Federal Activities Addressing Violence in Schools
Resource Development
Annual Reports on School Safety
(October 1998, October 1999, October 2000)
This series of annual reports describes the nature and scope of school violence and steps that communities can take to develop a comprehensive school safety plan. The reports highlight what schools, students, parents, police, businesses, and elected officials can do to create safe learning environments and describe schools and communities doing an exemplary job to create and maintain safe school environments. The reports also list resources for information on school safety and crime prevention issues.
Lead/Funder: Department of Education (ED)
Collaborators: Department of Justice (DOJ)
(202) 514-4817
dresslek@ojp.usdoj.gov
1999 Annual Report on School Safety (PDF - 1.6 MB)
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Appropriate and Effective Use of Security Technologies in U.S. Schools: A Guide for Schools and Law Enforcement Agencies
This document, published in October 1999, provides basic guidelines to law enforcement agencies and school administrators and encourages their collaboration as they make decisions on what, if any, security technologies should be included in their safe school strategies. It can help schools and their law enforcement partners analyze their vulnerability to violence, theft, and vandalism and suggest possible technologies to address them in an appropriate and effective manner. The guide describes existing commercially available technologies, some of which schools are already using. It encourages thoughtful consideration of the potential safety benefits that may accrue from their use as well as commitments that they may incur for capital investments, site modifications, staffing, training, maintenance, and repair. Topic areas include: security concepts and operational issues; video surveillance; metal detection (walk through portals, hand-held scanners, and X-ray baggage scanners); entry control; and duress alarms. A bibliography of resources is also provided. The document may not replace the need for consultants nor does it provide detailed instructions on how to install equipment or make cost estimates. However, much practical advice is provided that should allow schools and the law enforcement agencies that serve them to make informed decisions on security technology.
Lead/Funder: National Institute of Justice (NIJ)
Collaborators:: Department of Education (ED)
Basic Emergency Lifesaving Skills (BELS)
The Basic Emergency Lifesaving Skills (BELS) framework was developed in collaboration with the American Association for Health Education, American Red Cross, American Trauma Society, Children's Safety Network, Education Development Center, Inc., National Association of School Nurses, and National SAFE KIDS Campaign. It is intended to provide a framework for teaching developmentally appropriate emergency life saving skills to children and adolescents. The BELS framework was developed to increase the number of school districts that require proficiency in first aid and CPR as a condition for high school graduation and is intended for people who teach emergency skills to children and adolescents and those who design first aid and CPR programs.
Lead/Funder: Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB)
Collaborators: Emergency Medical Services for Children (EMS-C),
Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH), National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration (NHTSA), Department of Education (ED)
Blueprints: A Violence Prevention Initiative
This publication describes a project initiated by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence (CSPV) at the University of Colorado at Boulder to identify juvenile violence prevention programs. To date, CSPV has identified 10 prevention and intervention programs that meet scientific standards of proven program effectiveness. CPSV is in the process of identifying additional programs. The 10 model programs, called Blueprints, have been effective in reducing adolescent violent crime, aggression, and substance abuse. CSPV and OJJDP have entered into a cooperative agreement to provide training and technical assistance to community organizations and program providers interested in implementing one of these programs.
Lead/Funder: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)
Contact:(800) 638-8736
Combating Fear and Restoring Safety in Schools
Certain manifestations of street violence have encroached on schools, including gangs, bullying, weapon possession and use, substance abuse, and community violence. Educators, parents, and students are concerned and want to revitalize schools and make them safer. In particular, students often express fear of personal victimization and violence experienced by other students and, consequently, they do not attend school. Numerous prevention and intervention strategies have emerged to ensure schools are safe. These strategies include the Gang Resistance Education and Training Program, the Gang Prevention Through Targeted Outreach, the National Youth Gang Center, the Safe Alternatives and Violence Education Curriculum, the Adolescent Social Action Program, the Parents and Schools Succeeding in Providing Organized Routes to Travel Program, and the Gang Resistance Is Paramount Program. Although existing programs represent a good start, more such programs are needed to create safe schools in every community. Data on the percent of students reporting the presence of guns at school in 1995 and on characteristics of school-associated violent deaths between 1992 and 1994 are provided.
Lead/Funder: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)
Contact:(800) 638-8736
Combating Truancy
Truancy prevention initiatives have been shown to keep more children in school and dramatically reduce daytime crime. ED issued a manual to every school district nationwide outlining the central characteristics of a comprehensive truancy prevention policy and highlighting model initiatives in cities and towns across the country.
