With a focus on changing the lives of kids and their communities, Alyse Folino Ley, D.O., director of Prevent 2 Protect, says the efforts of this program are already being felt in school districts and communities in Michigan just two years after it kicked off.
The Prevent 2 Protect program launched in October 2022 funded by a $15 million appropriation from the Michigan Department of Education with a focus on preventing targeted violence in schools by addressing mental health. High-risk adolescents identified by school Behavioral Threat Assessment and Management (BTAM) teams are referred to the Prevent 2 Protect HUB team, which was established Jan. 1, 2023. The HUB team provides a comprehensive multidisciplinary assessment and creates an individualized care plan which is then implemented in the child’s community.
Led by Dr. Ley, a child and adolescent psychiatrist with clinical expertise in trauma-related disorders and associate chair of education and research in the Michigan State University Department of Psychiatry, a joint department of the Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine and Human Medicine, the Prevent 2 Protect HUB team also includes Danielle Murphy, project manager; Ellery Sosebee, law enforcement liaison; Amanda Potter, lead case manager; and Lieza Klemm, communications coordinator.
The Prevent 2 Protect program has established three of the five intensive support teams it plans to launch in the state of Michigan. Teams are currently operating in districts throughout Calhoun County in southwest Michigan, the three counties (Lake, Oceana, and Mason) covered by the West Shore Education School District in the northwest part of the state, and most recently a team was established in several districts overseen by the Ingham County Intermediate School District in mid-Michigan.
More than 45 referrals have been received from the three established regions with about 20 students enrolled in the program. And Dr. Ley is happy to report, “by in large those kids are doing exceedingly well.”
She said some of the kids in the program have gotten re-enrolled in school and are back on the path to graduation. Others have joined school activities, and these kids are not getting kicked out of school. These positive outcomes are celebrated by the Prevent 2 Protect team.
Prevent 2 Protect launches in schools
The first participants in Calhoun County entered Prevent 2 Protect in October/November of 2023 with participants joining in from West Shore a month later. Beginning with assessments and meetings with parents, guardians and families, the teams are working with students in these two school districts. Then, in the spring, the team also began working with the Ingham County ISD with applications from East Lansing Public Schools, Holt Public Schools, Mason Public Schools, Lansing Public Schools, Okemos Public Schools and Williamston Community Schools for students to participate in the program.
Students identified as high risk for targeted violence receive case management, systems navigation, monitoring and mentorship from the Intensive Support Teams under the direction of the HUB team. Once the Prevent 2 Protect team receives a referral from a school, the regional team meets with parents/guardians or others to gain consent to begin their work, then talking with the child’s school district, mental health supports, probation officers, physicians, anyone involved with the child’s support and care.
Each Prevent 2 Protect regional Intensive Support Team (IST) includes a regional case manager and mentor. The case manager works with the schools and oversees the participants from those schools, as well as working with the family to help them navigate systems, resources and assisting with any issues, such as transportation to school. Case managers also are the communication conduit for all involved in the care of the child, whose needs may go beyond the Prevent 2 Protect program, such as special education accommodations, or help with a psychiatric illness or a family member who is ill. There could be a need for clothes or a bed; everything must be considered.
Mentors work directly with the child. Considered one of the most important pieces of this work, the mentor is the student’s constant support. “It’s the person whose face lights up when that kid walks in the room. It’s the person touching base with that kid, monitoring and also showing a new path, a path away from violence and path into social integration, into the community,” Dr. Ley said. “The mentors help our students to develop a sense of competence, help them find ways to contribute to the community and to be connected in some way.
“One positive adult in a kid’s life can change their life.”
This is already evident. Dr. Ley said, for example, students who are part of the program are engaging in the community, joining school teams, and making friends in the same school community they once had felt separated from.
“We’re seeing positive outcomes and seeing changes in kids’ lives,” explained Dr. Ley. “None of the kids in the program have been involved in a violent act since they joined. They’re back in school and getting the services needed.”
While, she added, although it is difficult to measure the number of lives saved, because of the P2P program and the work to help these children, what is known is how many lives have been changed. The work of protecting children has long been the focus of Dr. Ley throughout her career, and now Prevent 2 Protect allows her to, watch these kids grow, positively contribute to their community and develop a sense of belonging.
“Every time they (children in Prevent 2 Protect) have a victory, we get to be there and see it,” Dr. Ley said, adding a victory for that child is also a victory for the community. “By helping one, we will save many.”
Prevent 2 Protect Information:
Organizations can request a consult through the Prevent 2 Protect website. The team provides consultation and expert advice regarding a range of topics to assist community efforts in the prevention of school violence. Consultation services are focused on supporting professionals working with adolescents who are at risk of engaging in targeted violence.
Prevent 2 Protect is teamed with the Harvard University T.H. Chan School of Public Health for programmatic evaluation.
By Terri Hughes-Lazzell