Michigan State & Local Leaders Look for Solutions to Improve School Safety & Student Mental Health
It’s clear that Michigan school safety is a top priority for both state and local leaders. From a record school safety budget earlier this year to newly released funding in PA 144, Michigan leaders are sending the message that they are committed to supporting schools statewide with the resources they need to keep students and staff safe.
During the Michigan Association of Superintendents & Administrators (MASA) Fall Conference, we had the opportunity to talk to many school and district leaders about their most pressing concerns heading into the school year. Over and over again, we heard the same sentiments – you want resources to provide your students with the mental health support they need and to ensure the physical safety and security of your campuses. We agree that a holistic approach like this – one that prioritizes both physical and mental wellness – is the key to transforming school safety.
Caring for the whole child as well as the community that supports them is complex, and it requires more than point solutions. Improving relationships between students and school staff through an emphasis on mental health supports and social-emotional learning will improve school security. In the same way, creating procedures that ensure physical security will enable you to allow the community into your school without fear and create a welcoming culture on your campus. Investing in the overall wellness and success of your students is the new standard of safety, and we have the solutions to help you achieve it.
Mental Health Support & Physical Security Work Better Together
Building an environment where kids can learn and teachers can teach without needing to worry about their safety requires a comprehensive set of solutions that support one another. Whether your top concern is implementing behavioral threat assessment teams, securing funding for long-term school resource officers or improving school culture and climate, we know these efforts are complex. The path to ensuring that all students and staff feel a sense of safety and belonging on your campus involves a holistic approach that prioritizes everyone’s physical and emotional safety.
Whatever your top concern is, we are here to support you, your students and your staff.
“I’m concerned about improving relationships between my students and their families and school staff.”
Positive relationships in your school community are the first step to safety. When students feel supported, staff feel equipped and parents feel involved, everyone can work together to address concerns before they become threats. Our social-emotional curriculum can help create a common language that will allow your staff and students’ families to improve communication and join together to better support students.
Suite360 for Staff: Support your staff by educating and equipping them with on-demand digital courses to provide for students’ and staff members’ social-emotional and mental health needs. Empower teachers and school staff to address complex issues students face today and increase the inclusivity and consistency of your SEL program by ensuring your staff is properly prepared.
Suite360 for Families: Fully welcome caregivers into their children’s social-emotional education with these web-based and mobile lessons that equip them to have smart conversations with their children about today’s toughest challenges. Lessons are aligned with what children are learning to prepare families to effectively support their child’s development.
Michigan Cares: Thanks to the state-funded Michigan Cares program, schools can now implement social-emotional learning (SEL) and mental health curricula designed to improve student engagement rates, mitigate learning loss and provide direct support for student mental health and wellness.
“I’m prioritizing the physical security of my buildings because I know that lax security leads to vulnerability.”
Thorough physical security measures are the foundation of school safety. Our safety & security solutions can help you do everything from understanding the vulnerabilities of your campus to equipping your staff with silent mobile panic buttons and managing emergency response.
Safety & Security Suite: Operating as a single visitor, volunteer, panic button and emergency management solution set, our Safety & Security Suite integrates Emergency Management and Visitor Management to ensure real-time, whole-campus oversight and accountability and improve communication pathways. The suite provides a variety of features, including silent panic alarms, robust safety checks, guidance to ensure Department of Education (DOE) compliance and comprehensive critical incident mapping.
Risk Assessment: As the only Expert Service Consultants internationally recognized by A.M. Best’s Client Recommended Expert Service Providers for Risk Assessments, Navigate360’s team of board-certified Physical Security Professionals (PSPs) are exceptionally qualified to perform your risk assessment, which can give you peace of mind to stay focused on your school’s critical safety and security missions.
“I want to improve my school’s relationship with local law enforcement so that we are all prepared in the event of an emergency.”
In the event of a violent critical incident on your campus, it is vital that local law enforcement be prepared to respond quickly and effectively. One way to facilitate this is by providing active shooter response training to your students and staff as well as the community’s local law enforcement.
ALICE Training®: The ALICE program is a proactive, options-based active shooter response training program that empowers students and staff to survive in the face of violence. This trauma-informed, age- and ability-appropriate training provides your schools with both eLearning and in-person instruction options and teaches proven techniques for safety drills and emergency response.
“I’m trying to navigate the balance between safety and maintaining a welcoming environment.”
Safety and security can remain a top priority without your campus feeling like it’s completely locked down. By utilizing our technological approach to safety, you can welcome your community in safely and even involve them in your efforts to keep students safe and support their mental health.
Visitor Management: The Navigate360 Visitor Management System increases security and reduces front-office workload with a frictionless, flexible and fully integrated platform. Keep students and staff safe by securely and discreetly vetting each visitor with a hardware-light system that provides total oversight of every person on campus.
Digital Threat Detection: Digital Threat Detection is the most comprehensive, all-encompassing digital safety solution available. This software helps identify and address a student’s intent to harm themselves or others by scanning digital content in real time and notifying school administrators of harm language found in school-owned email and public social media. It also utilizes a web indexing database of 3 billion URLs to protect students from potentially harmful content.
Anonymous Reporting System: (formerly P3) This tool serves as a forum for collaboration and accountability between school administrators, peace officers and mental health professionals to ensure every student’s needs are met. Our technology also powers well-known national and state-level tip lines such as Sandy Hook Promise’s Say Something program and Safe2Tell Colorado. As the leading anonymous reporting tool, our software empowers students, teachers and individuals to proactively share information about safety, bullying, self-harm and violence.
“My top concern is student mental health. I want my entire staff to know how to support a student in crisis.”
It has been well documented that student mental health is in crisis across the country. Schools have a responsibility to equip students with the emotional tools they need to grow and the support they need to navigate a mental health emergency. From social-emotional curriculum to behavioral threat assessment and intervention and restoration training, our mental health solutions can equip your staff to support any student in crisis.
Behavioral Case Manager: This single solution will provide your school’s mental health professionals and BTA team members with evidence-based case management software that allows for continuum of care documentation and analytics reporting to proactively improve outcomes for students of concern.
Suite360 for Students: Help your students reach their full potential and thrive with the most comprehensive, evidence-based social-emotional learning (SEL) curriculum available. Suite360 for Students includes scaffolded lessons for grades K-12, engaging content that students understand and diverse topics that help to produce well-rounded students.
Mental Health & Prevention: Navigate360 provides mental health awareness tools to address tough mental health and safety-related topics. With professionally developed resources for students, staff and families, everyone can care for their own mental health and respond appropriately when they or someone they care about is in need.
Behavior Interventions & Restorative Practices: Turn discipline into a learning opportunity by providing students with lessons based on their infraction, providing a better alternative to detention and suspension and improving decision-making moving forward. With the most comprehensive, continuously updated library of lessons, students have access to individualized lessons based on their behavior, cognitive level and ability.
Michigan Cares: Thanks to the state-funded Michigan Cares program, schools can now implement social-emotional learning (SEL) and mental health curricula designed to improve student engagement rates, mitigate learning loss and provide direct support for student mental health and wellness.
Navigate360 has the Solutions to Address Your School Safety Concerns
We know it takes more than a single solution to take care of the whole child and the schools and community that surround them, which is why we believe in solutions that work better together. From prevention all the way through response and recovery, we can provide end-to-end solutions that keep your students, teachers and staff safe.
Building a comprehensive safety plan can be a daunting task, but we are here to help. Speak with one of our safety specialists today to learn how you can maximize your safety grants and state funding and build a holistic ecosystem of whole-child safety this year.