States’ Roles in Keeping Schools Safe - Opportunities and Challenges for State School Safety Centers and Other Actors

Oct 15, 2026

Report on states’ roles in keeping K-12 public schools safe, focusing on the work of state school safety centers (SSSC) and staff within state agencies. Context is provided for how state priorities intersect with broader criminal justice issues such as the relationship between law enforcement and communities, firearms violence concerns, procedural justice, and trauma- or behavioral-health-related responses to student misbehavior. It summarizes how meeting participants’ perspectives informed NIJ’s Comprehensive School Safety Initiative (CSSI) and supports identifying challenges and practical needs.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages20

Reading Time50 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Overview

U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs National Institute of Justice NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF JUSTICE REPORT JULY 2017 States’ Roles in Keeping Schools Safe: Opportunities and Challenges for State School Safety Centers and Other Actors MARY POULIN CARLTON, PHELAN WYRICK, NADINE FREDERIQUE, AND BASIA LOPEZ NCJ 250608 NIJ’s Comprehensive School Safety Initiative The Comprehensive School Safety Initiative (CSSI) is a research-focused initiative that brings together the nation’s best minds to increase the safety of schools nationwide. The initiative was a response to disturbing, high-profile incidents of school violence. Schools are mostly safe places—but when violence does occur, it can have far-reaching ramifications. CSSI is an investment in developing knowledge about the root causes of school violence, developing strategies for increasing school safety, and rigorously evaluating innovative school safety strategies through pilot programs. CSSI projects aim to: 1) Identify and understand the potential root causes and consequences of school violence and its impact on school safety. 2) Increase the safety of schools nationwide by developing a solid foundation of knowledge and best practices that can be sustainably implemented through individualized school safety programs, policies, and activities. 3) Help identify matters internal and external to the school that may result in harm to students, teachers, staff, and schools. 4) Implement programs, policies, and practices that improve school safety and climate, focus on the school environment, or enhance educational and other outcomes for students and schools. 5) Identify effective strategies to respond to and resolve safety issues faced by schools and students. 6) In collaboration with key partners from education, law enforcement, behavioral/mental health, and social work, develop and test a comprehensive framework for school safety. The initiative is focused on K-12 public schools, including public charter schools. CSSI projects require close collaborations between educators, researchers, and other stakeholders in the school community to ask the right questions, prioritize challenges, identify solutions, collect data, and make sense of the findings. Through projects funded under the CSSI, NIJ works to produce knowledge that can be applied to school safety across the nation and for years to come. Please see the NIJ website for more detailed information on the initiative. U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs 810 Seventh St. N.W. Washington, DC 20531 Howard Spivak Acting Director, National Institute of Justice This and other publications and products of the National Institute of Justice can be found at: National Institute of Justice Strengthen Science • Advance Justice [http://www.NIJ.gov](http://www.NIJ.gov) Office of Justice Programs Building Solutions • Supporting Communities • Advancing Justice [http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov](http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov) The National Institute of Justice is the research, development, and evaluation agency of the U.S. Department of Justice. NIJ’s mission is to advance scientific research, development, and evaluation to enhance the administration of justice and public safety. The National Institute of Justice is a component of the Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Assistance; the Bureau of Justice Statistics; the Office for Victims of Crime; the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention; and the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking. Opinions or conclusions expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. National [Institute of Justice](Institute of Justice | NIJ.gov)[ | NIJ.gov](Institute of Justice | NIJ.gov) States’ Roles in Keeping Schools Safe: Opportunities and Cha

FAQs

What are state school safety centers (SSSC)?

SSSC are organizations in some states whose entire responsibility is related to school safety. They play a specific, dedicated role in keeping schools safe.

What was the purpose of the February 2016 meeting in Santa Fe, New Mexico?

NIJ convened representatives from 20 states to better understand the role of state school safety representatives and learn about their priorities and challenges.

How does the report relate to NIJ’s Comprehensive School Safety Initiative (CSSI)?

The report uses participant perspectives to help shape CSSI, a research-focused initiative designed to produce practical knowledge on school safety topics for K-12 public and charter schools.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Aria Callaghan