In light of the school shooting at a Uvalde, TX elementary school that claimed the lives of 21 victims, the UCLA Center for MH in Schools & Student/Learning Support has provided resources for responding after school violence in response to requests from schools across the country. Since few days are left this school year, the focus at schools will be on supporting students, their families, and staff and enhancing safety at school. As a result, UCLA has provided some resources from the National Association of School Psychologists and the National Child Traumatic Stress Network to help:

Responding to a Mass Casualty Event at a School: General Guidance for the First Stage of Recovery at https://www.nasponline.org/resources-and-publications/resources-and-podcasts/school-safety-and-crisis/school-violence-resources/responding-to-a-mass-casualty-event-at-a-school-general-guidance-for-the-first-stage-of-recovery

Responding to School Violence: Tips for Administrators at: https://www.nasponline.org/resources-and-publications/resources-and-podcasts/school-safety-and-crisis/school-violence-resources/school-violence-prevention/responding-to-school-violence-tips-for-administrators

Helping Youth after Community Trauma: Tips for Educators at: https://www.nctsn.org/resources/helping-youth-after-community-trauma-tips-educators

Talking to Children About Violence: Tips for Parents and Teachers at: https://www.nasponline.org/resources-and-publications/resources-and-podcasts/school-safety-and-crisis/school-violence-resources/talking-to-children-about-violence-tips-for-parents-and-teachers

From San Diego County Office of Education — Resources for Educators, Families to Discuss School Shootings at: https://www.sdcoe.net/about-sdcoe/news/post/~board/news/post/resources-to-discuss-school-shootings

For more, see the UCLA Center’s Responding to a Crisis at:  http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/crisisresp.htm

Also, after the school year ends, it is time to turn attention to improving future responses and taking steps that can help prevent problems. Here are some things to do:

1. Review and improve Crisis Response and Prevention Plans. See:
   What are good follow‑up plans for schools after a crisis event?  http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/pdfdocs/mhpractitioner/practitioner(7-17-19).pdf
   “Crises Assistance and Prevention” (Chapter 17 in Embedding Mental Health as Schools Change) http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/pdfdocs/mh20a.pdf

2. Move on to plan improvements in the system of student/learning supports for the district and its schools: http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/newinitiative.html