Billings Public Schools - Preventing School Violence

Billings, MT is the largest city in Montana and home to the largest school district (Billings Public Schools (BPS)) in the state serving over 16,000 students.  Billings has seen a rise in violent crimes over the past four years, especially youth violent crimes and increased youth gang activity. The Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), PBIS school climate survey, School Resource Officers (SROs) incident reports, individual school behavior reports, and Billings Police Department data demonstrate the need for support in BPS middle schools. The goal of BPS is to address the critical need for violence prevention, positive youth resiliency skill building, and promotion of a positive school climate through the Culture of Care (CoC) program. This initiative aims to (1) reduce school violence, (2) promote a positive school climate, (3) improve overall school and individual student safety, and (4) increase family/community engagement in reducing youth violence. BPS will implement the CoC program to foster student leaders with strong interpersonal skills in six middle schools by teaching and supporting students to facilitate problem solving and restorative conversations with their peers, support them in identifying how to strengthen connections in their schools, and connect them to community service opportunities and organizations.  The CoC project will use funding to hire two full-time Culture of Care specialists to work directly with students in the six middle schools and a full-time Culture of Care Program Leader to coordinate training, support program implementation, and promote stakeholder engagement. Funding will also be used to expand trauma-informed solutions including CoC practices and evidence-based school programs including Rachel’s Challenge (school violence prevention program) and Hope Squad. Students, educators, and parents/guardians will benefit from the CoC program through training in conflict resolution, building positive resiliency skills, and peer to peer engagement and mediation. Expected outcomes include the following: improved student relationships among peers, teachers, and families; improved student conflict resolution skills, bolstered youth positive protective factors, improved sense of belonging and connectedness to school, and positive resiliency skills in decision making. This all leads to a reduction in violence by addressing conflict before it occurs or escalates.