June 2024
Latest News
Stay Safe Online: Resources and Materials to Use This Internet Safety Month
Internet Safety Month is recognized every June to increase Americans’ understanding of online threats and empower them to be safer and more secure in the digital world. With summer break upon us, young people may be spending more time online, making it an ideal time to discuss internet safety to help protect them from potential risks. Educators, parents, and caregivers can access SchoolSafety.gov’s online safety issue brief for actions and resources, as well as visit Know2Protect to learn more about online child sexual exploitation and abuse and find tips to start a conversation with kids and teens.
Organizations Launch New Initiative to Address Youth Mental Health Crisis
Eleven states joined AmeriCorps, the Schultz Family Foundation, and Pinterest to launch a new public-private collaboration to recruit, train, and deploy the nation’s first Youth Mental Health Corps and help teenagers access critical mental health resources. The Corps will support the growing needs of young people while creating career pathways to address the national shortage of mental health professionals. Through the initiative, Corps members will work directly with students to develop trust, share resources, and help students navigate challenges such as harassment, bullying, and bias.
FCC Adopts $200M Cybersecurity Pilot Program for Schools and Libraries
The Federal Communications Commission adopted a three-year, $200 million Schools and Libraries Cybersecurity Pilot Program. This program will allow the Commission to obtain actionable data about which cybersecurity services and equipment would best help K-12 schools and libraries address the growing cyber threats and attacks against their broadband networks. Modeled after the Connected Care Pilot Program, the pilot program will make $200 million in Universal Service Fund support available to participating schools and libraries to defray the costs of eligible cybersecurity services and equipment.
SchoolSafety.gov Hosts Virtual Training on K-12 Student Mental Health Resources and Support
The Federal School Safety Clearinghouse hosted a virtual training that provided information and resources to support K-12 student mental health. The event featured a discussion with federal, state, and local representatives on mental health and wellness resources available to schools, the practical implementation of federal mental health funding, and effective models for school-based programs and services. Watch the recorded training to learn more and explore various mental health resources available on SchoolSafety.gov.
Upcoming Events and Opportunities
Grants and Funding Opportunities
Visit the SchoolSafety.gov Grants Finder Tool for additional school safety-related funding opportunities.
Events, Webinars, and Conferences
STOP School-Based Community Violence Intervention Approaches: Collaborations to Increase Parent/Family Engagement (June 18) – This webinar, hosted by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, will provide information on how school staff can engage families and create opportunities for them to be active participants in making decisions that impact their child’s education and development.
Lessons from the Field - Youth and Young Adult Experiences as School Violence Survivors and Advocates (June 26) – This webinar, hosted by the U.S. Department of Education, will elevate the voices of current and past students who have lived through acts of violence in schools or who are working and advocating to address school and community violence. During the webinar, speakers will talk about what safety means to them and what schools can do to increase safety.
School Mental Health Virtual Learning Series: Implementing Policies and Practices to Support LGBTQ+ Youth in Schools, Part 2 (July 9) – This webinar, hosted by the Central East Mental Health Technology Transfer Center in collaboration with the National Center for School Mental Health, will provide information on systemic and environmental variables that contribute to mental health disparities among LGBTQ+ youth along with strategies to develop safe, welcoming, and LGBTQ+-affirming environments.
Enhancing School Safety Using Behavioral Threat Assessment (July 11, September 12, November 20) – These virtual training events, hosted by the U.S. Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center (NTAC), will highlight key findings and implications of NTAC’s research on school violence prevention. Attendees will learn about the background, thinking, and behavior of school attackers and how some schools discovered and stopped plots before violence occurred. This training will also provide guidance on how schools may develop or improve existing violence prevention programs utilizing a behavioral threat assessment model.
Preventing Mass Attacks in Our Communities (August 7, October 1, December 18) – These virtual training events, hosted by NTAC, will cover important findings from NTAC’s research on mass attacks perpetrated in public and semi-public spaces, including businesses, restaurants, bars, retail outlets, houses of worship, schools, open spaces, and more. This training will also provide guidance on how communities may develop or improve existing violence prevention programs utilizing a behavioral threat assessment model.
Visit the SchoolSafety.gov Events Page for additional school safety-related webinars, conferences, and more.
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School Safety Resources
Child Exploitation Resources
Know2Protect
This campaign educates and empowers young people, parents, and trusted adults on ways to prevent and combat exploitation and abuse both on and offline; explains how to report incidents of these crimes; and offers support resources for victims and survivors of online child sexual exploitation and abuse.
NetSmartz
This resource provides age-appropriate videos and activities to help teach children to be safer online with the goal of helping children to become more aware of potential online risks and empowering them to help prevent victimization by making safer choices on- and offline.
Emergency Planning Resources
Especially Safe: An Inclusive Approach to Safety Preparedness in Educational Settings: Planning and Preparation Guide
This guide helps school safety planning teams identify resources, develop strategies, and solve challenges to meet the diverse safety needs of all stakeholders within the educational community.
Exercise Starter Kits and Tabletop Exercises
These self-conducted tabletop exercises, tailored for the academic community, include a set of scalable tools aimed to test existing emergency plans, protocols, and procedures, while also strengthening preparedness, response, and recovery capabilities. Tabletop exercise packages are also available on a variety of physical security scenarios geared towards specific facilities, including schools.
Integrating Neurodivergent K-12 Students and Staff Into School Emergency Management Planning
This fact sheet provides core school safety planning teams with suggestions for developing emergency operations plans that consider the needs of their neurodivergent population.
Violence Prevention Resources
Safe Storage of Firearms
This comprehensive guide provides information on different types of storage devices and best practices for safely storing firearms.
Visit SchoolSafety.gov for additional resources to support school safety and security efforts.
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If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for future newsletters, please contact us at SchoolSafety@hq.dhs.gov.
SchoolSafety.gov Disclaimer
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Department of Education (ED), U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) do not endorse any individual, enterprise, product, or service. DHS, ED, DOJ, and HHS do not mandate or prescribe practices, models, or other activities described in this communication. DHS, ED, DOJ, and HHS do not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of any information outside of those respective Departments, and the opinions expressed in any of these materials do not necessarily reflect the positions or policies of DHS, ED, DOJ, and HHS.
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