Category: Government Actions

School Shootings in 2024 Show Slight Decline from a Record-breaking 2023 (January 11, 2025)

According to the K-12 School Shooting Database, the number of school shootings in 2024 (a total of 330) showed a bit of a decline from 2023, which saw an all-time high of 349 incidents.

Sadly, the database also revealed that the highest number of annual school shootings over the past six decades came in 2021-2024, despite increased security efforts in schools that include installing cameras and weapons detection systems and providing resources to help address student emotional and mental well-being.

The database defines school shootings as any time a gun is fired or brandished with intent or when a bullet hits school property, regardless of the number of victims, time, day, or reason.

If the current trend continues, it is predicted that approximately 30 school shootings could occur in January 2025.

For more from K-12 Dive, click here.

Congress Extends Autism CARES Act for 5 More Years (January 11, 2025)

The Autism CARES Act is a federal law that for the next five years will provide nearly $2 billion for research, training and services, including for early detection and interventions.

-The newly signed federal law calls on federal agencies to update a report on the challenges faced by youth with autism when transitioning from school-based services into adulthood.

-The mandated report is required by the reauthorized Autism Collaboration, Accountability, Research, Education, and Support Act, or the Autism CARES Act, which President Joe Biden signed into law in December after passage with bipartisan support in Congress. The law authorizes nearly $2 billion for autism research and training programs in fiscal years 2025-2029.

-About 13% of students with disabilities were identified with autism during the 2022-23 school year. That’s an increase of 8 percentage points from the 2008-09 school year, when about 5% of students participating in special education services were identified with autism, according to the U.S. Department of Education. 

For more details from K-12 Dive click here.

DHS Highlights Research, Resources on Trauma-Informed Training to Improve Community Safety for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities, Autism (January 10, 2025)

The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS) today released the latest issue of the Positive Approaches Journal, which aims to provide the most recent research for people with mental and behavioral health challenges, intellectual disabilities, autism, and other developmental disabilities to help them live an everyday life. This edition focuses on the importance of trauma-informed training so that interactions between law enforcement and individuals with autism can be de-escalated and handled safely for all involved. 

“DHS works to ensure that Pennsylvanians with intellectual disabilities and autism have the services and supports they need, but we also want to make sure that all Pennsylvanians have these resources,” said DHS Secretary Dr. Val Arkoosh. â€œWe know that there is no one way to approach a law enforcement interaction but it is our hope that the research in this edition of the Positive Approaches Journal can help law enforcement, as well as individuals with intellectual disabilities and autism and their families, find the resources they need to improve their everyday lives.”

In June 2024, informed by conversations with individuals with autism and their families, the Pennsylvania State Police created a card that can be carried by people with autism and presented during any encounter with law enforcement to ensure the interaction is as safe and productive as possible. PSP’s Office of Community Engagement developed the informational card, which is available on the Safety Resources page of PSP’s website. Individuals may print the card from the website and carry it in a wallet, or they can choose to save it on their phone.

“Trauma-informed training and resources like this are critical in fostering safer and more effective interactions between law enforcement and individuals with intellectual disabilities and autism,” said Colonel Christopher Paris, Commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Police. “When officers are aware of and prepared for the unique needs of these individuals, they can respond in ways that promote safety and reduce the risk of misunderstandings.”

The Shapiro Administration believes that every Pennsylvanian with intellectual disabilities and autism deserves to receive the supports they need to achieve an everyday life with dignity and opportunity to pursue their goals and live, work, and recreate among their families and peers. Life-changing investments in Governor Josh Shapiro’s bipartisan 2024-25 budget secured historic increases in funding for home and community-based services for Pennsylvanians with intellectual disability and autism (ID/A) as well as increases in rates for the providers responsible for essential care and support of these individuals every day.

