This presentation introduces participants to the School Social Work Model and its application to the work of school safety. Participants will learn about social work’s historical partnership with public safety, current research regarding social work’s role in behavioral threat assessment for schools, and innovative strategies to engage and integrate social work within school safety programs.

The presenter serves as the Supervisor of School Safety and Social Services for Meigs County Schools in Decatur, Tennessee. He is also a contributing member of Safe and Sound Schools®, serving as a school safety mentor, consultant, and trainer throughout the nation. Other areas of his professional work include postsecondary scholarship and teaching with the Behavioral Science Department at Tennessee Wesleyan University. As a doctoral student at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota, his dissertation explores the role of social work within safety programs, specifically the intersection of social work and the standard behavioral threat assessment model for schools.