- Coatesville Area School District
- Safe2Say
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Safe2Say Something Program
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Each year in schools and communities across the United States, there are millions of youth who hurt themselves or others through verbal, physical and digital means. These behaviors can cause youth to experience emotional trauma and physical injury, mental health or wellness issues, stress or anxiety, and/or feelings of being unsafe. Too often the outcome results in self-harm, suicide.
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Safe2Say Something is a youth violence prevention program run by the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General. The program teaches youth and adults how to recognize warning signs and signals, especially within social media, from individuals who may be a threat to themselves or others and to “say something” BEFORE it is too late. With Safe2Say Something, it’s easy and confidential to report safety concerns to help prevent violence and tragedies.
See it. Report it
Submit a tip without being named. We’ll make sure the right people know. That’s it.
1 - Report an anonymous tip.2 - Crisis Center may ask a few questions to understand what’s going on.3 - Within seconds the right people will be notified.The Facts
In a majority of these acts, youth and adults are witnesses to threats, warning signs, or signals, especially on social media, but do not report or intervene to help the at-risk youth. In fact:- Approximately, 1 million U.S. students reported being harassed, threatened or subject to other forms of cyberbullying
- 80% of school shooters told someone of their violent plans. 59% told more than one person
- A national study found that 37% of threats of violence, bullying, etc. were sent electronically and 28% used social media
- 70% of people who complete suicide tell
someone of their plans or give some other warning sign
The Reasons
There are many reasons why youth and adults do not say something when they see a warning sign or signal. They do not:- Understand or know how to recognize warning signs and signals of at-risk behavior
- Believe a threat to be true because "they would never say it publicly if they meant it"
- Want to be labeled, stigmatized, possibly physically threatened as a "snitch"
- Know who to tell or "believe that nothing will be done to help anyhow"
- Think they need to because someone else will say something
As a school system, we are committed to creating and sustaining a comprehensive, coordinated effort to improve the overall safety and well-being of our students and staff. To do this, we believe this must involve community-wide programs and initiatives involving parents, teachers, administrators, local law enforcement, mental health & wellness professionals and elected officials to take meaningful action to protect our students.
- Approximately, 1 million U.S. students reported being harassed, threatened or subject to other forms of cyberbullying
Get the Facts
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Program Overview
In 2018, the General Assembly passed Act 44 mandating the establishment and use of the “Safe2Say Something” (S2SS) anonymous reporting system by every Pennsylvania school entity by January 14, 2019
S2SS is a life-saving and changing school safety program that teaches students, educators, and administrators how: (1) to recognize the signs and signals of individuals who may be at risk of hurting themselves or others and (2) to anonymously report this information through the S2SS app, website, or 24/7 Crisis Center Hotline. The following provides an overview of how the program works and will be implemented in schools:
• S2SS works through 5 easy steps:
1. A tip is submitted via mobile app, website, or by calling the PA based 24/7 Crisis Center
2. The tip is then triaged by the Crisis Center to gather enough information to act on it
3. The tip is delivered to the impacted school and, as needed, local law enforcement via 911 County Dispatch
4. The school and, as needed, local law enforcement assess and intervene with the at-risk individual 5. The school then closes out the tip and reports actions taken as a record for their school
• The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) has established S2SS and will manage and maintain the program. The OAG, in partnership with Sandy Hook Promise – a leader in anonymous reporting systems, is building out the app, website and PA-based 24/7 Crisis Center platform.
• OAG Crisis Center analysts are being trained to receive and triage tips to: (1) ensure there is enough information to act upon, (2) conduct 2-way anonymous dialog with tipsters to gather missing information, (3) categorize the tip into life-safety or non-life safety for ease of prioritization by recipients, and (4) deliver the tip to the impacted school and, where needed, its local law enforcement via 911 County Dispatch.
• The S2SS platform allows the official users (Crisis Center analysts, school entities and 911 County Dispatch) to view and act against tips using their PC or mobile device. Additionally, the platform allows for real-time 2-way dialog with a tipster and the viewing and sharing of attachments (such as screen shots and videos) that a tipster has submitted. The platform permits communication between the official users on each tip, allowing for up to the second information sharing and action that all see and read at the same time – as one of the MOST critical pieces of information needed for a life safety issue is a child’s address. This address must be passed to 911 Dispatch to pass to the local jurisdiction to act upon. This exchange can take seconds helping to act quicker to save lives.
• A district, charter school, cyber charter school, private school, nonpublic school, intermediary unit, and/or area vocational-technical school must have an assigned S2SS Lead to coordinate the establishment and training of a 3- 5 member team who will have the responsibility to receive and act upon tips. Additionally, the team will help maintain and sustain S2SS long-term in partnership with Sandy Hook Promise local coordinators, who will in turn support the efforts of the S2SS Lead. Training for S2SS Leads is 3 hours, while team members require 2 hours. Both require a minimum of 30 minutes of un-interrupted practice time to learn the system ... 45 minutes if you may be technically challenged.
• County-based 911 dispatches must have an assigned S2SS Lead to coordinate the setup and training of their personnel to action against life safety tips. Dispatchers will use the S2SS platform to view and act upon the tip, conduct 2-way dialog with a tipster, communicate with the school team, and act against the tip by dispositioning to local police jurisdictions. Training of S2SS Leads takes 2 hours and is delivered by external experts and requires a minimum of 30 minutes of un-interrupted practice time. Dispatch team / personnel training will take 2 hours, including 30 minutes of practice time.
