The New Jersey Department of Education’s Office of School Preparedness and Emergency Planning is providing ongoing basic training, advanced training and general awareness sessions to help local educational agencies establish and train K-12 Behavioral Threat Assessment and Management Teams, according to an advisory.
The training and general awareness sessions are provided through the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance Students, Teachers, and Officers Preventing School Violence Act grant program. More information on upcoming training sessions and additional BTAM resources and services can be found on the OSPEP webpage.
Background
On Aug. 1, 2022, Gov. Phil Murphy signed into law N.J.S.A. 18A:17-43.4, requiring the establishment of a multidisciplinary threat assessment team in each public school, charter school and renaissance school project.
The purpose of a threat assessment team is to provide teachers, administrators and other staff with assistance in identifying students with behaviors of concern, assessing those students’ risk for engaging in violence or other harmful activities and delivering intervention strategies to manage the risk of harm for students who pose a potential safety risk.
The law also requires the board of education of each school district and the board of trustees of each charter school or renaissance school project to develop and adopt a policy for the establishment of a multi-disciplinary threat assessment team at each school. Any policy must be aligned with the Guidance on the Establishment and Training of K-12 Behavioral Threat Assessment and Management Teams, developed by the NJDOE in consultation with the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness and State law enforcement agencies.
School Leader, the quarterly magazine of the New Jersey School Boards Association, highlighted the law as well as some best practices to consider when forming a BTAM team in a recent article.
For questions, please email OSPEP.