Modoc Nation's S.A.F.E. Project to provide Safe Access For Education to youth in Ottawa County, Oklahoma.

The Modoc Nation’s BJA STOP School Violence project seeks to prevent violence and resolve conflicts or problems that underlie threatening behaviors for students in the Miami Public School District in Ottawa County, Oklahoma. With 2,134 students, MPS was chosen as a partner for this project as it is the largest study body of rural Ottawa county, where recent increases in rates of violence, child maltreatment and harmful behaviors have illustrated the need for early intervention and prevention efforts. By project completion in 10/1/2025, our project will have increased the capacity of all Miami Public School District staff to appropriately respond to crisis by providing annual professional development opportunities focused on crisis response; increased the capacity of the Miami Public School District implementing licensed mental health professionals to provide supportive, preventative services to children and families; and increased the capacity of MPS to appropriately respond to crisis by enhancing the infrastructure between MPS & MPD, as measured by updated policies & procedures.

Modoc Nation’s Healing House and MPS will partner with the Miami Police Department to implement the programmatic activities of this grant by coordinating public information and prevention campaigns and update policies for school resources officers to create a trauma-informed school climate. The proposed program is dedicated to the implementation of a long-term safety strategy that is sustainable beyond the grant cycle. Each strategy utilized will be carefully planned to achieve sustainability by integrating the necessary infrastructure and capacity building into each step of the planning, implementation, and evaluation of the program activities. This program will use a variety of approaches to achieve the stated goals and meet the needs of the community. The project will coordinate professional development trainings for school officials, educate students through preventative messaging campaigns, hire licensed mental health professionals to provide supportive services to children and families, and increase the capacity of the schools to appropriately respond to crisis through updated infrastructure and policies.