Learning Opportunities

Level 1 VTRA - Theory and Practice

The primary purpose of this two day training is to teach school administrators, counsellors, police officers, and other related partners (community mental health, social services, probation, etc.) the multidisciplinary process of determining if a threat maker actually poses a risk to a target or targets they have threatened.

The primary purpose of this two day training is to teach school administrators, counsellors, police officers, and other related partners (community mental health, social services, probation, etc.) the multidisciplinary process of determining if a threat maker actually poses a risk to a target or targets they have threatened. Teams also assess students who already have histories of violence and are concerned about further and/or more serious violence potential. Serious violence is an evolutionary process and most students leave (intentionally or unintentially) signs and indicators. Teams are trained to become local experts at collecting data that helps to paint a clear picture of how high risk a student may be to carry out an act of violence towards themselves or others and what the appropriatew intervention should be based on that data. Teams are also trained to address the newer issue of “unauthored threats” that have plagued schools across Canada for the past few years. The level I training is best implemented when the local school districts (divisions) across the country take the lead to organize their partners to be trained together. From the schools and school districts there should be principals and vice-principals, counsellors, social workers, psychologists, and others represented from every school as well as district level personnel including the superintendent(s) and director(s). From our community partners there should be representatives from police, mental health, child protection (social services), youth robation, local hospital staff who conduct emergency violence and suicide risk assessments, and others as determined by the unique characteristics of your communities.

Level One VTRA Training Outline

DAY ONE

Introduction:

Training Overview
Traumatic Event Systems (TES) Model Crisis vs. Traumatic Events Ground Zero and Impact ZonesTraumatic Aftermath and High Risk Student Behavior
Critical Periods
Targeted vs. Non-Targeted Violence
Human Target Selection
Site Selection
Unidimensional Assessments
Safe Schools Initiative: U.S. Secret Service and U.S. Department of Education
FBI: Four-Pronged Assessment Model
High Risk Students:Traditional vs. Non-Traditional Fluidity between Homicidal and Suicidal DomainsThreat Makers in the Aftermath
Identification with the Aggressor
Girl Violence
Responding to threats in the aftermath: The effects of Over-reacting and Under-reacting.

DAY TWO

School Dynamics
Multidisciplinary Violence Threat/Risk Assessment Teams: Acts of Legislation and Legal Issues
Threat/Risk Assessment ProcessStage I Assessment
Stage II Assessment
Stage III Implementation
Assessing Violence Potential: Protocol for Dealing with High Risk Student Behavior (Ninth Edition)
Case Studi