The Cochise County Schools Safety Behavioral Health Initiative: focused on addressing the prevention component of the county's comprehensive school safety solution.

The Cochise County Superintendent of Schools Office, an Educational Service Agency (Cochise ESA), proposes the School Safety Behavioral Health Initiative to further enhance the development and implementation of Behavioral Threat Assessment (BTA) teams in school districts across the county. This project will further build upon an already ongoing regional effort to address the problem of school violence through prevention and intervention efforts, focused on student support. Despite efforts to implement BTA in Cochise County districts, schools continue to experience challenges related to establishing and maintaining fully trained multidisciplinary teams. Specifically, the rural nature of many of the districts served by the ESA, limit the resources and training opportunities which are readily available to establish well-trained teams. Therefore, there is a greater need to have consistent and uniform procedures across all districts in the region. To successfully implement BTA in school districts across the county, we need to provide ongoing, accessible training to entire teams to ensure all team members understand the purpose and processes involved. Additionally, a focus is needed on efficient and effective case management to ensure at-risk students receive the support and intervention services necessary to avoid or disrupt the pathway to violence.