Section 5502.263 | Model threat assessment plan, approved threat assessment team training for schools.
(A) As used in this section, "evidence-based" means a program or practice that does either of the following:
(1) Demonstrates a rationale based on high-quality research findings or positive evaluation that such a program or practice is likely to improve relevant outcomes and includes ongoing efforts to examine the effects of the program or practice;
(2) Has a statistically significant effect on relevant outcomes based on:
(a) Strong evidence from at least one well-designed and well-implemented experimental study;
(b) Moderate evidence from at least one well-designed and well-implemented quasi-experimental study; or
(c) Promising evidence from at least one well-designed and well-implemented correlation study with statistical controls for selection bias.
(B) Not later than two years after the effective date of this section, the department of public safety, in consultation with the department of education and the attorney general, shall develop a model threat assessment plan that may be used in a building's emergency management plan developed under section 5502.262 of the Revised Code. The model plan shall do at least the following:
(1) Identify the types of threatening behavior that may represent a physical threat to a school community;
(2) Identify individuals to whom threatening behavior should be reported and steps to be taken by those individuals;
(3) Establish threat assessment guidelines including identification, evaluation of seriousness of threat or danger, intervention to reduce potential violence, and follow-up to assess intervention results;
(4) Establish guidelines for coordinating with local law enforcement agencies and reports collected through the district's chosen anonymous reporting program under section 3313.6610 of the Revised Code and identify a point of contact within each agency;
(5) Conform with all other specifications in a school's emergency management plan developed under section 5502.262 of the Revised Code.
Evidence-based threat assessment processes or best practice threat assessment guidelines created by the national threat assessment center shall be a resource when developing the model threat assessment plan.
(C) Not later than two years after the effective date of this section, the department of public safety, in consultation with the department of education and the attorney general, shall develop and maintain a list of approved training programs for completion by school threat assessment team members prescribed in section 3313.669 of the Revised Code, one of which must be free or of no cost to schools. Each program approved under this section must be an evidence-based program that provides instruction in the following:
(1) Identifying behaviors, signs, and threats that may lead to a violent act;
(2) Determining the seriousness of a threat;
(3) Developing intervention plans that protect the potential victims and address the underlying problem or conflict that initiated the behavior and assessments of plan results.
Completion of an approved program under this section shall fulfill the training requirements prescribed under section 3313.669 of the Revised Code.
Last updated December 20, 2021 at 8:13 AM
Available Versions of this Section
- March 24, 2021 – Enacted by House Bill 123 - 133rd General Assembly [ View March 24, 2021 Version ]
- October 3, 2023 – Amended by House Bill 33 - 135th General Assembly [ View October 3, 2023 Version ]