About The Project

Launched in 2022, Prevent 2 Protect (P2P) is the first of its kind adolescent-targeted violence prevention initiative. This groundbreaking program was made possible through the 2022 Cross-Systems Intervention Grant awarded by the Michigan Department of Education. Prevent 2 Protect’s innovative solution to the complex challenge of targeted violence is making a difference in Michigan schools.

Following the grant award, Dr. Alyse Folino Ley, child and adolescent psychiatrist and Associate Chair of Education, led the P2P team in rapidly mobilizing project efforts. Within the first year, the team established the multidisciplinary P2P Hub, created a community consultation center, and laid the groundwork for five regional Intensive Support Teams (ISTs).

The Intensive Support Team model, which places a mentor and case manager in each designated region, was designed using foundational research in child development, neuroscience, psychiatry, behavioral threat assessment, and the critical role of mentorship.

The model effectively bridges systemic gaps between schools, law enforcement, and mental health services. During FY2 and FY3, Prevent 2 Protect successfully established five intensive support teams in districts throughout Calhoun, Mason, Lake, Oceana, Ingham, Wayne and Genesee counties. By implementing specially trained ISTs, Prevent 2 Protect aims to reduce barriers and seize early intervention opportunities to alter the life trajectories of high-risk adolescents, by operating under the belief that by helping one, we can save many.

In the first three years, P2P received nearly 80 referrals from our established regions, with 39 children and adolescents receiving a multidisciplinary assessment and intensive support services. These youth and their families are being monitored, mentored, and supported within their communities. By fostering a sense of Companionship, Competence, and Contribution, P2P is helping high-risk adolescents Connect with their Communities.

Coming Full Circle: The Power of Mentorship and the Making of Prevent 2 Protect

From 2004 to 2008, during her residency and fellowship, Dr. Alyse Ley began working closely with renowned psychiatrist Dr. Frank Ochberg, a pivotal mentorship that would shape the trajectory of her work in trauma, recovery, and violence prevention. Under Ochberg’s guidance, Ley contributed to the early development of what would become Prevent 2 Protect: The Adolescent Targeted Violence Prevention Project, recognizing the unique developmental window to intervene with at-risk youth.

What started as mentorship soon evolved into a powerful collaboration rooted in the shared belief that early intervention can change the lives of high-risk youth. Their collaboration evolved into a long-standing partnership, and together, they lectured, led trauma conferences, developed didactic curricula, supervised residents, organized survivor panels, and imagined new models for intervention.

Between 2015 and 2017, they created the Michigan Model, which was originally conceived by Ochberg as a violence prevention framework involving law enforcement and civil commitments.

Ley expanded and adapted this model to emphasize adolescence as a critical period for intervention, incorporating brain development,cross-systems integration, and proactive, trauma-informed prevention strategies. During this period, Ley and Ochberg continued teaching side by side, with the goal of changing the dialogue from trauma recovery to trauma prevention.

In April 2018, Ley joined a panel of professionals hosted by the John Jay College Academy for Critical Incident Analysis (ACIA) reviewing the 2017 Las Vegas Route 91 Harvest Festival attack, alongside Ochberg and experts such as Dave Cullen, Julie Pierson, and Abigail Drachman-Jones. After the Route 91 review, Ley worked with author David Cullen, contributing to the PTSD chapter in his book Parkland: Birth of a Movement (published 2019), providing psychiatric insight, guidance, and clinical expertise.

Propelled toward prevention, Ley and Ochberg collaborated with the former President of the Prosecuting Attorneys Association and Chief Judge Hon. Peter Houk, JD, and former district court judge Hon. David Jordan, JD. They further contributed to the Michigan Model by providing legal expertise, experienc,e and insight to the interventional framework intended to bridge the mental health and judicial systems. In 2019, Ochberg introduced Ley to Frank Straub, PhD, Director of the Center for Targeted Violence Prevention at the National Policing Institute, which led to her involvement in the MSD After-Action Review (August 2019), the Paw Paw Case Review (September 2021) and Toolkit (2023), as well as the continued development of the Michigan Model between 2019 and 2021.

In the wake of the Oxford High School attack, the Michigan Model was presented to the Governor’s Office, the Michigan Department of Education (MDE), and the Michigan Legislature as a proactive, community-based solution for preventing future tragedies. In 2022, the MSU Department of Psychiatry was awarded the 5-year Cross-System Intervention Grant under Section 97f of the 2022 School Aid Budget, launching Prevent 2 Protect, the first adolescent-targeted violence prevention initiative of its kind. Today, Prevent 2 Protect weaves early intervention and support into the lives of high-risk youth across the State of Michigan. Rooted in our guiding principle—by helping one, we will save many—we are breaking barriers, strengthening families, and transforming the trajectory of adolescent lives.