The university of missouri will build capacity in four border districts serving 30 schools (15,000+ students) across texas by creating school-based threat assessment teams; implementing proactive…

The University of Missouri System was awarded a $2,000,000 Project Grant from the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) under the STOP School Violence Program (CFDA 16.839). The grant will fund a 3-year initiative to build capacity in four border school districts in Texas, serving over 15,000 students across 30 schools. Key activities include:

1. Installing behavioral threat identification software on district-owned student computers, with training and monitoring support from the University of Missouri and sub-awardee Slate XP, Inc. to enable early detection and response to potential threats of violence, self-harm, and harm to others.

2. Implementing evidence-based school threat assessment teams and crisis intervention protocols in the partner school districts.

3. Deploying a student mental health screening and support system, including biannual screenings and access to evidence-based intervention programs.

The grant aims to enhance school safety and violence prevention through a comprehensive approach leveraging technology, threat assessment, and mental health support across the partner school districts.

The university of missouri will build capacity in four border districts serving 30 schools (15,000+ students) across texas by creating school-based threat assessment teams; implementing proactive threat identification technology targeting the vulnerable digital anonymity of the school-provided computer; supporting implementation of complementary evidence-supported programs collectively responding to potential threats of violence, self-harm and harm to others; and using a student mental health screening and support system. First, the team will install software on district-owned computers to identify and report behavioral risks to students, including threats of violence, with training and monitoring support ensuring success and sustainability. Second, the university of missouri will support partner schools to use the columbia protocol and comprehensive school threat assessment guidelines and construct structured safety and crisis intervention plans. Third, they will support schools in using the early identification system for screening student mental health concerns biannually and using the intervention hub to provide evidence-based schoolwide and individual student supports. The project includes slatexp as a partner to implement its learnsafe software to enable behavioral threat identification, response and training to schools in each district, customize notifications to prioritize urgent threats, and digital behavior monitoring to support school-based threat and mental health activities.