Lead/Funder: Department of Education (ED)
Contact:Combating Violence and Delinquency: The National Juvenile Justice Action Plan
The National Juvenile Justice Action Plan has eight objectives: (1) provide immediate intervention and appropriate sanctions and treatment for delinquent juveniles; (2) prosecute certain serious, violent, and chronic juvenile offenders in criminal court; (3) reduce youth involvement with guns, drugs, and gangs; (4) provide opportunities for children and youth; (5) break the cycle of violence by addressing youth victimization, abuse and neglect; (6) strengthen and mobilize communities; (7) support the development of innovative approaches to research and evaluation; and (8) implement an active public outreach campaign on effective strategies to address juvenile violence. The action plan describes effective strategies to meet these objectives and presents examples of successful programs. A report and summary are available.
Lead/Funder: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)
Contact:(800) 638-8736
Conflict Resolution Education: A Guide to Implementing Programs in Schools, Youth-Serving Organizations, and Community and Juvenile Justice Settings
This guide is designed for educators, juvenile justice practitioners, and others in youth-serving organizations to heighten awareness of conflict resolution education and its potential to help settle disputes peacefully in a variety of settings. The guide defines conflict as a natural condition and examines the origins of conflict, responses to conflict, and the outcomes of those responses. It presents the essential principles, foundation abilities, and problem-solving processes of conflict resolution; discusses the elements of a successful conflict resolution program; and introduces four approaches to implementing conflict resolution education.
Lead/Funder: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)
Contact:(800) 638-8736
Development of Background Information on the Prevention of School/Youth Violence From the Youth Perspective: Kids Speak
Active Guide has been contracted to facilitate nationwide discussion groups, with different racial/ethnic/cultural groups of young people, to elicit information about how to increase and enhance parent and child communication in an attempt to reduce incidences of violence. The finished report (based on the discussion groups) will be translated into practical promotional and educational products that will educate parents in utilizing a practical "hands-on" approach to increase communication with their children. The products will be written from a child's perspective and are intended to increase parent/care giver/youth connectedness and communication in relationships to school, youth and community violence.
Lead/Funder: Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS)
Contact:Early Warning, Timely Response: A Guide to Safe Schools (August 1998)
This guide provides information on early and imminent warning signs for troubled children and principles to ensure that signs are not misinterpreted. It also includes suggestions for developing violence prevention and crisis response plans, intervening during a crisis to ensure safety, and responding in the aftermath of a tragedy. The guide also provides action steps for educators, students, and parents to help create safe schools.
Lead/Funder: Department of Education (ED)
Collaborators: Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of Health
and Human Services (DHHS)
(202) 514-4817
dresslek@ojp.usdoj.gov
www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/osers/osep/gtss.html
Families and Schools Together
Describes the Families and Schools Together (Fast) program process, cost and funding sources, and history of success. In the Fast program, 10 to 15 families participate in 8 to 10 weekly sessions of family bonding activities, followed by monthly follow up sessions for 2 years. The program systematically strengthens the bonds of at-risk youth to their family, school, and community. Ten years after its creation, the Fast program is being implemented in more than 450 schools in 31 states and 5 countries.
Lead/Funder: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)
Contact:(800) 638-8736
Families and Schools Together: Building Relationships
Describes the Families and Schools Together (Fast) program methods. This program
addresses youth violence and juvenile delinquency by building relationships
between youth, their families, peers, teachers, school staff, and other members
of the community. In addition to describing each session of the
Lead/Funder: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)
Contact:(800) 638-8736
Fight for Your Rights: Take a Stand Against Violence CD/Action Guide
Working with MTV and the National Center for Conflict Resolution, ED and OJJDP created Fight for Your Rights: Take a Stand Against Violence CD/Action Guide. This guide consists of music and recorded comments on the subject of violence from best-selling rock, rap, and pop performing artists. It also features an educational CD-ROM created by the National Center for Conflict Resolution Education in conjunction with the Department of Justice. The guide and interactive CD-ROM promote the message that disagreements do not need to escalate to the point of violence. The CD-ROM provides practical steps for resolving conflict along with poignant examples, in an interactive format driven by the user. One million copies of the CD and guide will be manufactured and distributed free of charge to young people via a toll-free number operated by DOJ and promoted on MTV.
