BOCES To Receive $500K In Federal Grants To Bolster School Security

BUFFALO – Erie 2-Chautauqua-Cattaraugus BOCES will receive $500,000 in federal grant funding to bolster school security, educate and train students and faculty and support law enforcement officers and first responders who arrive on the scene of a school violence incident, according to an announcement Wednesday from the U.S. Attorney’s Office. 
According to the announcement, $250,000 will come from the BJA’s STOP School Violence Threat Assessment and Technology Reporting Program, which will provide 68 awards nationwide valued at more than $19,000,000. This funding supports training to create and operate threat assessment and crisis intervention teams and to develop technology for local or regional anonymous reporting systems. The technology may be in the form of a mobile phone application, hotline, or website.
The STOP School Violence Prevention and Mental Health Training Program, also managed by BJA, will provide training and education on preventing violence and effectively responding to related mental health crises. This program will fund 85 awards at nearly $28,000,000. Erie 2-Chautauqua-Cattaraugus BOCES will receive $250,000 from this program.
These grants, valued at $70 million nationwide, are in addition to the funding to the National Association of School Resource Officers (NASRO), announced by Attorney General Sessions last week, to expand and update their curriculum to better support training programs. Additionally, the Department is awarding more than $64,000,000 to state agencies to improve the completeness, quality, and accessibility of the nation’s criminal record systems, which will help law enforcement and increase the effectiveness of background checks.
“President Trump and his administration will ensure the safety of every American school,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions said. “Earlier this year he signed into law the STOP School Violence Act, which provides grant funding to develop anonymous school threat reporting systems, to implement school building security measures, and to train students, school personnel, and law enforcement on how to prevent school violence. Today I am announcing $70,000,000 in these grants to hundreds of cities and states across America. These grants will go a long way toward giving young people and their families both safety and peace of mind.”
“With this announcement providing our District more than $865,000, the Department of Justice is doing more than simply denouncing school violence—it is providing resources to allow us to take measures to prevent it,” added U.S. Attorney Kennedy. “Those measures include improved reporting and response systems, increased mental health intervention programs, and additional training and resources to harden targets.”
“Through our Safe Schools initiative, this Office has long been a leader in the community in not only raising awareness of the causes and common characteristics of school violence, but in exploring ways to prevent it. These funds will only enhance that enduring commitment and effort.”

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