Project P.E.A.C.E. (Prevention, Engagement, and Connection in Education)

The Arkansas State University (A-State) Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) Resource Center (the Center) in Jonesboro, Arkansas, proposes Project PEACE (Prevention, Engagement, and Connection in Education). This project will address two funding areas: (1) Train school personnel and students on preventing school violence. (2) Provide specialized training or create specialized non-training policies for law enforcement who work in schools and/or with school-age populations such as school resource officers (SROs) and probation officers. The beneficiaries of Project PEACE are seven Arkansas middle and junior high schools located in northeast Arkansas (Jonesboro and Blytheville), northwest Arkansas (Fayetteville), and central Arkansas (Little Rock). In Year 1, five schools will participate: Jonesboro’s Annie Camp Jr. High, Blytheville Middle School, Fayetteville’s Ramay Jr. High, Holt Middle School, and John L. Colbert Middle School. In Year 2, two more schools will join the project: LISA Academy’s North Middle School and West Middle School in Little Rock. Activities include training and coaching school leadership teams and SROs in implementing PBIS, a multitiered systems of support (MTSS) framework; developing schoolwide action plans to improve school climate; engaging students in town halls; training school staff, families, and community groups on Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA) and Suicide Prevention; and building capacity for the Center to provide more needed training, services, and collaborative opportunities for schools across Arkansas.