LM Nov-Dec.2019

Safe2Help Illinois Initiative Launches in January By Mike Chamness Chair, Illinois Terrorism Task Force

S T O P

The State of Illinois is planning to launch Safe2Help Illinois early in 2020 as a centerpiece of its school safety efforts. One of the recommendations of the state’s School Safety Working Group (SSWG), the Safe2Help initiative will include a social-media based 24/7 helpline handled by specially trained analysts as well as a training/education component for students from preK–12. According to after-action reports, in virtually every mass school shooting perpetrated by another student or students in the past two decades in our country, at least one other student knew something bad might happen but chose not to come forward with that information. The Safe2Help program will offer students a confidential way in which to report information regarding threats of school violence, suicide, bullying or other issues. Legislation will be introduced in the spring session to ensure that the identity of those sharing information will remain confidential and to protect that information from FOIA requests. Safe2Help Illinois is being developed after a study of similar programs in Colorado, Michigan, Nevada, and Wyoming. The nation’s first statewide tip line, Safe2Tell Colorado, was implemented a few years after the Columbine attacks and last year received more than 18,000 tips. While school attacks grab the headlines and were the impetus for the programs, the No.1 tip received nationally is peer reporting of suicide threats, with bullying being the second most prevalent tip. All established statewide tip lines report that their programs have been successful in receiving large numbers of tips, and the administrators who run those programs say that they believe tragedies have been averted because of the programs. Anecdotally, Nevada officials reported at a recent national school safety tip line conference that the very first day their tip line went live they received a tip that resulted in a potential school shooting being disrupted. Local law enforcement, acting upon the tip, went to a student’s home and found loaded weapons and documentation regarding a planned school attack.

The overarching goal of Safe2Help is getting students help before they harm themselves or others. It is not to identify students for the purpose of suspension, expulsion or arrest except in the most extreme situations, such as the one Nevada officials described. Perhaps not surprising given that the target audience is composed of teenagers, only about 20 percent of the tips in other states come via phone calls. The vast majority of tips have come in by text, the websites associated with the programs or utilizing the free apps that are part of the programs. Tips will be handled by specially trained analysts with extensive training in mental health and public safety embedded in the Statewide Terrorism and Intelligence Center (STIC) operated by Illinois State Police. Although law enforcement involvement will be behind the scenes, the focus of the program will be providing students, parents, school officials, and the public the tools they need to prevent a tragic event. Other state agencies that will provide primary support for the operation of the program include the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) and the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA). Participation by school districts in Safe2Help Illinois will be purely voluntary and free of charge. The responsibilities of school districts that participate include identifying a minimum of five recipients—including at least one local law enforcement agency. Once tips are vetted by the analysts, the information will be sent immediately to the local recipients. The role of the state analysts then will become following up on the information to see if local school officials or law enforcement officials need any assistance from the state and tracking how the situations have been resolved to monitor regional and statewide trends in order to determine future prevention priorities for the program. A tip regarding a potential suicide, for example, would immediately go to local school officials. The Safe2Help analysts also would provide a list of local or regional mental health providers and/or a reference to the national suicide prevention hotline based upon the needs of those local school officials. The information needs to be sent to local officials as soon as possible, but instead of stopping there, the Safe2Help program will attempt to offer as much help as possible to local officials if such assistance is needed or requested.

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LM Month 2019