Lead/Funder: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)
Contact:(800) 638-8736
Hands Without Guns
This publication provides information on Hands Without Guns, a public health and education campaign designed to combat gun violence by providing a forum for positive youth voices. Building on the model of positive youth development, the campaign engages young people as violence prevention advocates in their communities. Through its media outreach, Hands Without Guns seeks to reduce the demand for guns among youth. Through in-school and after-school workshops, young people are provided with the tools they need to be involved in all aspects of the media campaign, including the development and production of antiviolence materials.
Lead/Funder: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)
Contact:(800) 638-8736
Healthy Youth Funding Database (HY-FUND)
To assist school health professionals in obtaining funding, the CDC has established a database of funding sources that support school health programs, including violence prevention programs. The HY-FUND database provides information on federal categorical funding, federal block grant funding, and private sector funding. The database also contains specific examples of how states use federal funds to support school health programs.
Lead/Funder: Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH)
Contact:Indicators of School Crime and Safety (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001)
This joint annual report on school safety by the National Center for Education Statistics and the Bureau of Justice Statistics is a companion document to the Annual Report on School Safety. This report provides detailed statistical information on the nature of crime in schools, drawn from a number of statistical series supported by the federal government.
Lead/Funder: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS)
Contact:(202) 219-1767
Kathryn_Chandler@ed.gov
Michael Planty
(202) 514-3214
plantym@ojp.usdoj.gov
Indicators of School Crime and Safety 2000 (PDF - 2.21 MB)
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Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 1999 National Report
This report, prepared by the National Center for Juvenile Justice, presents comprehensive information on juvenile crime, violence, and victimization and on the juvenile justice system. It brings together the latest available statistics from a variety of sources and includes numerous tables, graphs, and maps, accompanied by analyses in clear, nontechnical language. The report provides baseline information on juvenile population trends; patterns of juvenile victimization, including homicide, suicide, and maltreatment; the nature and extent of juvenile offending, including data on arrest rates, antisocial behavior, and juveniles in custody; and the structure, procedures, and activities of the juvenile justice system, including law enforcement agencies, courts, and corrections. This report updates information originally presented in Juvenile Offenders and Victims: A National Report, the benchmark publication issued in 1995.
Lead/Funder: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)
Contact:(800) 638-8736
Materials to Enhance Resilience and Prevent Violence Among American Indian Children and Adolescents
A series of videos and posters will be developed to promote resilience and prevent violence among American Indian children and youth. The series of posters and videos entitled Grandpa Says will teach the importance of respect. They will be used in Talking Circles in schools, Boys and Girls Clubs, Safe Schools/Healthy Students grantee sites, and other interested community, tribal, and state organizations serving American Indian children and youth. The materials will engage American Indian youth in thinking through issues of respect for themselves and others, with the intention of encouraging pro-social thoughts and behaviors.
Lead/Funder: Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS)
Contact:Preventing Bullying: A Manual for Schools and Communities (October 1998)
This manual defines bullying, discusses the seriousness of this behavior and the effectiveness of a comprehensive approach, and presents strategies for teachers, students, and parents to use when dealing with bullying situations. It also provides examples of innovative and successful approaches used by schools in different parts of the country.
Lead/Funder: Department of Education (ED)
Contact:Preventing Youth Hate Crime: A Manual for Schools and Communities (December 1997)
This manual provides actions steps for schools, teachers, students and parents to confront and eliminate hate-motivated behavior among young people. It highlights effective hate crime prevention programs and provides resources for further information.
Lead/Funder: Department of Education (ED)
Contact:Preventing Violence the Problem-Solving Way
Based on more than 20 years of research on specific interpersonal cognitive problem-solving skills, intervention methods were developed to test the hypothesis that behavior can be modified by focusing on thought processes rather than behaviors themselves. These skills relate to high-risk behaviors that may develop into serious problems such as violence and substance abuse. This approach to childrearing deals with social cognition and social adjustment. The central theme is that certain interpersonal cognitive thinking skills play a crucial role in the social adjustment of both parent and child. This Bulletin describes the use of these skills by Raising a Thinking Child, a primary prevention program for parents and their children ages 4 to 7, through its "I Can Problem Solve" curriculum.
