MTSS-B for Youth Safety and Resiliency

The Comprehensive School-Based Approach to Youth Violence and Victimization, Category 1 provides funding to support a comprehensive effort to address youth violence and victimization through implementing evidence-based prevention, intervention and accountability efforts in a school based setting. The goals of the program are to (1) reduce the incidence of school violence through accountability efforts for offenders; (2) respond to victimization, exposure to violence, and trauma as a result of violence that occurs in the school, community, or family, (3) improve school safety and climate; and (4) prevent violence, delinquency, and victimization in the targeted community.

Project Safe Schools is a program designed to build district and community capacity to achieve the following goals for the purpose of increasing protective factors for youth to keep them in school and prevent violence, victimization, and delinquent behaviors: (1) reduce the incidences of school violence, (2) address youth violence and exposure to violence through evidence-based intervention services, (3) improve school safety and climate, and (4) prevent violence, delinquency, and victimization in Laconia. The population to be served by this project are the district's five schools: Elm Street School, Pleasant Street School, Woodland Heights School, Laconia Middle School (LMS), and Laconia High School (LHS), with particular focus on LMS and LHS. This project proposes six major objectives and overarching activities districtwide: (1) implement the evidence-based Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports to fidelity; (2) implement the Olweus Bully Prevention Program; (3) implement Cognitive Behavioral Interventions for Trauma in Schools and Mindfulness; (4) improve or forge community partnerships, including court diversion; (5) reduce major problem behavior and use of suspensions and expulsions; and (6) improve family perceptions. This project proposes the following major objectives and activities at LMS and LHS: implement restorative justice, nonviolent Crisis Prevention Institute verbal de-escalation, a school-based mental health program, and full-time social workers for family outreach and relationship building. The project proposes to implement restorative justice and nonviolent Crisis Prevention Institute verbal de-escalation training at LMS and LHS as the main activities to meet the project’s first goal of reducing the number of violent school incidents. CA/NCF