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Gloucester County Safe Schools Program
The Gloucester County
Safe Schools Program was established in September 1999 as a proactive
initiative of
the
Gloucester County Board of Chosen Freeholders and the Gloucester County
Roundtable of School Superintendents. The purpose of this initiative is to
establish a countywide safe schools program for the schools of Gloucester
County.
Membership:
The 28 public school districts of
Gloucester County.
Objective:
To provide the public school systems of Gloucester
County with a program designed on the theme of school violence prevention.
This affiliation provides the districts with the services of a licensed
psychologist as the lead professional in a comprehensive plan of prevention,
intervention, and postvention activities.
Staff:
Shared employment, under the supervision of the
Gloucester County Special Services School District, of the Safe Schools
Program licensed psychologist.
Program Components:
Safe Schools
Committee:
Comprised of representatives from each school district who attend county
Safe Schools Committee meetings. This roundtable meets quarterly to
review current and recent relevant events, publications, and issues; share
information on policy planning and response procedures; review research
findings; and disseminate training opportunities and schedules.
Speakers from community agencies are invited to
address the committee and provide information regarding the availability of services and
how to access these resources.
Crisis Intervention Team: Comprised of
representatives from the school districts of Gloucester County. Team members
are experienced in counseling and crisis intervention. The team is available
to provide crisis intervention services in the aftermath of a school
critical incident.
Threat /
Risk Assessment:
The Safe Schools Program Psychologist provides assistance in Threat / Risk Assessment in
cases in which a student comes to the attention of school officials due to a
concern of a potential risk for violence. The purpose of the Threat / Risk
Assessment is to assess risk and protective factors for violent behavior and
to generate interventions to prevent violence.
In-service Training: Training is provided to school personnel on a variety
of prevention, intervention, and postvention topics.
Community Liaison and Coordination:
Assistance with linkage to a variety of public and private
agencies to develop a network of support, information exchanges, referral,
and crisis planning for school personnel.
Freeholders' School Safety Committee: This committee is chaired by
Freeholder, Joseph A. Brigandi, Jr.,and comprised of community
representatives. This roundtable meets semiannually
to review current and recent relevant events, publications, and issues
related to school safety and violence prevention.
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