This edition of the Positive Approaches Journal features research and articles on the following:

  • Data Discoveries investigates encounters between the justice system and individuals with autism and outlines how interactions can be prevented or deescalated and can result in more equitable outcomes. 
  • How WE Can Keep Our Autistic Loved Ones Safer details trainings and provides case studies for both law enforcement and individuals with autism and their loved ones to help have safer interactions with law enforcement.
  • Police Department Mental Health Liaison Program details the successes of a pilot program in Lehigh County to assess the needs of individuals who engage with the police and refer them to the appropriate service providers. 
  • Aid in PA: Resources for Emergency Preparedness demonstrates the Aid in PA website, which was launched during the COVID-19 pandemic as a source for accurate emergency information and resources for Pennsylvanians who are autistic and/or have an intellectual/developmental disability (IDD).
  • Pennsylvania Crisis Intervention Teams: Enhancing Police Responses to Mental Health Crises details the development of Crisis Intervention Teams (CITs) in police departments across the Commonwealth to respond appropriately to behavioral health crises.
  • THE POINT: Empowering Youth outlines an organization that provides an after-school community center, on-campus support and mentoring, and a program to support students in juvenile detention.

The journal is a collaboration of DHS’ Office of Developmental Programs and Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. It collects resources, observations, and advancements in mental and behavioral health in order to better serve people in their communities.

Read this edition of the Positive Approaches Journal.

For more information visit www.dhs.pa.gov.

PDH Alerts Pennsylvanians About Recall of Children’s Jewelry Set Due to Lead and Cadmium Levels (January 10, 2025)

 The Pennsylvania Department of Health (PDH) is alerting parents and caregivers about the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s recall of Yaomiao Children’s Jewelry Sets. Lead and cadmium levels that exceed federal safety standards have been found in the jewelry sets. These products may be serious health hazards, especially to children and women who are pregnant or breastfeeding.

People who have purchased the jewelry set should immediately dispose of the product.  Photos of any disposed sets can be sent to [email protected]. Purchasers can also contact the seller, LordRoads for a full refund.

This recall affects three Yaomiao-branded children’s jewelry sets. Approximately 6,900 sets were sold in the U.S. exclusively online at Amazon.com from January 2022 through March 2024 for between $8 and $21, depending on the set.

The sets have between three and 12 pieces of jewelry. The jewelry is silver colored with multicolored gems shaped as a unicorn, a butterfly, a heart, a turtle, a star, or a rainbow with a cloud. Each set comes packaged individually in small plastic bags inside a lavender colored box with the words “A Special Gift for the Charming You” printed on it. “Yaomiao” appears on the box’s outer plastic wrap.

PDH maintains a toll-free lead information hotline (1-800-440-LEAD) to provide information about lead poisoning prevention, testing, follow-up, and local resources.

More information about the health impacts of lead can be found on the PDH website. 

Parents and caregivers of children who may have used the recalled jewelry sets should contact their child’s health care provider about getting a blood lead test. 

PDH shared a health alert notice to communicate this recall among state and local public health agencies, health care providers, hospitals, and emergency management officials. 

PDE Reminds LEAs to Review Enrollments in the Approved Private School Electronic Management (APSEM) System (January 7, 2024)

Recently, local education agencies (LEAs) received a notification about reviewing 4010 enrollments through the Approved Private School Electronic Management (APSEM) system for school year 2023-2024. Please use the following instructions to review your Approved Private School (APS) enrollments:

  1. Log-in as an Approved Private School (APS) or a Local Educational Agency (LEA) User.
  2. Click the Reports link on the header.
  3. Choose the 4010 Enrollment Report from the report dropdown.
  4. Choose 2023-2024 from the School Year dropdown.
  5. Click on the Run button.
  6. Click the Open button at the bottom of the screen to open the spreadsheet.

Review the 4010 enrollments data, including student name, date of birth, primary exceptionality, age category, etc. Please forward this email to the individual responsible for the APSEM data review in your APS or LEA.

Please contact Eileen Jacobs-Crummel at 717-257-6652 or [email protected] with questions regarding this information.