Los Angeles County Charter School Consortium To STOP School Violence Prevention Program

The Multicultural Learning Center (MLC) working with a consortium of 17 additional public charter schools in Los Angeles County, California (Consortium) has a significant need for BJA’s STOP School Violence Grant Program. The enrollment for the Consortium schools was 6,981 students in grades K through 12. The Consortium serves two K-4, two K-5, three K-8, five middle schools, one 6-12, and four high schools. All Consortium schools, students, and staff members will benefit from this solicitation. Our request is aligned with the following purpose areas: 1) Develop and implement multi-disciplinary behavioral threat assessment teams (BTA) which will conduct evaluations that  track data pertaining to the use of BTA, the demographic characteristics of those who undergo assessments and the referral results of those assessments; 2) Train school personnel and educate students on preventing school violence; and 3) Conduct specialized training for law enforcement who work in schools and with school-age population. Programs and activities include a) training and technical assistance to create and sustain multi-jurisdictional BTA at each Consortium school, utilizing an assessment to manage the BTAs, and enhance policies, procedures, and plans based on data gathered from the assessments; b) adopt the framework of trauma-informed schools with fidelity throughout all Consortium schools. This includes specialized training for all adults working in Consortium schools, having therapeutic mental health providers utilize trauma-informed programs  in student counseling sessions, and using trauma-informed threat assessments for school staff and law enforcement; c) training and technical assistance on Restorative Practices including social-emotional learning and Peace Circles and conducting training on operational procedures for school safety audits and emergency drills; and d) provide specialized training for police officers regarding responding to active shooter incidents on school grounds.
Our application includes resumes for key personnel, a timeline, and a Memorandum of Understanding with community partners. Our overarching objective is to improve security at Consortium school sites by providing students and teachers with the tools they need to recognize, respond quickly to, and help prevent acts of violence and ensure a positive school climate. The related goals, objectives and specific outcomes are included in the narrative section of our application. MLC has designed a management plan to achieve all the objectives of the proposed program on time and within budget, including clearly defined responsibilities of staff, community partners, and contracted service providers.