The help coalition (THC) and their other community partners will offer the students avoiding violence via empowerment (save) project

The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) awarded a $1,000,000 Project Grant under the STOP School Violence Program (CFDA 16.839) to The Help Coalition (THC) and their community partners. The 3-year project will serve 1,200 Jefferson County, Alabama public school students and 90 teachers by providing evidence-based instruction in violence prevention and related activities. Key program elements include:

• Delivering violence prevention training to at least 1,200 middle and high school students
• Providing violence prevention and mental health awareness training to 90 teachers
• Recruiting, training, and maintaining at least 4 student peer educators per project year to reinforce the violence prevention message
• Ensuring trained teachers and staff make referrals to mental health providers as needed

The project aims to help students and teachers recognize, respond to, and prevent acts of violence in order to create safer and more supportive school environments.

The project will serve 1,200 jefferson county, alabama, public school students and teachers (90) by providing them with the evidence-based instruction in violence prevention and related activities that will help them avoid or identify dangerous and high-risk behaviors that have the potential to seriously impair their futures. This project will provide evidence-based violence prevention training for at least 1200 middle and high school students and provide evidence-based violence prevention via mental health awareness training for 90 teachers over the life of the program. IT will recruit, train, or maintain at least four students as peer educators each project year to work within the schools and the community to reinforce and further disseminate the message of violence prevention as assessed by a review of peer educator training records. Finally, all trained teachers and other adults in mental health awareness work through the schools will make referrals to mental health providers, as assessed via a quarterly review of the files of all staff and partners providing youth mental health first aid training.