Building Capacity of Mental Health Practitioners to Assess and Manage Risk for Targeted Violence and Terrorism in Community Settings
A primary challenge to establishing and enhancing locally based prevention efforts is the lack of specialized training and expertise in targeted violence and terrorism (TVT) among community-based mental health practitioners (MHPs). The primary goal of this project is to build capacity of mental health practitioners to assess and manage risk for targeted violence and terrorism in collaboration with local multi-disciplinary threat assessment teams. Our efforts to achieve this will unfold in two phases:
- development and preliminary testing of a clinically useful TVT risk assessment/management tool, the TVT Strengths, Needs, and Risks: Assessment & Management (T-SAM) tool
- tool training and consultation for community based mental health practitioners across the country
Public Health Approaches to School Health and Safety
As part of the TCRC’s ongoing work to help develop and train community based threat assessment and mental health supports, we have focused on schools as a logical place where this work can happen. In order to better understand the challenges that exist in implementing school-based threat assessment teams, we have partnered with UIC’s Center for Global Health to investigate barriers and facilitators to school based threat assessment and management teams in three states: Massachusetts, Illinois and Connecticut. This qualitative research study is funded by the Department of Homeland Security and will focus on understanding how different state policies and legislation creates opportunities and roadblocks across six different communities (two urban, two suburban and two rural) in each state. In the course of the study, we will interview both school based professionals, advocates and policy makers, analyze policies and legislation, and conduct focus groups with students, teachers and parents in each community.
For more information, click here.