Notifications: A Key Part of Handle with Care
The Handle with Care (HWC) program is one of the most simple and effective ways for law enforcement to notify school personnel of student-involved trauma.
The program is so simple that sometimes we over-explain it. Essentially, there are seven steps in the process:
An officer witnesses a possible student involved in trauma while responding to a call for service.
The officer finds out where the child attends school and his/her age.
The officer inputs the child’s name and age into the Kentucky Open Portal System (KYOPS) under the Handle with Care icon by finding the school the child attends.
Once that information is entered, an email is automatically generated and sent to the child’s school.
The email only informs the school to “Handle with Care.”
The next morning, school officials know that the student may or may not show signs of trauma.
If the child does show signs, school officials are ready to respond.
Kentucky’s HWC program is active and available to every school – public or private – and every law enforcement agency in the state.
Because of this, school officials are relying on receiving HWC alerts.
It’s important to remember, just because schools may not be in-person due to the current pandemic, it does not mean that HWC alerts should not be utilized.
The program is even more important now than ever before.
In many areas, counselors, teachers and staff have not had the opportunity to see their kids in person for many months. Handle with Care can alert school officials to possible issues at home that would not be readily picked up on due to the separation of virtual learning.
When should an officer activate HWC? We don’t know what causes student-involved trauma for each child we encounter during a shift. When in doubt, always activate the system. Just police presence due to the call for service may have caused trauma.
Upon completion of the risk assessments conducted by the State School Security Marshal’s office, compliance officers are reporting that many school systems are not receiving HWC notices even though they signed up with the program on KYOPS.
Law Enforcement agencies need to make sure the system is working and that officers know the program.
Contacting your local school districts and establishing a relationship with the administration will help protect our students and is required by the School Safety and Resiliency Act. The Handle with Care program also fulfills a mandate of the Act, 158.4416(5)(d):
“Collaborating with the Department of Kentucky State Police, the local sheriff and the chief of police to create procedures for notification of student-involved trauma.”
If you have any questions regarding the program, contact the Kentucky State Police at 1-502-782-1846 or the State School Security Marshal Office at 1-833-591-0214.