• At the conclusion of school and police investigation and intervention (as needed), all tips will be closed out by school personnel only. Districts, charter schools, cyber charter school, private school, nonpublic schools, intermediary units, and/or area vocational-technical schools can then run reports to analyze the types, times, etc. of tips received and, over time, view trends to demonstrate where change is taking place or is needed.
• Students, educators and administrators have the opportunity to be trained post January 14, 2019 to recognize the signs and signals of individuals who may be at risk of hurting themselves or others along with how to use the S2SS anonymous reporting system to submit tips of the signs and signals they observe. Training takes 1 hour and will be made available via an interactive training video, the downloading of materials to self-lead and/or direct S2SS certified trainers (where availability exists).
• S2SS will be sustained via support by Sandy Hook Promise’s School Outreach Coordinator, in-school awareness materials (at no cost), annual training of new incoming classes and educators/administrators, and, critically, establishment of in-school student clubs (existing or new clubs) to empower students to create sustained change.
• S2SS is mandated to launch January 14, 2019 – therefore trainings for school and dispatch officials will take place in December, followed by a statewide test to ensure all are ready to go LIVE. Finally, students will be trained (starting January 14) given that “once you train, you are live and students will start submitting tips”.
• As reference – The OAG has partnered with Sandy Hook Promise (SHP) to rollout the S2SS program. SHP is a national non-profit committed to creating safe schools and communities through their four evidenced-based Know the Signs intervention programs. To date, SHP has delivered its programs to 10,000+ schools and trained 5+ million youth and adults in every state resulting in countless suicide, school shooting and firearm threat interventions and countless bullying, drug use and other acts of violence and victimization interventions. -
How It Works
Step 1
Submit an anonymous tipCall the tipline
1-844-SAF2SAYUse the Website
www.safe2saypa.orgUse the mobile App available fro Apple and Android devices
Step 2
All calls and tips received by the 24/7 crisis center1 - A crisis center analyst receives and reviews tip information
2 - The tip is triaged and categorized as either life safety or non-life safety
3 - The tip is then sent to school officials and law enforcement (as needed) via text, email, and/or phone call within seconds
Step 3
School officials & law enforcement intervene and help individual(s)1 - School officials and law enforcement (as needed) act immediately to investigate, assess, and intervene with reported at-risk individuals
2 - At-risk individuals receive the help they need BEFORE they ever get to the point of hurting themselves or others
3 - School officials report their outcomes into the Safe2Say Something platform and close out the tip, ensuring accountability for every tip submitted
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For Students
You have a voice.
Safe2Say Something is school safety program that will save lives.
Really? Yes! The Safe2Say system (available January 14, 2019) is an anonymous way for you to submit a tip to your school. You do not need to share your name, phone number or anything unless you want to.
What types of things should I report?
If it makes you uncomfortable, submit a tip. It will be up to your school to determine what the next steps are. Do you think someone is going to harm themselves? Did you see something scary that concerns you online? Submit this kind of thing.
Safe2Say Something is the easiest way to let someone know that there is a problem and let them handle it. The best part is, they will never know who it was that submitted it. It’s that simple.For additional information visit - https://www.safe2saypa.org/
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For Parents & Caretakers
The Problem
Each year in schools and communities across the United States, there are millions of youth who hurt themselves or others through verbal, physical and digital means.These behaviors can cause youth to experience emotional trauma and physical injury, mental health or wellness issues, stress, anxiety, and/or feelings of being unsafe. Too often the outcome results in self-harm, suicide or homicide.
The Solution
The Safe2Say Something system teaches youth and adults how to recognize warning signs and signals, especially within social media, of individuals who may be a threat to themselves or others and say something, using our anonymous reporting system, BEFORE it is too late.For additional information visit - https://www.safe2saypa.org/Resources -
FAQ's & Resources
Resources
Safe2Say Something website - https://www.safe2saypa.org/
Timeline
Safe2Say Something informational brochure
S2SS Program Student PresentationFAQs
Is participation in the Safe2Say mandated by law?
- The Safe2Say Something program is state mandated by Act 44 of 2018 and requires all K-12 schools, school districts, charter schools, private schools, cyber charter schools, private schools, nonpublic schools, intermediate units, and area vocational-technical schools operating in Pennsylvania to participate.
How is this program funded?
- The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is funding the Crisis Center and its operations through Office of Attorney General and Sandy Hook Promise is funding training and education. There is no cost to school entities, dispatch and/or individuals who download and utilize the program. Finally, it will also include awareness materials and any guides for in-school student clubs to sustain the program within each and every participating school in the state.
How do you locate the S2SS App in the App store?
- The app and website will be available for students to download and use on January 14, 2019. The app will be available for Apple and Android phones.
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The Office of the Attorney General is in partnership with the Sandy Hook Promise.
Sandy Hook Promise is a national non-profit organization founded and led by several family members whose loved ones were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012.The Coatesville Area School District Administration and Board have approved the implementation of the Say Something Program effective 2018-2019 school year.