Lead/Funder: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)
Contact:(800) 638-8736
Production and Distribution of In The Mix Video
School Violence: Answers From The Inside
To complement the CMHS School Violence Prevention Initiative, Castle Works, Inc. will distribute a public television series for teens that focuses on preventing school violence. The video will offer an innovative approach to educating young people about employing conflict resolution strategies, anger management, and peer mediation. It will also reinforce the development of positive interpersonal relationships through the illustration of senior/freshman mentoring and human relations groups. The video is intended to create a more tolerant and safe environment for all school children, as well as provide information that identifies early warning signs of and ways to avert school violence. Castle Works Inc. will disseminate 1000 copies of the video tape and discussion guide to Safe Schools/Healthy Students grant sites and other key stakeholders in communities.
Lead/Funder: Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS)
Contact:Promoting Family Strengthening and Parenting Skills: The Development of a Booklet for Parents on School Violence Prevention
A contract was awarded to a noted psychologist and family therapist to provide the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) with a series of articles that will be combined into a booklet for parents on activities, resources, and guidance to foster the healthy development of adolescents and reduce school violence. The pamphlet is designed to provide parents with an available source of information that focuses on child development, mental health, promotion of healthy and resilient children, anger management, conflict resolution, and the teaching of problem solving skills to teenagers.
Lead/Funder: Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS)
Contact:Promoting Safe Schools and Healthy Students/Teachers: Resources for Safe Schools and Healthy Students
The American Institutes for Research will develop the third part of a publication series designed to provide schools and communities with research and information to prevent school violence. In 1998 and 2000, publications such as Early Warning, Timely Response: A Guide to Safe Schools and Safeguarding Youth: An Action Guide to Implementing Early Warning, Timely Response were developed to educate and provide school systems and communities with a framework to identify signs and situations that may lead to aggressive or violent behavior, as well as provide theories and goals for establishing schoolwide prevention and intervention programs. The American Institutes for Research will develop a resource kit that will complement the earlier publications through providing practical, "how to" information demonstrating how school systems and communities can implement school violence prevention and intervention programs. The resource kit will include an Early Warning Guide and Action Guide video, a blueprint and notebook detailing the program implementation process, summaries on evidence-based interventions, sample tools, and resources for schools, school leaders and communities. The resource kit is intended to guide school leaders and community agencies in improving and reforming their schools and districts while increasing the sustainability of such programs.
Lead/Funder: Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS)
Contact:Reaching Out to Youth out of the Education Mainstream
The Youth Out of the Education Mainstream (YOEM) initiative seeks to raise public awareness of this problem and the need for programs to help at-risk youth continue their education and become contributing members of society. The YOEM initiative consists of sharing information through regional meetings, providing intensive training and technical assistance to 10 demonstration sites, and disseminating resource documents to support communities working to help young people avoid the school-related risks that can seriously damage their life chances and lead to juvenile delinquency. Both prevention and intervention strategies recognize that the vast majority of children have the ability to learn academic, personal, and social skills that will help them become self-sufficient and productive adults. A one day meeting in May 1996 announced the initiative and was attended by more than 325 representatives from the juvenile justice system, law enforcement, education, business community, foundations and associations, social services, youth-serving agencies, and other related fields.
Lead/Funder: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)
Contact:(800) 638-8736
Reducing Youth Violence: A Comprehensive Approach Multimedia CD-ROM, Ver. 2.0
This interactive disk provides juvenile justice practitioners, researchers, and policymakers with a broad array of publications and technical assistance and other resources on prevention and intervention programs for at-risk juveniles and those involved with the juvenile justice system. The disk uses the latest Web-based technology and offers full search capability.
Lead/Funder: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)
Contact:(800) 638-8736
Research-Based Guide for Parents to Prevent Violence and Foster the Healthy Development of Children
This guide will contain research-based information on what is known about preventing youth violence, supporting the healthy development of children and enhancing resilience. The booklet will present an overview of the research on the pathways to healthy child development, the risk factors for negative outcomes and the strengths and supports needed to ensure a healthy trajectory for child development. Principles underlying the promotion of mental health and the healthy development of children will also be a part of this booklet.
Lead/Funder: Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS)
Contact:School and Community Interventions to Prevent Serious and Violent Offending
This publication describes school and community interventions shown to reduce risk factors for drug abuse and serious and violent juvenile (SVJ) offending. Based on findings of the OJJDP Study Group on Serious and Violent Juvenile Offenders (a group of researchers convened to study the population of SVJ offenders), this Bulletin examines five types of school interventions (structured playground activities, behavioral consultation, behavioral monitoring, metal detectors, and school wide reorganization) and eight types of community interventions (citizen mobilization, situational prevention, comprehensive citizen intervention, mentoring, after school recreation programs, policing strategies, policy changes, and mass media interventions).
