'Upstream Prevention': Greendale School Social Worker Selected For DOJ School Safety Role

GREENDALE, WI — Trisha Kilpin, a school social worker with 30 years of experience in the Greendale School District, was selected to lead the Wisconsin Department of Justice Office of School Safety, Attorney General Josh Kaul announced in a news release Monday.

At the core of Kilpin's efforts is keeping students and staff at schools safe, physically and psychologically. Getting the task done includes some things many may already think of when they think of school safety, such as properly marked entrances, safety drills, security systems or limited building access, which are critically important, Kilpin told Patch.

"Equally important is our students feeling psychologically connected to their school, and feeling that their school is a place that they belong," Kilpin said. "And so when we look at comprehensive school safety, you look at all of the things that would be likely to prevent violence from occurring in a school, and if an incident would occur, and we aren't able to prevent that, then we talk about responding in a way that does no harm... ....a really purposeful way, so that kids don't experience as significant of a psychological trauma, and they're able to recover more quickly."

"I really have grown in my understanding and appreciation for prevention for doing making like macro-level change so that we can make sure that problems don't arise in the first place," Kilpin said. "We call it upstream prevention, and it's not just waiting for kids to, you know, fall in the river and go over the waterfall. But instead, what we can do to make sure that they're not fallen in the water in the first place and that we can keep kids out of harm's way."

One way schools attempt to prevent violence is in threat management, or threat assessment. The process looks beyond the more traditional concept of a threat, such as when a kid may say or write something that can be construed as violent, according to Kilpin. The FBI and Secret Service have drafted their own versions of threat management.

Wisconsin's threat management framework, from the Office of School Security, is the Wisconsin Threat Assessment Protocol. Kilpin helped to develop it, and every district in the state is able to use it.

Kilpin says her efforts to develop it helped her to get to know the Office of School Safety, and vice-versa. She said threat assessment may be where she's seen some of the most development in school safety over her 30 years as a school social worker.

Threat Management In Schools

"There are discernible signs of violence that we need to pay attention to and respond to and create a system where kids who might be on the pathway to violence, have their needs met, and the school is safe," Kilpin said. "So we have to balance the needs of the individual, and get them support and treatment, with having some limits set, so that the student isn't able to cause harm to peers."

In national threat assessment guidelines cited by the Wisconsin OSS in their protocol, the process in part works by establishing a team to conduct threat assessment, defining concerning and prohibited behaviors, establishing a threshold for law enforcement intervention, creating a central reporting mechanism, and establishing procedures.

Behaviors that may be labeled "concerning" include substance abuse, evidence of a mental health crisis, and withdrawal or isolation from others. Such behavior can happen on a continuum, the national guidance says.

More overt behavior, such as threats, harassment, bullying or weapons, requires immediate intervention, the national guidance says.

"If they're on a pathway to violence, and if they are posing a risk—so that they have indicators that we need to be paying attention to—and figure out how we're going to change that trajectory for them so that they're off the pathway to violence," Kilpin said.

The national guidance extends its advice by saying schools can create and promote the school climate by developing a culture of safety, trust and respect. Students should feel empowered to share their concerns, and "codes of silence" should be broken down, the guidance says. Encouraging students to take part in other activities and engaging them also go toward creating a positive climate, the national guidelines.

Wisconsin's Threat Assessment Protocol

The Wisconsin Threat Assessment Protocol says six principles were used in founding its methods. They are:

• "Targeted violence is the end result of an understandable, and oftentimes discernible,
  process of thinking and behavior."
• "Targeted violence stems from an interaction among the individual, the situation, the setting, and the target."
• "An investigative, skeptical, inquisitive mindset is critical to successful threat assessment."
• "Effective threat assessment is based upon facts, rather than on characteristics or 'traits'."
• "An 'integrated systems approach' should guide threat assessment inquiries and
  investigations."
• "The central question in a threat assessment inquiry or investigation is whether a student
  poses a threat, not whether a student has made a threat."

According to the protocol, it starts when the school receives information about prohibited or concerning behavior. The student is interviewed, as well as their parents and anyone who may have witnessed the behavior and anyone who may have felt targeted.

A team works to determine if a student may have access to weapons and to determine the level of threat. The team then determines risk factors, and determines if there is a need for immediate law enforcement intervention, or medical or mental health evaluation or treatment, according to the Protocol overview.

Any need for non-emergency resources such as counseling or meditation is then determined, as well as the appropriate school discipline.

Helping To Train Others On Avoiding A Crisis

Kilpin previously served on the Crisis Incident Response Team Advisory Committee, and has led school safety training in Greendale schools and across in other districts, according to the DOJ news release. She helps to train others on the PREPaRE 1 model, which was created by the National Association of School Psychologists.

The PREPaRE 1 model that she trains others in is "a systems-level analysis of each school to see where they're at, in terms of their physical, safety and psychological safety for kids, and what could be done to prevent violence from occurring," Kilpin said.

"PREPaRE 2 training is about crisis response," Kilpin said, "so that we're responding in evidence supported ways that minimizes the harm, and gets kids quicker on the road to recovery, and decreases the likelihood that they are traumatized by a significant event."

"All of those variables are important in terms of school safety," she said.

Looking Ahead To Her Role At The DOJ Office Of School Safety

The Office of School Safety was created by Wisconsin Act 143 in 2017. Kilpin said she looks forward to continuing the mission of OSS, such as how the office has made training very accessible to schools, or how it has promoted analysis that can improve schools.

"No school is going to have everything figured out right away," she said, "how can we give a deeper analysis into each school district in terms of what they might find supportive? And how can we provide those."

One project that Kilpin said she is looking forward to as she moves into her new role at the Office of School Safety is a type of specialized mutual aid team that districts across the state would be able to utilize in times of need.

"These people can come in and assist the local school district if the school district requested, and if the school district wants back support, and in terms of how to respond in a way that minimizes potential harm that students would feel and to mitigate any kind of risk of long-term trauma," Kilpin said.

Kilpin received a Bachelor of Arts in psychology and a Master of Science in social work from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, according to the news release from the DOJ. In 1997, she was named Wisconsin School Social Worker of the Year and in 2021 she was named a Wisconsin State Teacher of the Year.

"What I have been most proud of in my time in Greendale is the ability to make sure that we're making change in a holistic way district-wide to, to make sure that kids aren't falling through the cracks and that we're doing things to prevent harm from occurring rather than being reactionary," Kilpin said.

"We are proud that Trisha Kilpin’s great work for the students of Greendale Schools has been noticed," said Greendale Superintendent Kim Amidzich in a statement to Patch. "Her commitment to elevating our student services has helped us to create systems that support student mental health and personal wellness by implementing PREPaRE practices, threat management processes, Sources of Strength, and other programs for kids. We wish her well in this new position."