When a crisis occurs, using the PREPaRE curriculum developed by the National Association of School Psychologists, crisis teams will assess the impact or trauma potential of the incident and then deliver appropriate interventions in response to the needs of students.  The benefits of school crisis intervention include assisting students and staff return to adaptive coping and problem solving; educating students, staff and parents about normal crisis reactions and when to seek help; and helping students to return to a safe and supportive environment that is conducive to learning. Each school has a school-based crisis intervention team composed of the assigned school psychologist, school social worker, school counselor(s), and the building administrator.   Additionally, there are regional crisis teams made up of school psychologists and school social workers that are on call throughout the year.  If a crisis affects a large segment of the school requiring an expanded response, the on-call regional crisis team will be deployed to support the school-based crisis team. 

Assessing the impact of a crisis event involves the school-based team, the regional team (when necessary), and the Educational Specialist, Crisis Intervention.  Evaluating the impact of a crisis begins with understanding the nature of the crisis event and the potential impact on the schools in order to determine the appropriate response level which could be school based and regional.  If a crisis event exceeds the capacity of both the school and regional teams support would be provided by the larger community and partners.  Teams will continue to evaluate the impact of the crisis upon the delivery of interventions and observations of students in need and will adjust initial strategies and interventions appropriately.  This will continue until the crisis event concludes.  Teams will identify students who may need monitoring and follow up and connect those who may need more intensive support through referral services.  Finally, the crisis event  is considered finished once teams evaluate the response effectiveness and identify approaches to improve for future responses.

The PREPaRE Curriculum, 3rd edition, is the crisis intervention curriculum being used in Fairfax County schools and is a training requirement for regional crisis team leaders and co-leaders. This curriculum is on Best Practices Registry for SAMHSA, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and has received national attention for effective integration with federal government standards for school safety and response. Further, the PREPaRE Curriculum is in alignment with the preparedness framework set by the US Department of Education’s Guide for High Quality Emergency Operations Plans. School-based and regional crisis team members have access to evidence-informed, practical crisis intervention tools. They include FCPS procedural related forms, intervention resources, parent and community resources, and informational handouts. As the need continues to grow for PREPaRE trained staff, ongoing offerings of PREPaRE Workshops will be scheduled this school year. 

In order to maintain ongoing preparedness and address the crisis needs of schools, capacity building will continue to be a focus.  Through PREPaRE workshops and other training opportunities FCPS staff will understand their role in comprehensive school safety planning and fulfill their roles on crisis teams.  Further, analysis of crisis response data will yield insights that will enhance overall team response, and further inform prevention efforts and intervention support for students.

During the 2022-2023 school year the educational specialist or designee provided consultation to schools for 89 crisis incidents. This consultation provided teams with technical assistance regarding crisis response such as student and staff supports/intervention, determining appropriate levels of response, and the coordination of employee assistance when direct on-site support was needed for staff.  A review of the response data indicates that teams responded to the following types of incidents:

• Medically Related Deaths
• Youth and Adult Suicides
• Automobile Accident
• Overdoses
• Acts of Violence
• House Fires
• Community Violence

Additionally, the following goals were met during 2022-23:

1. Continue to build capacity for school and district crisis teams to imbed PREPaRE training concepts  and practices into their work, as more PREPaRE trained individuals are identified. Locate training opportunities for train-the-trainer for both PREPaRE 1 and 2 curricula.

This goal was met.  Two Training of Trainers workshops were conducted which yielded new trainers for both PREPaRE Workshop 1 and PREPaRE Workshop 2.

2. Provide FCPS-assigned PREPaRE trainers the opportunity to offer training to their colleagues. Facilitate 1-2 PREPaRE trainings with the goal of training 50 clinicians this year and the goal of all crisis team members and co-leads receiving the 3rd edition training. Prioritize PREPaRE 2 training followed by PREPaRE 1 training.

This goal was met.  Two workshops were conducted during the 2022-23 school year, one in the Fall and one in the Spring.   Fifty-one school psychologists and social workers were trained.

3. Continue to enhance school-based teams’ ability to address school crisis incidents locally by strengthening implementation of the school-based mental health team crisis plan. To do so, encourage administrators and teams to take FCPS-designed digital course on crisis intervention methods, including key elements of a crisis, important actions to take, and what resources might be needed.

This goal was met.  A review of information related to the role of participants for PREPaRE Workshop 1, Third Edition, Comprehensive School Safety Planning: Prevention Through Recovery conducted during the 2022-2023 school year indicated the following number of workshop participants:

4. Continue to utilize the Everbridge alert system to ensure that crisis teams are notified of their response needs as efficiently as possible.

This goal was met.  A process for notifying teams of when they are on call, off call, and when they need to respond to a crisis was established and is being utilized.

5. Continue to enhance standard operating procedures for “backup coverage,” in order that multiple personnel can cover the program manager’s absences.

This goal is partially met as procedures, resources, and training continue to be developed to maintain continuity of crisis team operations.  During the 22-23 SY, Coordinators for School Psychology and School Social Work Services provided “back up” coverage when the Specialist, Crisis Intervention was unavailable.

6.  Continue to collaborate with emergency services at the Community Services Board and other agencies to ensure that longer-term needs are met for affected communities. Explore essential agreements with community partners before similar crises occur.

This goal was met.  In an effort to maintain community partnerships to assist with crisis recovery and support FCPS staff met with the following: Fairfax County Police Department Victim Services, Community Services Board, Coordinated Services Planning, and Safe Spot. 

Program Goals for 2023-24 are as follows:

1. By the end of the 23-24 school year, FCPS PREPaRE Trainers will conduct two PREPaRE Workshop 1 training sessions to build capacity with staff on understanding their role in emergency preparedness.
2. By the end of the 23-24 school year, FCPS PREPaRE Trainers will conduct three PREPaRE Workshop 2 training sessions to build capacity of school psychologists and social workers related to understanding their role in the assessment of crisis impact and the delivery of appropriate crisis interventions.
3. By the end of the school year the Educational Specialist, Crisis Intervention will attend 8 school-based safety and security tabletop exercises to integrate crisis intervention information and response practices, furthering collaboration between the Office of Intervention and Prevention Services and the Office of Safety and Security.
4. The Educational Specialist, Crisis Intervention will work with the Educational Specialist, Student Mental Health to integrate crisis postvention and intervention data to inform prevention actions and enhance a school’s safe and supportive environment in at least 8 schools.