The predictive capability of the Universal School Safety Screening Scales (US4) is unique to Healthy Minds, Safe Schools, and identifies students who are at most risk of behavioral health issues that may impact their own safety, as well as the safety of others. Internalizing and externalizing behavioral health risk factors that are triangulated with behavioral health data in existing school information systems are key to decreasing students’ behavior problems through early identification and early intervention. The US4 assists school teams in managing student issues before they become unmanageable and result in generalized and targeted violence to self and others.

Early identification of internalizing problems allows school-based teams to prioritize students’ needs and provide timely interventions before harm happens to students that cannot be undone. Internalized problems and other risk factors including anxiety, stress, feelings of isolation, history of self-harm, and prior suicidal ideation and attempts. Actively managing a schools’ most vulnerable students increases their protective factors and creates a safer school environment for all students.

There are certain red flags for school teams to look out for when a student is on a path to attack. As researched by the U.S. Secret Service and the U.S. Department of Education (Fein, Vossekuil, Pollack, Borum, Modzeleski, & Reddy, 2004; Vossekuil, Fein, Reddy, Borum, & Modzeleski, 2004) there were consistencies between perpetrators of mass school violence and warning signs that should be monitored, communicated, and acted upon. Our program directly aligns with these signs and helps empower teams to identify and intervene on these issues before they can be acted upon. Early identification of students’ externalizing problems and other risk factors including history of behavior problems, discipline problems, poor attendance, and poor academic engagement allow school teams to actively manage students and intervene, interrupting their path to attack with wraparound services and supports.