The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) awarded the University of Hawai‘i–West O‘ahu $2 million over three years for the university’s efforts to increase threat assessment and violence prevention capabilities in K-12 private, charter, and public schools and their communities throughout Hawai‘i.
The DOJ announced the award for UH West O‘ahu’s project titled, “Hawai‘i State Targeted Violence Prevention — School Community and Threat Assessment Team Training and Capacity Building.”
“This award is significant, both in the amount and the scope since it not only continues to build knowledge and capacity of Behavior Threat Assessment and Management (BTAM) within K-12 schools and connected communities, but it helps the state with identifying options for violence prevention to assist with keeping our school communities safer during these challenging times,” said UH West O‘ahu’s Bev Baligad, the Principal Investigator (PI) for the grant.
Baligad serves as UH West O‘ahu’s Director of Compliance, Title IX Coordinator, and Behavior Intervention Team Manager. She was also awarded U.S. Department of Homeland Security Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention grants in 2021 and 2022, totaling over $1.3 million, to help build Hawai‘i state school threat assessment teams and to further state community awareness efforts.
The current project’s goals and expected outcomes include increased threat assessment and violence prevention capabilities on involved campuses; sustainable violence prevention practices in K-12 schools and its communities; successful application of bystander intervention techniques by members of school and campus communities; school Behavior Threat Assessment (BTA) teams operating under national best practice; and improved cultural perception of threat assessment and violence prevention practices in school and campus communities.
Partnerships that will support the project’s efforts include the Hawai‘i Office of Homeland Security, the Hawai‘i State Fusion Center (HSFC), K-12 private and charter schools, Threat Team Hawai‘i, and other public and private organizations and businesses. Additionally, UH West O‘ahu is a lead implementing partner in the State Targeted Violence Prevention Implementation Plan, working closely with Homeland Security and HSFC to achieve state-wide violence prevention.
“UH West O‘ahu intends to fulfill its commitment to the prevention of acts of targeted violence in Hawai‘i by working closely with schools and fostering the establishment of sustainable threat assessment teams and practices,” Baligad said.