Lead/Funder: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)
Contact:(800) 638-8736
School Violence Prevention Communication and Media Materials: Design and Development
To market school violence prevention to the general public, the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) will contract with a marketing company to design two media products that complement the CMHS School Violence Prevention media campaign. Based on current and relevant research taken from parent and youth perspectives, these products will incorporate pertinent messages about school and youth violence prevention. The products will be used locally and nationally to advance the goals and objectives of the Safe Schools/Healthy Students School Violence Prevention Initiative.
Lead/Funder: Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS)
Contact:School Violence Prevention: Interactive Technology
Contracts were awarded to several companies for the development of web-based technology for children, parents, and teachers to prevent youth violence. The presentation of serious material in an interactive format shows promise for engaging students in knowledge transfer activities, improving their decision-making skills and changing attitudes and behaviors about violence. CMHS is developing a broad portfolio of violence prevention technical assistance materials via interactive multimedia and accompanying text teacher/parent guides. The materials are aimed at assisting elementary, middle, and high school students, as well as their teachers and parents in developing positive attitudes, adequate knowledge and effective skills to prevent school-based violence. The material or tool kits will be used by school districts and in schools and homes to prevent school-based violence and its associated mental health consequences. The tool kits will be presented in developmentally appropriate frameworks that address the needs and learning styles of children, adolescents, parents, and teachers who are considered at risk for violence either as aggressors, victims, or bystanders in urban, rural, suburban and tribal populations.
Lead/Funder: Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS)
Contact:The Social Effects of Interactive Games: An Annotated Bibliography
To facilitate efforts to prevent violent behavior among children and adolescents, the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) awarded a contract to Mediascope, a social science research and education organization, to develop an annotated bibliography of research regarding the social effects of electronic interactive technology on young peoples' perception of violence and behavior. Many mental health professionals are concerned that graphic interactive technology, which includes violent and sexist themes, may encourage greater identification with the aggressor, increase the incidences of imitative violent behavior and desensitize young people to real violence. The bibliography will explore and document cognitive development and game performance, education use and academic performance, game user habituation and skills, gender issues, health issues, personality and motivation, as well as violence and aggression. The finished publication will be made available to teachers, mental health professionals, parents and the public.
Lead/Funder: Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS)
Contact:Supportive Curricula for Elementary, Middle, and High Schools
In 1999 the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) provided funding to organizations to develop a portfolio of violence prevention interactive technology "tool kits" for at-risk elementary, middle, and high school students, teachers and parents, that would develop positive attitudes, enhance decision-making skills and prevent school based violence. To complement the tool kits, supportive curricula will be developed. Each curriculum will include a review of the "best science" appropriate for each learning module, an application plan to be used by students, and supplemental materials to serve as reinforcements. The curricula is expected to increase awareness of precursors of violence and mental health aspects of violence, increase knowledge of options for reducing and responding to violence and associated mental health aspects, and increase decision making skills in preventing or responding to physical violence associated with mental health issues.
Lead/Funder: Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS)
Contact:TV Prime Time Special On School Violence Prevention:
15+-Make Time To Listen, Take Time to Talk
The Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) has been proactive in engaging the media to help disseminate key messages as a means of preventing school violence and fostering healthy development of children. To facilitate these efforts, CMHS will partner with a group to develop a prime-time special program on school violence prevention that will be aired on a local TV affiliate. The program will focus on ways to expand school violence prevention through community support and development of positive programs that increase resilience and protective factors for children and youth. Science-based violence prevention interventions and activities for parents to engage in with their children will be promoted.
Lead/Funder: Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS)
Contact:Violence After School
This publication presents information on temporal patterns (time of day, school versus non-school day) of violent crimes committed by and against juveniles, excerpted from Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 1999 National Report. The bulletin presents the most recent available data from victim survey and police incident reports, emphasizes that serious violent crime involving juveniles peaks in the hours immediately after the close of school, and discusses implications of the data for community strategies to reduce violent juvenile crime. The Bulletin is part of the 1999 National Report Series. Each Bulletin in the series highlights selected themes at the forefront of juvenile justice policymaking and extracts relevant National Report sections.
Lead/Funder: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)
Contact:(800) 638-8736