15-minute focus: Behavioral Threat Assessment and Management

In 15-Minute Focus: Behavioral Threat Assessment and Management for K-12 Schools, Dr. Melissa A. Louvar Reeves explains the interrelated factors that play a role in a person’s decision to plan and carry out an act of violence.

Every year, stories about violence in schools make headlines around the world. And every year, questions surface: How could this have been prevented? What were the warning signs? What changes do we need to make in our schools and communities to prevent this from happening yet again?

This book will help answer those questions, as you learn about the factors that affect decision-making, and the role of Behavioral Threat Assessment and Management (BTAM) in managing students’ troubling behaviors, mitigating risk for the school and community, and directing students onto more positive pathways.

In this book, you’ll discover:

• Why schools should establish BTAM teams and protocols
• How to establish a BTAM team
• Identifying and reporting concerns
• Establishing protocols for evaluating threats
• How teachers, administrators, counselors and the community can work together to mitigate troubling behavior and ensure student success
• Ways to assist struggling students as they transition to adult life after high school

Educators, administrators, and school counselors have been trained on how to respond to a student who is suicidal or despondent. This book helps translate those skills to assist someone who is thinking about harming others.