The cochise county superintendent of schools office, an educational service agency (cochise ESA), proposes the school safety behavioral health initiative to further enhance the development and…

The Cochise County Superintendent of Schools Office was awarded a $971,352 Project Grant from the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance under the STOP School Violence Program (CFDA 16.839) to enhance the development and implementation of Behavioral Threat Assessment (BTA) teams in school districts across Cochise County, Arizona.

The grant funding will be used to provide ongoing, accessible training to entire BTA teams to ensure all members understand the purpose and processes involved, as well as to focus on efficient and effective case management to ensure at-risk students receive the necessary support and intervention services to avoid or disrupt the pathway to violence. The goal is to establish consistent and uniform BTA procedures across all districts in the region, addressing the challenges faced by rural school districts in fully training and maintaining multidisciplinary BTA teams. The project period runs from October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2027.

The cochise county superintendent of schools office, an educational service agency (cochise ESA), proposes the school safety behavioral health initiative to further enhance the development and implementation of behavioral threat assessment (BTA) teams in schooldistricts across the county. This project will further build upon an already ongoing regional effort to address the problem of school violence through prevention and intervention efforts, focused on student support. Despite efforts to implement BTA in cochise county districts, schools continue to experience challenges related to establishing and maintaining fully trained multidisciplinary teams. Specifically, the rural nature of many of the districts served by the ESA, limit the resources and training opportunities which are readily available to establish well-trained teams. Therefore, there is a greater need to have consistent and uniform procedures across all districts in the region. To successfully implement BTA in school districts across the county, we need to provide ongoing, accessible training to entire teams to ensure all team members understand the purpose and processes involved. Additionally, a focus is needed on efficient and effective case management to ensure at-risk students receive the support and intervention services necessary to avoid or disrupt the pathway to violence.