Training
We aim to provide a variety of trainings addressing student safety including trainings on student mental health, threat assessment, suicide prevention / postvention, and other relevant topics. Our goal is to make trainings accessible to all Connecticut schools, so our trainings are low cost, and our school safety consultants work at no cost to the schools they serve. Consultative services are generally offered at no charge. We are open to ideas for training that we can run through the Center and make accessible to all. Because we do not want cost to be a barrier, we offer scholarships for individuals who are unable to afford training costs. Customized trainings are available at a market rate. Please email schoolsafetycenter@wcsu.edu to inquire.
The Center was awarded a grant through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to bring the Comprehensive School Threat Assessment Guidelines (CSTAG) model to districts free of charge. If you would like to schedule Comprehensive School Threat Assessment Guidelines (CSTAG) training for your district, please contact your Regional School Safety Coordinator. This project is funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships, opportunity number DHS-23-TTP-132-00-01.
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Our workshops are offered in collaboration with the Western Connecticut State University’s Department of Social Work and approved for
Continuing Education Credit for Connecticut State Licensed Social Workers, Mental Health Counselors, Psychologists, and Marriage and Family Therapists.
The approval meets relicensing criteria for LPCs, LCSWs, LMSWs, LMFTs, and licensed Psychologists in the State of Connecticut.
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Date: Tuesday, May 20, 2025
Time: 10:00AM – 11:30AM EDT
Course Name: Pilot Training on the Electronic and Telephonic Threat Intake Form
Course Description:
We are excited to announce a pilot training session on the Electronic and Telephonic Threat Intake Form. This session is highly recommended for all administrative and front-line staff, including those who answer phones and receive emails within the school district. As part of this pilot program, your participation and feedback will help refine the training and improve the effectiveness of our threat intake procedures!
What You’ll Learn:
- Understand the structure and components of the Electronic and Telephonic Threat Intake Form.
- Learn how to accurately document threats received via phone, email, and online platforms.
- Develop best practices for capturing critical threat details, including caller information, exact language, and identifying factors.
- Discuss real-life scenarios and learn how to respond appropriately to different types of threat reports.
Intended Audience: This pilot training is recommended for school administrators, front office and reception staff, law enforcement officers, security personnel, IT staff, and anyone responsible for handling calls or emails regarding potential threats
Your role is important in ensuring timely and accurate threat assessment and reporting. By participating in this pilot session, you will play a key role
in shaping future training efforts.
Location: Virtually on Zoom
Instructors: Trooper First Class James White, CT State Police (bio) and Statewide D.A.R.E. Coordinator;
Amery E. Bernhardt, D.M., CEM, Director, Connecticut Center for School Safety;
Rafa Hassan and Eli Mancini, Student Interns, Western Connecticut State University, Connecticut Center for School Safety.
Cost: FREE!
Registration Deadline: May 16, 2025
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Date: Wednesday, August 20, 2025
Time: 8 AM – 3 PM EDT
Course Name: Safer Schools Together Digital Threat Assessment® : Comprehensive Law Enforcement Action Response (CLEAR) Training
Course Description:
This training is designed to equip law enforcement professionals with actionable strategies and cutting-edge tools to efficiently identify, investigate, and respond to threats of violence and worrisome online behaviors reported or detected within schools and communities. The course provides targeted resources and tactical guidance to help officers take swift, effective action when faced with these critical scenarios.
In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, law enforcement plays a pivotal role in ensuring public safety, and this training is tailored to meet the unique challenges faced by patrol officers, investigators, school resource officers, criminal analysts, and other personnel involved in threat assessment and online investigations.
Delivered by subject matter experts in digital investigations, this training offers high-tech investigative techniques that have been developed and refined through years of field experience. Safer Schools Together’s (SST) CLEAR training is renowned across North America for empowering law enforcement to proactively address the growing complexity of digital threats. By applying a Safety and Threat Assessment lens, this training equips officers with the skills to establish a Digital Behavioral Baseline, track potential threats, and document worrisome online behavior across popular social media platforms. Thousands of law enforcement professionals have used these techniques to successfully locate individuals on the pathway to violence, preventing harmful outcomes in their communities.
This Training will include:
- Refresh on Digital Threat Assessment® (DTA) best practices
- Tactical considerations for gathering and preserving digital evidence
- Understanding the impact of AI in the context of school-related threats
- Open-source investigation tips to enhance threat detection
- Strategies for obtaining and safeguarding records from social media platforms
- Navigating digital content takedown requests efficiently
- Juvenile interview protocols in the context of online threats
By participating in this course, law enforcement professionals will gain invaluable insights and techniques that can be immediately applied to safeguard their communities and ensure that
emerging threats are neutralized quickly and effectively.
