MA Partnership For Youth To Host Threat Assessment Training

Press release via Massachusetts Partnerships for Youth

WAKEFIELD, MA — Executive Director Margie Daniels of Massachusetts Partnerships for Youth (MPY) is pleased to share the details of upcoming Threat Assessment Training led by two psychologists — Dr. James Barrett and Dr. Craig Murphy.

The in-person training — Institute for School Mental Health and Safety Leadership: Threat Assessment — will occur on Jan. 31, followed by two virtual trainings on Feb. 12 and Feb. 26.

The Jan. 31 training, facilitated by Dr. Barrett, will be held in person from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Greater Lawrence Regional Vocational Technical School, 57 River Road, Andover, MA 01810. The follow-up Feb. 12 and 26 training, facilitated by Dr. Murphy, will be virtual from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m.

Establishing a comprehensive school mental health leadership team will enable school leaders to assess and triage threats effectively, as well as develop robust response and mitigation plans informed by best practices from the Secret Service and FBI. This full-day Threat Assessment Training will focus on school personnel — including administrators, clinical staff, and school resource officers — who are actively involved in threat assessment teams.

James Barrett, Ph.D., the Director of Clinical Support Services at the Cambridge Police Department, will lead the training and guide participants to help assess, direct, manage, and document threats. Each Threat Assessment Training will have two virtual follow-up trainings to illustrate the complexities of threat assessments and the benefits of applying a structured protocol integrating the key information from all respective stakeholders. Specific tools will be reviewed and shared, and report formats will be distributed to school-based teams to utilize or modify in their respective districts.

In addition to his role as Director of Clinical Support Services at the Cambridge Police Department, Dr. Barrett is an Assistant Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at the Harvard Medical School. He is the former Director of School-Based Programs in the Division of Child/Adolescent Psychiatry at the Cambridge Health Alliance. Dr.Barrett has presented at numerous national conferences on juvenile justice, preventing retaliatory violence, juvenile risk assessment, and police-mental health partnerships.

Craig Murphy, Ph.D., is the founder and executive director of the Family and Educational Wellness (FEW) Center. Dr. Murphy is a nationally certified school psychologist with over 20 years of experience in public schools. He was an Associate Professor of School Psychology at William James College for 15 years before leaving academia to return to working in schools and private practice.

Dr. Murphy is currently the clinical director of the Summit Therapeutic Program for the Bi-County Collaborative (BICO) in Walpole. In his role at BICO, Dr. Murphy conducts comprehensive neuropsychological evaluations, risk assessments, and threat assessments for over 50 school districts throughout Massachusetts as well as consulting with school districts to overcome emotional and educational barriers to learning. His research efforts have focused on changing educator and parent perceptions of students with problem behaviors and fragile emotions and integrating developmental factors into children’s mental health treatment. Dr. Murphy is the author of The Influential School Leader: Inspiring Teachers, Students, and Families Through Social and Organizational Psychology (2021), a book that he co-authored with Dr. John D’Auria.

Department of Elementary and Secondary Education-approved Professional Development Points (PDPs) and Continuing Education Units (CEUs) are offered at no additional cost to participants who attend the in-person Jan. 31 training and the two virtual sessions on Feb. 12 and 26.

MPY also has Risk Assessment Training scheduled for March 28 (Fundamentals of Risk Assessment) and Threat Assessment Training on April 11 (Institute for School Mental Health and Safety Leadership: Threat Assessment).

Questions about the Threat and Risk Assessment Trainings can be directed to MPY School Safety Coordinator John Oteri at john@mpyinc.org.