Dublin City Schools, in partnership with the Dublin Police, is the first school district in Franklin County to roll out a new program focused on a trauma-informed care response to promote student resilience through positive relationships with school staff members and first responders.
Handle With Care is a statewide program that allows first responders to privately notify school administrators whenever a student experiences trauma outside of school hours that could then affect the student’s behavior and mental well-being when the student returns to school. Handle With Care-trained faculty and staff members can then adjust their responses accordingly to provide an appropriate level of care for the student.
Police and other first responders are trained to identify children at the scene, find out where they go to school, and send the school a confidential message that says: “Handle this student with care” before the start of the next school day. Only the student’s name and age are given to staff. This helps alert teachers and administrators, as well as the building’s School Resource Officer, of when a student has been identified at the scene of a traumatic event.
Dublin City Schools, in relationship with the Dublin Police’s School Resource Officer (SRO) program, has the largest Handle With Care training team in the state. Officer Scott Nichelson, an SRO at Sells Middle School, leads the district training team.
“This is a simplified way to connect our students with the care they need on a day when it’s going to make a big difference,” Officer Nichelson says. “I’m proud to be part of this training team and to start the program here in Dublin, which is already being used as a model for other large districts across the country.”
Dublin City Schools Superintendent John Marschhausen shares the district’s support.
“By fostering strong relationships between school staff and first responders, we are creating safe, supportive environments that help children build resilience and heal,” Marschhausen says. “Dublin City Schools is committed to the academic, emotional and social success of every child, and Handle With Care enables us to ensure all students thrive, regardless of outside challenges. I am grateful to our School Resource Officers, first responders and school staff for their dedication to this important initiative and their commitment to protecting and supporting our children.”
The program also encourages regular school visits by local first responders to help students become more familiar and comfortable with those who they can turn to in an emergency. Dublin SROs also work to continually build positive relationships with students through daily conversations, teaching classes, visiting classrooms, and attending school events.
Ohio Handle With Care is a collaborative, cross-system trauma-informed program aimed at ensuring that children who are exposed to adverse events receive appropriate interventions at school and have opportunities to build resilience through positive relationships with school staff and community first responders. Directed by Hopewell Health Centers and supported by the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, Ohio HWC collaborates with communities across the state to implement HWC to fidelity.
Public Safety in Dublin
The Dublin Police Department is dedicated to protection, service and public safety in partnership with the community. Learn more at YourDublinPolice.org.
#
Media Contact:
Rebecca Myers
Public Information Officer
614.381.5225 – Cell
rrmyers@dublin.oh.us
Newsroom: https://dublinohiousa.gov/newsroom/
English
Arabic
Chinese (Traditional)
Hindi
Japanese
Korean
Spanish