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Can providing mental health and community resources to high-risk adolescents prevent mass violence? Can this holistic model be replicated in other communities? A team of school safety experts from Michigan State University’s Department of Psychiatry and Safe and Sound Schools, a national nonprofit school safety organization that provides research-based tools and support for crisis-prevention, response and recovery, is […]

(CBS DETROIT) – Prevent to protect. That’s the idea behind the adolescent targeted violence prevention program at Michigan State University. CBS Detroit exclusively previewed the project Wednesday. It’s a Michigan-based initiative at MSU’s Department of Psychiatry that will pair both a mental health mentor and an advocate with children with homicidal ideations. The goal is to intervene with children […]

(CBS DETROIT) – Three mothers — Laura Marshall, Michelle Massey-Barnes, and Rachel Cuschieri-Murray — have all experienced mental health crises with their children. They teamed up, formed a Facebook group, and now are helping hundreds of other families across the state find information and resources for their children in crisis. Michigan State University’s Department of Psychiatry is […]

EAST LANSING, Mich. (WILX) – Mental health advocates are calling attention to the need for improved mental health treatment availability in light of newly signed gun legislation. One of their main concerns is mental health treatment availability. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, a health policy research group, Michigan has a mental health care worker shortage, with […]

$15 million state grant will support Center for Targeted Violence Prevention Michigan State University’s Department of Psychiatry is launching a pilot program – with a $15 million grant from the state of Michigan – to help curb acts of violence and spare families from unthinkable trauma before it’s too late. The Center for Targeted Violence Prevention is […]

LANSING, Mich. (WILX) – It has been one month since the deadly mass shooting at Michigan State University. Now, the university is working with police and mental health experts to help the Spartan community heal from the trauma they experienced. Back in October, MSU received a $15 million grant to help prevent acts of violence at […]

Editor’s note: The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the views of The DO or the AOA. All too often, schools are added to the list: Columbine High School, Sandy Hook Elementary, Marjory Stoneman Douglas Elementary, Robb Elementary and Oxford High School; a list that encompasses tragedy, […]

DEARBORN HEIGHTS — Westwood Community School District Superintendent Stiles Simmons need only take a few steps into Thorne Intermediate School before pointing to the new security measures installed since 2021’s Oxford High School shooting. Simmons must be buzzed into the building and, once inside, must go through the office to reach the rest of the […]

In 2022, over 400 mass shootings occurred in the U.S. There has been a total of roughly 102 reports of gunfire on school grounds, with 27 of those categorized as mass shootings. Forty-one people, including mostly children and adolescents, were killed, and 79 were injured. In the absence of gun reforms including assault weapon bans, […]

$15 million state grant will support targeted violence prevention Editor’s note: Initially called the Michigan Model, the program was renamed Prevent 2 Protect in 2023. During a critical time in U.S. history, and in a year that has seen more than 350 mass shootings, Michigan State University’s Department of Psychiatry is launching a pilot program […]