Efforts to establish a formal Violence Threat Risk Assessment (VTRA) protocol moved a step closer to reality following an Oct. 9 presentation by Kevin Cameron to community groups, including public and Catholic school board representatives.
Cameron is the executive director of the Canadian Centre for threat assessment and trauma response and is assisting the school boards, police, Family and Children Services, youth justice officials, and mental health organizations in moving ahead with a final VTRA protocol, which is expected to be signed in early 2013.
About 20 participants attended the meeting at the museum and archives building.
The intent of the protocol is to identify potential high risk individuals and prevent all violence, Cameron said.
Schools in Wellington and Dufferin counties have put an initial protocol in place to “help us identify students who may be on a path to violence and to get help,” said regional risk assessment committee co-chair Brenda Courtney.
She works as liaison of the student support leadership initiative from the Ministry of Education with Beth Charles of the Upper Grand District School Board (UGDSB).
“Providing a safe learning environment is the focus of VTRA, a collaborative partnership between the Upper Grand and Wellington Catholic district school board, local police services and child-youth service agencies in Wellington and Dufferin counties,” stated a News release from the UGDSB.
Cameron said much of the violence found today occurs in the social media online.
“The majority don’t pose a threat, but some do,” she said.
Cameron added “the level of collaboration” between schools, police and other health services is essential to identifying whether a threat poses a “true risk.” Having a protocol in place will assist to determine that risk.
Factors that have to be identified and considered can include an individual’s past history. In some serious cases, the history might include whether an individual has a violent past, whether they have access to firearms, whether they have been sexually abused or have a history of parental violence, and whether there is a pattern of drug abuse.
Cameron reviewed one case where a teacher was attacked by a knife-wielding elementary school student who cornered the teacher in a small room. The incident was resolved without injury. However, further investigation revealed the same youth had brandished a knife on a school bus. The bus driver had reported the incident to a supervisor who shrugged it off.
Cameron said if the bus driver’s report had been acted on, the incident would not have been repeated.
Compiling accurate information and interpreting it is essential to halting violence in schools.
“You need case-specific data to score the risk,” said Cameron.
