Every school district and ISD in Michigan will need to have a behavioral threat assessment team in place this fall due to a new law signed by Governor Gretchen Whitmer. These teams aim to identify potential threats and intervene before violence occurs.
- Behavioral threat assessment teams will evaluate potential threats and develop intervention plans.
- The teams include counselors, social workers, mental health professionals and school administrators.
- Michigan schools are required to implement these teams following legislation signed by Governor Whitmer.
WATCH: School safety teams aim to prevent violence in Michigan schools
Ingham ISD has already established a behavioral threat assessment and management team to address safety concerns in schools.
"The purpose of the team is to assess situations of safety concerns at the school," said Noelle Duval, a member of Ingham ISD's behavioral threat assessment and management team.
These specialized teams bring together various professionals to create a comprehensive approach to school safety.
"We really focus on trying to create a caring school environment to prevent as many of situations one can prevent," Duval said.
The teams evaluate potential threats by examining factors that might lead a student toward violence and developing intervention strategies.
"Basically any of the factors that may be leading that student to the pathway of violence, we try to adjust those to try to get the people off the pathway to keep the community safe," Duval said.
The new requirement comes after Governor Whitmer signed legislation earlier this year mandating these teams in all Michigan school districts.
Ellery Sosebee, former Lansing Police Chief who now works with the state-funded Prevent 2 Protect project, believes the teams will enhance school safety.
"The level of threats that will be documented will rise because they will be trained to identify the threat and investigate it properly," Sosebee said.
The Prevent 2 Protect project serves as a resource that some school districts contact after identifying a potential threat.
"We want to help them and prevent them from doing something they will regret later," Sosebee said.
Duval emphasized that these programs can make a significant difference because violent incidents don't happen without warning signs.
"Students don't just snap. We can help these kids to be able to address those issues so they're not suffering from these things as well as keeping other kids and the school community safe," Duval said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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