Step 1: Understanding Your Audience

Many but not all school districts employ mental health professionals, often called school counselors, school psychologists or school social workers. Their job in the school community is to support the social-emotional and mental and behavioral health of students so that all students can be successful in school. You can learn what mental health staff are available to your school community by searching your school website or calling your school for a list of school mental health professionals.

School mental health professionals play a critical role in school safety by helping to create a safe, supportive and welcoming learning environment for all students. For example, they may provide counseling during the school day to students in need or connect students and their families to important wraparound community-based services. They are regular members of school crisis teams and collaborate with school administrators and other educators to prevent and respond to crises. They often have specialized training in conducting risk and threat assessments designed to identify students at-risk for harming themselves or others. Beyond the individual student services they provide, school mental health professionals also support positive relationships between students and staff and within these groups. They may also provide general social-emotional learning (SEL) support and programming for staff and students, particularly in response to a crisis. School counselors, school psychologists and school social workers play a vital role in ensuring a safe, positive school environment.

Researchers find that school shooters typically show some type of warning signs in advance, but the majority of these concerning behaviors are not reported to educators or school staff. School mental health professionals can play a vital role in fostering a fair and trusting school climate, so children have adults they feel safe asking for help or reporting concerning behavior.

To effectively work with school counselors, school psychologists and school social workers, it is important to understand what specific roles and responsibilities each professional has and how they work together. Consider starting conversations with them to understand their perspective on school safety and the specific challenges they face. Discuss their involvement on school safety teams and ask what protocols to prevent and respond to in-school violence are currently in place. By collaborating with school mental health professionals, you can address issues like bullying, mental health and creating a positive school climate. It is important to work to build relationships with your school’s mental health professionals to foster deeper collaboration and communication with families around school safety and climate.

Step 2: Preparing for Your Conversation

When you’re ready to facilitate a meeting with your school mental health professionals, reach out to them. Their contact information is often listed on the school website or can be requested by calling your school’s administrative office. Meeting with your school mental health professionals is most effective when you meet with the entire mental health support team at your school as these professionals work in close collaboration with each other and rarely work in isolation, especially on gun and school safety issues.

Prior to your meeting, be sure to review the school and school district’s website for their safety policies and any resources the school has sent to families on the topics of school safety, social-emotional learning, bullying or other mental health issues and arrive at the meeting with specific questions to discuss. This will allow you to have a more productive conversation with your school’s mental health team about the specifics of school safety rather than a general conversation about information that is already available to you.

Prepare an agenda before your meeting to give your school mental health professionals an idea of what you’d like to discuss and share the agenda with them ahead of time. Make sure to review PTA's official positions on this topic for language you can use in your conversations. Some key topics could include mental health support, bullying prevention, SEL programs or how mental health staff can help students and families when safety incidents do occur. An agenda template is provided in another tab of this blueprint; tailor it to meet your community’s needs.

Step 3: Discussion and Further Action

Remember this conversation is an opportunity to provide feedback, ask questions and build a relationship with your school mental health professionals around school and gun safety issues. Take notes, ask questions, listen closely and commit to continued conversation, collaboration and action alongside your school mental health team. Your school mental health professionals may not have the authority to unilaterally address your concerns, but they are key partners in this work.

There are many ways you can collaborate with your school mental health professionals beyond this initial conversation. Consider suggesting these next steps:

• Invite your school’s mental health team to speak at a PTA meeting about school safety and available mental health support to share existing efforts, illicit family feedback and answer questions.

• Work together to create new events and programs that support the social-emotional and mental and behavioral health of students. Check out National PTA’s Healthy Minds program for strategies and resources to help you get started in this work.

• Encourage your school counselor, school psychologist or school social worker to share your feedback with the school administration, including any concerns and suggestions you shared around the school’s safety protocols and planning process.

• Invite your school’s mental health team to join you in your other advocacy efforts promoting gun and school safety—including perhaps your meetings with policymakers—to share their unique perspective, expertise and experiences working closely with the students in your community.

Sample Meeting Agenda

Below are some sample questions you might consider discussing during a meetings. Feel free to customize these questions to meet your community’s needs.

• Introductions. Who is in attendance, what is their role and relationship to the school? Why is the issue of school safety important to them?

• Concerns & Incidents. What is the process for teachers, students or families to report behaviors of concern about their own child or another student? Who should receive such reports? Who responds to the concerns? What is the role of school mental health professionals in the response? 

• Positive School Climate. What specific programs or initiatives are in place to promote trust, connection and a sense of belonging for students and across the entire school community? How do you support students who may feel isolated or disconnected from the school community? How do you support and address incidents of physical violence between students? How do you support and address incidents of bullying? How can parents and families help to create a more inclusive and positive environment? 

• Safety Education. Is social-emotional learning (SEL) a formal part of your work with students? How are students educated about recognizing and reporting unsafe situations or people? Are there opportunities for parents and guardians to learn more about the safety education provided to students?

• Staff Training. What professional development opportunities do school mental health professionals have to stay informed about the latest in school safety and mental health support? What additional training or resources would you find beneficial, and as a parent/community member, how can we assist to support you in this work? 

• Recovery. What support systems are in place for students and staff after a safety incident occurs, such as a violent event? Who are the key personnel involved in providing emotional and psychological support in these situations? How does your team help ensure that students feel safe and supported in the aftermath of a traumatic event? What resources are available to help students, staff and families recover and return to normalcy?

• Counselor Well-Being & Support. How can parents, guardians and families support you in your efforts to maintain a safe and positive school climate? What challenges do you face in your role, and how can the school community help address these challenges? How does the school ensure your team has the resources and support they need to care for their own well-being while supporting students? Are there specific initiatives or programs that families can participate in to assist with your workload or to promote mental health awareness?

• Thank You & Next Steps. How can the school community ally together to make our school a safer place for all students? What are the immediate next steps that should be taken following this conversation? How will progress on these initiatives be tracked and communicated to parents and families? When should the next meeting be scheduled to follow up on these action items? 

Checklist for Working with School Mental Health Professionals on School Safety

• Review the publicly available school safety information (see Step 1).

• Develop a trust-based relationship with your school’s mental health professionals (see Step 1).

• Schedule a meeting with your school’s mental health professionals (see Step 2).

• Draft and distribute an agenda in advance of the meeting (see Step 2).

• Assemble a list of school safety related questions, concerns and requests (see Step 2). If helpful, use the resources listed below.

• Meet with your school’s mental health professionals (see Step 3).

• Commit to next steps with your school’s mental health professionals (see Step 3).