The New Jersey Department of Education, in partnership with the Jersey City – Newark Urban Area Security Initiative, announced in an advisory that it is offering behavioral threat assessment and management training for school communities.

N.J.S.A. 18A:17-43.4 requires the establishment of threat assessment teams in public, charter and renaissance school projects. The purpose of a threat assessment team is to provide schoolteachers, administrators and other staff with assistance in identifying students with behaviors of concern, assessing students’ risk for engaging in violence or other harmful activities and delivering intervention strategies to manage the risk of harm for a student who poses a potential safety risk.

Accordingly, boards of education and boards of trustees must develop and adopt a policy for the establishment of a multidisciplinary threat assessment team at each school. These policies must align with the Guidance on the Establishment of Behavioral Threat Assessment and Management Teams developed by the New Jersey Department of Education.

Participants can register for one of the following Basic K-12 Behavioral Threat Assessment and Management Trainings, which are virtual live sessions, using the links below:

Additionally, NJDOE and UASI are hosting advanced K-12 behavioral threat assessment and management training sessions that will be in person. Participants are only eligible to attend the advanced training after completing a basic training course. Please note that the advanced training is not mandated for threat assessment team members but is intended to enhance threat assessment knowledge and skills. To register, please visit the NJDOE Events Page.

School safety specialists who attend this event will receive appropriate hours toward certification renewal. For questions or more information, please contact the Office of School Preparedness and Emergency Planning via email.