Project Summary
The purpose of this project is to develop and pilot test the Family Check-Up Threat Assessment model, a family-centered ecological approach to assessment of and intervention for students who make school violence threats. With several high-profile school shootings and the increasing rates of youth suicide in the last decade, school violence—defined as intent to inflict harm on self or others—is a pressing public health concern, with negative long-term implications for victims and the students who make and carry out threats of violence. Most school-based threat assessment protocols minimally involve families, yet families and the home context are essential to understanding the conditions contributing to threats of student violence. Engaging families is critical to effective assessment and intervention. To address this need, the research team recently began adapting Family Check Up to address school threats of violence, but more work is needed to fully develop this model. The team will further design, develop, and evaluate a model for addressing school threats of violence, with the ultimate aim of reducing violence risk and promoting student social behavioral competencies.
Funding Period: 7/1/2024 – 6/30/2028
Amount: $1,999,898
Funder: National Center for Special Education Research
Awardee: University of Wisconsin – Madison, sub-contract with University of Oregon
Principal Investigator: Andy Garbacz
Co-Principal Investigators: Anne Marie Mauricio
Research Project Coordinator: Nicole Brys
