Highlands students benefit from trauma notice program

Harrison police Chief Mike Klein welcomed the chance to partner with the Highlands Family Center on a program to comfort children suffering from trauma.

The Handle with Care initiative, established in November by the Tarentum-based family center, bridges the gap between the Highlands School District and local police by notifying school leaders of any 911 call at a student’s home.

“Our patrol officers are aware to stay in their lane with what they can take action with,” Klein said. “This program presents an opportunity to provide a heads up that there may be a child at school carrying a burden.”

Carl Schwartz, Family Center trauma outreach coordinator, said a notice is submitted electronically by police to district leaders before the school bell rings the next day.

“A counselor gets eyes on the student and assesses them for health and safety, but the child is never grilled,” Schwartz said. “The program functions perfectly well without anyone knowing the details of the 911 call.”

Schwartz touted the program as an informative tool for teachers. Having police show up at home could disrupt social and academic behaviors, he said.

“Teachers can act with extra care toward a student who might have experienced a fight at their home the night before and still be carrying around that weight,” Family Center Site Director Jeannie Dennis said. “The child may just need a nap, they may just need some extra food.”

The program is the first of its kind in the Alle-Kiski Valley, Schwartz said.

It is funded by a $250,000 grant from the Richard King Mellon Foundation.

Police departments from each municipality in the district — Fawn, Harrison, Brackenridge and Tarentum — are participating.

“It’s great for us to have anything in place to benefit our most vulnerable,” Brackenridge Mayor Lindsay Fraser said.

There also is a way for parents to submit a Handle with Care notice to building principals.

“We ask everyone to submit every time that a child could be impacted,” Schwartz said.

Since it was launched in early winter, there have been 35 submissions in the district, half by Harrison police.

Amber Dean, Highlands student service director, said the program is going well and she feels fortunate to have the additional support for children.

“District counselors and administrators use the notices to ensure that our students and families have school-based supports and connections to agencies to meet that address their individual needs,” Dean said. “This allows our staff to support our families in a new way.”

According to Schwartz, the early intervention tool is implemented in five states that border Pennsylvania.

In Lehigh County, in the eastern part of the state, there were 200 cases across 17 districts in the 2020-21 school year.

In districts across Delaware, there were 600 Handle with Care submissions last year.

“We are moving well with one district,” Dennis said. “The beauty of it is that we don’t know the details, we just offer the help.”

Highlands Family Center is housed along East Fourth Avenue. It is one of 10 centers funded by the Allegheny Intermediate Unit.

Dennis said her facility assists 1,300 families a year. This new initiative aligns perfectly with the center’s mission.

“We just want to step in and make sure the child is being taken care of in a sensitive manner,” she said.