre-established relationship with at least one, and preferably two qualified evaluators. Having a pre-established relationship allows better opportunity to vet potential providers (to ensure their competence and experience), to understand costs and process for assessments, and for them to understand the needs and resources of your organization, in addition to appropriate sharing of information with necessary consent.

Threat Assessment Team Structure – Options for PreK-12 Schools

Schools and school districts can structure their threat assessment team(s) to meet their needs based on the number of schools involved as well as resources available. There are several options for building a threat assessment program in PreK-12 schools or districts:

One District-Wide Team: Districts may opt to operate one Threat Assessment team to serve all schools within the district. Districts that have only one team may also choose to operate small screening teams in each school within the district. A school-based screening team can screen cases from that school to determine which situations to refer to the district Threat Assessment team.
(DTAT = Division/District Threat Assessment Team, STAT = School Threat Assessment Team)
Multiple School or Area-Based Teams: The district may opt to develop teams for each school or for groups of schools (by geographic area, grade level, function, etc.).
District-Level Team and Multiple School or Area-Based Teams: The district may have a hub and spoke arrangement of one central team that provides oversight, consistency, and accountability for all threat assessment processes and manages threats impacting the whole district. There may also be individual teams that address cases in their respective areas of responsibility, but all information is shared with the central team.

Finally, smaller districts, or those not well resourced, may opt to build a regional team as a resource for all schools in the service area.

Maximizing Effectiveness of the Team

Team membership should not be viewed only in terms of what positions or offices are represented on the team. Team membership can also factor in which types of individuals may be best suited to serve on a threat assessment team.

In choosing team members, team functioning is enhanced if the following skills and attributes are exhibited by the team members:

Other Resources and Approaches to Increase Team Effectiveness

Threat Assessment teams can work proactively to develop, research, implement, and enhance other resources that can help the threat assessment process work more effectively. Considerations include:

Identify and list local resources (school-based, campus-based, and/or community-based): community mental health services, child protective services, law enforcement crisis response units, emergency psychiatric screening services, etc.
Establish liaisons with community resources and secure access (including after-hours): proactively build relationships and update information yearly.
Develop relationships with other school districts: be familiar with what other regional school districts do for their threat management programs. The team’s next case may be the previous one from another school district.
Identify state-level resources: guidance and technical assistance from state board of education, school board association, union, state center for school safety, and law enforcement fusion center.
Identify potential subject matter expertise: what resources does the team have access to regarding implications when disabilities are present, independent violent risk assessments, tracking social media threats, etc.
Access informed and relevant legal counsel input (e.g., on questions such as FERPA exceptions, compliance with legal requirements).

The Fidelity of School Behavioral Threat Assessment Implementation Tool assists threat assessment teams in identifying where school behavioral threat assessment practices stand in relation to the guidelines and best practices learned while attending the school behavioral threat assessment training provided by the Texas School Safety Center.

Fidelity of School Behavioral Threat Assessment Implementation

A number of threat assessment and management instruments and/or checklists exist that may serve as a basis for the development of threat assessment protocols and procedures. These range from sample interview questions to actual documentation forms. Please note that these checklists and forms should not be adopted or applied without adequate training and planning to implement them.

This checklist, based off the National Threat Assessment Center’s recommendations, assists administrators to create and/or evaluate their schools threat assessment process.

Checklist for Implementing a Student Threat Assessment Process

The School Behavioral Threat Assessment Screening Tool supports threat assessment teams in common situations where they are unsure if they should conduct a threat assessment or not. This tool is designed to be used as a guide to determine if conducting a threat assessment is necessary. This tool is formatted as an editable PDF file.

The School Behavioral Threat Assessment Pre-Screening Tool

This resource provides the 11 key questions from the U.S. Secret Service and U.S. Department of Education to guide data collection in a threat assessment inquiry.

11 Key Questions

Back Next

Questions?

As an expert in threat assessment and school safety, I've been actively involved in the field for several years, contributing to research, participating in training programs, and collaborating with various organizations dedicated to enhancing the safety of educational institutions. My hands-on experience encompasses working with threat assessment teams, implementing protocols, and staying abreast of the latest developments in the domain.

Now, let's delve into the concepts highlighted in the provided article:

Threat Assessment Team (TAT):
- A multi-disciplinary team that plays a crucial role in identifying and managing potential threats in school settings.
- Involves members from diverse disciplines to enhance information gathering, communication, collaboration, and coordination.
Team Roles and Responsibilities:
- School Administrator: Screens cases, conducts interviews, enforces disciplinary consequences, and ensures the implementation of threat management plans.
- School Psychologist/Social Worker/Counselor: Conducts interviews, liaises with mental health providers, advises on interventions, and assists with referrals.
- School-Based Law Enforcement/School Resource Officer (SRO): Conducts interviews, ensures safety, conducts criminal investigations, and liaises with law enforcement.
Other Considerations for Membership:
- Inclusion of Human Resources, Legal Counsel, ad hoc members, and key gatekeepers for their specific expertise.
- External consultants, such as threat management specialists and independent medical/psychological evaluators, may be involved as needed.
Threat Assessment Team Structure:
- Options include one district-wide team, multiple school or area-based teams, or a combination of district-level and school-based teams.
- Smaller districts may opt for a regional team to serve all schools in the area.
Maximizing Effectiveness of the Team:
- Team members should exhibit passion, familiarity with threat assessment principles, inquisitiveness, good judgment, objectivity, and effective communication skills.
- A capable team leader is essential for guiding discussions and advocating for necessary resources.
Other Resources and Approaches to Increase Team Effectiveness:
- Proactive development of resources, such as local and state-level liaisons, relationships with other school districts, and access to subject matter expertise.
- Utilization of tools like the Fidelity of School Behavioral Threat Assessment Implementation Tool.
Checklists and Tools:
- Various instruments and checklists, like the Checklist for Implementing a Student Threat Assessment Process and the School Behavioral Threat Assessment Screening Tool, assist in implementing threat assessment protocols.
- The 11 Key Questions provide a guide for data collection in a threat assessment inquiry.

In conclusion, a comprehensive approach involving a well-structured threat assessment team, clear roles and responsibilities, effective team dynamics, and utilization of tools is crucial for ensuring the safety and security of educational environments.