Intended Audience — For Law Enforcement Professionals Only—
Instructor(s): Safer Schools Together CLEAR Instructors
Max Cap: 100
Location: Connecticut State Police Academy, 285 Preston Avenue, Meriden, CT 06450
Cost: FREE! (Please bring your own lunch)
Registration Deadline: August 8, 2025
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Onsite Training Delivered To Your School District / Agency
Date: Contact Your Regional School Safety Coordinator to Schedule
Course Name: Comprehensive School Threat Assessment Guidelines Training
Course Description:
This is a 1-day workshop on The Comprehensive School Threat Assessment Guidelines (CSTAG). CSTAG is an evidence-based model that teaches interdisciplinary school-based teams to respond to student threats of violence by assessing the seriousness of the threat and creating an intervention plan that addresses the underlying problem that led to the threat. CSTAG is the only school based threat assessment model that is listed in the federal government’s National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices (NREPP) and is used in more than 3,000 schools in 41 states. Schools that employ CSTAG have lower rates of long-term suspensions, fewer alternative school transfers, fewer bullying incidents, more students engaged in school counseling services, and more positive perceptions of school climate. Schools using CSTAG are able to eliminate the racial discipline gap and are more likely to have students who report that there is at least one adult in the building that they would go to for help.
Location: Onsite at Your Facility
Cost: FREE
Intended Audience: This training is appropriate for anyone involved in school safety including but not limited to educators, administrators, mental health professionals, law enforcement officers, security, facility managers, and school resource officers.
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Date: Contact Your Regional School Safety Coordinator to Schedule
Course Name: NASP PREPaRE WS 1: Comprehensive School Safety Planning: Prevention Through Recovery, 3rd Ed.
Course Description:
In this 1-day workshop participants will learn how to establish and sustain comprehensive school safety efforts that attend to both physical and psychological safety. The workshop addresses critical components needed to develop, exercise, and evaluate safety and crisis teams and plans and conduct building vulnerability assessments. The model also integrates school personnel and community provider roles in providing school-based crisis preparedness and response activities. Additional topics addressed also include media/social media, communication, reunification, students with special needs, culture, and memorials. After this workshop, participants will be better prepared to improve their school’s climate, student resilience, and crisis response capabilities of school personnel. With updated research and strategies, this workshop makes a clear connection between ongoing crisis prevention, mitigation, protection, response, and recovery.
Location: Onsite at Your Facility
Cost: $45 NASP Fee (& online web processing fee)
Max Capacity: 100
Pre-Work Required. Provides 7 credit hours of NASP-Approved CPD.
Click here (PDF) to see the learning objectives for this workshop
Intended Audience: This training is appropriate for all school personnel who need to understand how the comprehensive school crisis team is organized and functions. This can include but is not limited to school mental health professionals, administrators, teachers, other pupil services personnel, security officers, school resource officers, front office staff, transportation directors, and before an after school activities coordinators.
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Date: Contact Your Regional School Safety Coordinator to Schedule
Course Name:
NASP PREPaRE WS 2: Mental Health Crisis Interventions: Responding to an Acute Traumatic Stressor in Schools, 3rd ed.
Course Description:
This 2-day workshop develops the knowledge and skill required to provide immediate mental health crisis interventions to the students, staff, and school community members who have been simultaneously exposed to an acute traumatic stressor. The knowledge and skill developed within this session also help to build a bridge to the psychotherapeutic and trauma informed mental health response sometimes required to address challenges associated with trauma exposure. This workshop is an excellent course for all mental health professionals in your district who provide mental health crisis intervention services.
Location: Onsite at Your Facility
Cost: $55 NASP Fee (& online web processing fee)
Max Capacity: 40
Pre-Work Required. Provides 13 hours of NASP-approved CPD.
Click here (PDF) to see the learning objectives for this workshop
Intended Audience: This training is appropriate for any individual filling the role of a crisis intervention specialist. This includes school mental health staff (school psychologists, social workers, counselors, and nurses), administrators, and other individuals whom the team has identified as appropriate providers of psychological first aid. Additionally, this workshop can be very helpful for community-based mental health practitioners who may work with the school crisis team and/or may be brought into the school to assist in response to a crisis.
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We, at the Center for School Safety, are ADA compliant. If you require an accommodation to participate in any of these events, please call
Mary Pupazzoni at (203) 837-8915 or email pupazzonim@wcsu.edu and cc: schoolsafetycenter@wcsu.edu
*Continuing education requirements vary from state to state. Many state boards grant reciprocity with national accrediting organizations and other state boards. It is the responsibility of each professional to understand the requirements for license renewal or check with the state or national licensing board and/or professional organization to become more familiar with their policies for acceptable continuing education credit.