Our first-year agenda leads with implementation standards, fidelity rubrics, funding maps, and technical assistance — not a hardware-first or compliance-only checklist.
BTAM teams now operate in the large majority of U.S. schools and are required by 45 states. We help schools stand them up and sustain them with fidelity — emphasizing multidisciplinary teams, evidence-based protocols, and due-process safeguards that identify concerns early without criminalizing students.
Anonymous tip lines only work when students trust them and adults act on them. We provide guidance on implementing reporting systems that drive timely, appropriate intervention rather than sitting unused or generating noise.
Belonging and positive climate are among the strongest upstream protective factors. We treat connectedness as core safety infrastructure — integrated with positive behavioral interventions — not a soft add-on to physical security.
Counselors, psychologists, and trauma-informed supports are essential — and chronically underfunded. We help districts braid federal, state, Medicaid, and philanthropic streams to sustain mental-health capacity beyond one-time grants.
Lockdown and active-threat drills can themselves cause harm. We promote drill practices that prepare staff and students effectively while minimizing trauma — informed by the evidence on what actually improves readiness.
Our flagship focus: turning silent panic-alert mandates into systems that perform. Vendor selection, staff training, integration with PSAP and safety plans, room-level location accuracy, and outcome measurement — across every implementation context.
Every domain carries an equity dimension. We build review frameworks to prevent disparate impact, over-surveillance, and the diversion of resources away from prevention in the communities most affected.
We provide the implementation research and evidence base federal policymakers need — informing legislation like the ALYSSA Act and Safer Schools Act so national standards strengthen, rather than fragment, state efforts.
When grant audiences span states that have not enacted Alyssa's Law, our state education agency templates use "Alyssa's Alert." It preserves the emergency-alert implementation concept without implying a state has already passed the legislation — so the funding case works everywhere.
Request the templates →We work with state agencies, district leaders, and partners to put these priorities into practice.