School division teams aim to prevent violence and suicide

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This article was published 21/12/2023 (1014 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Brandon School Division might just be saving young lives with the implementation of preventive measures across the division in school violence and suicide.

BSD has trained teams in place in every division school for this purpose, called Non-Violent Crisis Intervention (NVCI). The NVCI teams are made up of principals and vice-principals, school counsellors and social workers.

“Every school has a Non-Violent Crisis Intervention team,” said Susan Gilleshammer, assistant superintendent of student services at BSD.

”Sometimes that team is called if the situation warrants it. And then other times we have students that have support staff and teachers that work around them that know that student needs that extra level of support,” Gilleshammer said.

“All of this work is very much grounded in the idea of prevention. The idea is if something is predictable, then it’s probably preventable.”

The NVCI teams are in kindergarten to Grade 8 schools and high schools. More than 110 school leaders and staff have taken the specialized training. The training covers two days, which staff take out of their own time.

“I think that people recognize how important this prevention aspect is. And so, people are very willing to engage in the training because they know it has a direct positive impact on students,” Gilleshammer said.

“There’s lots of excellent de-escalation pieces in (the NVCI training). But it also provides safe ways to physically intervene if a student is acting aggressively. The primary focus is maintaining the dignity of the student that’s in distress, while taking care of them in a safe way so that they don’t hurt themselves and don’t hurt others.”

The NVCI team steps in if a student, for example, is upset or aggressive. The team aims to de-escalate and calm the student, using a kind and respectful approach. Gilleshammer said all division teachers receive de-escalating training, but the NVCI team is specialized and has been helping students with emotional regulation challenges.

“This is really important for lots of our younger students that are coming in. We’ve noted and it’s been noted provincially that we have a lot more students that come in on the Asperger syndrome disorder spectrum,” Gilleshammer said.

“Overstimulation is really difficult (for these students). Having a schedule and not being surprised, having some smooth transitions for students, a soft entry into class — all those different pieces just help maintain that self-regulation for students with regulation issues.”

Much of the prevention, Gilleshammer said, is creating a welcoming school environment and getting to know the students. She said the training is led with a “trauma-informed” lens.

“We do talk often, through our school student services teams, about getting to know that student and knowing the signs that they are becoming dysregulated. It might be a facial expression; it might be some physical agitation. It could be a change in the speed that they’re talking. There are all these different little pieces. So looking for those early signs that a child is getting dysregulated allows us to do these different pieces more effectively,” she said.

The Violent Threat and Risk Assessment (VTRA) is the next step of prevention in a school.

“The purpose of this team is early intervention to prevent violence from happening. Their work is to identify and address any threatening or concerning behaviours before they escalate into violence,” Gilleshammer explained.

“There might be something such as a statement has been made, implying a student wants to do harm to someone else. If that information comes to (a staff member), whether it’s an EA or a teacher or guidance counsellor, then the VTRA team in the school is pulled together.”

The VTRA usually consists of the school principal and a school resource officer or guidance counsellor.

“This VTRA training has a very specific protocol that’s followed in terms of investigating the threat. Not only the student would be interviewed, but all of those connections surrounding that student would be interviewed,” said Gilleshammer.

“(The VTRA team) is pulling in parents and guardians, the school resource officer, a guidance counsellor, a classroom teacher — so they are getting that whole picture of that student, and anything those folks may have noticed that might be troubling. The whole idea is by doing this very thorough investigation, then we can put interventions in place. The idea is early identification, and then that early intervention.”

Further to these support teams, BSD has also recently implemented Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) and SafeTALK (Suicide Alertness for Everyone). The last school year — the first year of the new program — saw 119 staff and students trained on what to say and do when they suspect a student is possibly suicidal.

“It’s very important to have staff that can respond appropriately… It’s really about getting a level of alertness to the signs that someone might be in distress,” said Gilleshammer.

“SafeTALK is more about creating awareness. It’s that prevention piece again. What are those early indicators? And how can I get my friend some help before things turn really serious?”

SafeTALK will be available to staff and students again later this school year.

“We work hard for students to feel that sense of belonging, and that sense of connection, because we’re with them for their entire day. That’s so important. We know that’s a huge protective factor. (The prevention training) can then help us not go down the road of these other situations,” Gilleshammer said.

» khenderson@brandonsun.com