From left, Dr. James Barrett and Dr. Craig Murphy will lead upcoming Threat Assessment Training opportunities for The Massachusetts Partnerships for Youth. (Photo courtesy Massachusetts Partnerships for Youth)
WAKEFIELD — Executive Director Margie Daniels of Massachusetts Partnerships for Youth (MPY) is pleased to share the details of upcoming Threat Assessment Training opportunities led by two psychologists — Dr. James Barrett and Dr. Craig Murphy.
MPY is presenting four Threat Assessment trainings to help educators identify students who are at risk for resorting to violence. The first training — Institute for School Mental Health and Safety Leadership: Threat and Risk Assessment — will occur on Nov. 15, with additional Threat Assessment Training planned for January, March, and April. Each in-person Threat Assessment Training will have two virtual follow-up trainings.
The Nov. 15 training, facilitated by Dr. Barrett, will be held in person from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School, 215 Fitchburg St., Marlborough, MA 01752. The follow-up Nov. 20 and Dec. 11 training, facilitated by Dr. Murphy, will be virtual from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m.
Establishing a comprehensive school mental health leadership team will enable school leaders to assess and triage threats effectively, as well as develop robust response and mitigation plans informed by best practices from the Secret Service and FBI. This full-day Threat Assessment Training will feature school personnel — including administrators, clinical staff, and school resource officers — who are actively involved in threat assessment teams.
James Barrett, Ph.D., the Director of Clinical Support Services at the Cambridge Police Department, will lead the training and guide participants to help assess, direct, manage, and document threats. Each Threat Assessment Training will have two virtual follow-up trainings to illustrate the complexities of threat assessments, as well as the benefits of applying a structured protocol integrating the key information from all respective stakeholders. Specific tools will be reviewed and shared, and report formats will be distributed to school-based teams to utilize or modify in their respective districts.
In addition to his role as Director of Clinical Support Services at the Cambridge Police Department, Dr. Barrett is an Assistant Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at the Harvard Medical School. He is the former Director of School-Based Programs in the Division of Child/Adolescent Psychiatry at the Cambridge Health Alliance. Dr.Barrett has presented at numerous national conferences on juvenile justice, preventing retaliatory violence, juvenile risk assessment, and police-mental health partnerships.
Craig Murphy, Ph.D., is the founder and executive director of the Family and Educational Wellness (FEW) Center. Dr. Murphy is a nationally certified school psychologist with over 20 years of experience in public schools. He was an Associate Professor of School Psychology at William James College for 15 years before leaving academia to return to working in schools and private practice.
Dr. Murphy is currently the clinical director of the Summit Therapeutic Program for the Bi-County (BICO) Collaborative in Walpole. In his role at BICO, Dr. Murphy conducts comprehensive neuropsychological evaluations, risk assessments, and threat assessments for over 50 school districts throughout Massachusetts as well as consulting with school districts to overcome emotional and educational barriers to learning. His research efforts have focused on changing educator and parent perceptions of students with problem behaviors and fragile emotions and integrating developmental factors into children’s mental health treatment. Dr. Murphy is the author of The Influential School Leader: Inspiring Teachers, Students, and Families Through Social and Organizational Psychology (2021), a book that he co-authored with Dr. John D’Auria.
Department of Elementary and Secondary Education-approved Professional Development Points (PDPs) and Continuing Education Units (CEUs) are offered at no additional cost to participants who attend the Nov. 15 training in person and the two virtual sessions on Nov. 20 and Dec. 11.
MPY also has Threat Assessment Training scheduled for Jan. 31 (Institute for School Mental Health and Safety Leadership: Threat and Risk Assessment) and March 28 (Fundamentals of Risk Assessment). A fourth training is scheduled for April 11, with details to be announced later.
Questions about the Threat Assessment Training can be directed to MPY School Safety Coordinator John Oteri at john@mpyinc.org.
About the Massachusetts Partnerships for Youth, Inc.
Massachusetts Partnerships for Youth, Inc. is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that provides training, fosters collaboration and develops programming to increase the health and safety of students. MPY is committed to bringing cutting-edge information and high-quality trainings to constituents and endeavors to provide solution-oriented, community-based, multi-disciplinary approaches to reducing and ideally eliminating risky behaviors for youth. MPY programming reaches nearly 6,000 educators per year in Massachusetts, spread across approximately 300 districts, with more than 150 webinars and over a dozen conferences.
Massachusetts Partnerships for Youth is governed by a Board of Directors made up of school superintendents, police and fire chiefs, and other community leaders who work closely with MPY staff to deliver this mission. To learn more, visit: massachusettspartnershipsforyouth.com.
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