Navigating 3 Common Challenges of Behavioral Threat Assessments

1. Threat Identification

• Evaluating Threat Severity: One significant challenge is determining the level of response warranted by the myriad of threats schools encounter, with some less clear-cut than others.

  Firstly, understanding the wide range of threats that can emerge in a school setting, and determining the appropriate level of response, is a significant challenge. Online threats, whether through Google Classroom or social media, add another layer of complexity. Deciphering the line between a casual remark and a serious threat is often tricky and can lead to either overreaction or underestimation. 

• Digital Dilemma: The increasing use of online platforms like Google Classroom and social media has blurred the lines between harmless jokes and genuine threats. Educators often find it difficult to make the right call. 
• Consistency in Implementation: Inconsistencies in the application of BTAs can raise concerns during state audits. Such inconsistencies also waste valuable time that could be better used for constructive educational activities. 

Raptor StudentSafe™, with its comprehensive BTA case management system and customizable categories, helps teams follow established protocols, maintain protocol fidelity, and make informed decisions. By reducing administrative tasks and providing real-time insights through alerts and dashboards, StudentSafe empowers teams to focus on students’ well-being and create proactive, student-centered programs to prevent violence.

2. Role Clarity

Educators, not law enforcement professionals, are typically at the forefront of behavioral threat assessments. Consequently, making the complex BTA process digestible and practical for educators is a common hurdle. The process’s implementation can vary significantly from campus to campus, raising concerns about consistency and possible state audit questions, and tracking case progress accurately is difficult to achieve in traditional methods. 

StudentSafe facilitates communication and collaboration among team members, even if they are in different locations. Throughout assessment and case management in StudentSafe—which uses proven BTA methodologies—teams can quickly share information and efforts to ensure a coordinated response. With StudentSafe, you can assign tasks to other staff to distribute workload and facilitate progress, and also set reminders and alerts to help team members manage cases and focus on the student. 

3. Documentation and Reporting

Compiling, reporting, and analyzing threat assessment data is often tedious, manual, and time-consuming. This difficulty is compounded by increasing demands for transparency and accountability in school safety measures. 

Leveraging technology enables you to streamline your existing process so you and your team can focus on the student. Providing a central repository with StudentSafe gives teams a secure place to gather and share data, which makes it easier to analyze the data to identify patterns and potential warning signs so teams can make informed decisions.