On request from the school board, mountain comprehensive care center, INC

This Project Grant award of $1,000,000 from the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) under the STOP School Violence Program (CFDA 16.839) will enable Mountain Comprehensive Care Center, Inc. (MCCC) to partner with the Pike County School District, Pike County Sheriff, and Morehead State University to implement a comprehensive school violence prevention initiative in Pike County, Kentucky.

The key activities funded through this three-year award include: establishing behavioral threat assessment and intervention teams; training at least 90% of school-based therapists on threat risk assessment and 50% of teachers on suicide screening; hosting student assemblies on bullying and mental health intervention; implementing evidence-based violence prevention programs like Green Dot and It's My Space; providing one-on-one student counseling; and conducting joint trainings for school personnel and law enforcement on response protocols. The project aims to strengthen school capacity for violence assessment, reporting, and response, while also cultivating a culture of safety and inclusion among teachers and students.

Will partner with pike county school district, pike county sheriff, and morehead state university (subrecipient) to implement a pike county school violence prevention initiative that not only strengthens school capacity for violence assessment, reporting, and response, but also creates and models a culture of safety and inclusion among teachers and students. The project will establish behavioral threat assessment and intervention teams that include law enforcement, school resource officers, behavioral health personnel, school staff, and community stakeholders; train at least 90% of school-based therapists (sbts) on the psychosocial evaluation threat risk assessment and 50% of teachers on the ask suicide screening questionnaire across all participating schools; and review and adjust behavioral threat assessment protocol to incorporate lessons learned and feedback to improve threat identification and response effectiveness by 15% year over year. The project will host one student assembly at each school with teachers, sbts, and at least 60% of students on bullying prevention, suicide prevention, and intervention in mental health crises; implement and begin green DOT/IT's my space programming in pike county middle and high schools; and facilitate collaboration between trained school personnel and existing student councils or clubs to embed long-term safety and wellness strategies into school culture. The project will conduct at least two training sessions for sbts and teachers to ensure ongoing competency and adherence to safety protocols; provide one-on-one support and counseling for students exposed to or experiencing violence; host a joint training seminar annually for the sheriff's department, school resource officers, and sbts on evidence-based intervention and response to student violence; and host quarterly project management team meetings to engage stakeholders in continuous quality improvement.