The Upper Grand District School Board and the Wellington Catholic District School Board are signing on to an initiative aimed at assessing potential threats towards schools and the community at large.
Members from 16 community partners were in Mono, Ont., on Thursday to sign the Guelph-Wellington-Dufferin Violence Threat Risk Assessment (VTRA) community protocol.
Member organizations in this protocol include the Canadian Mental Health Association of Waterloo Wellington, Family and Children’s Services of Guelph and Wellington County, Guelph Police Services, Guelph Wellington Women in Crisis, and the John Howard Society of Waterloo-Wellington.
In a news release, the goal of the VTRA protocol is to reduce violence, manage threats of violence and promote individual, school and community safety.
They say this is done by proactively gathering information, understanding needs and mitigating risk with a caring wrap-around approach.
The VTRA protocol is intended to be used by multi-disciplinary teams trained in the theory and practice of trauma informed threat-risk assessment through VTRA Assessment training.
Initial funding for this was made possible by an Ontario Trillium Foundation grant.