Few empirical studies exist on SSSCs. The NIJ funded the JPRC to conduct an evaluation to address this gap. Two prior reports from this project have been issued: States’ School Safety Centers: A Brief Look into History, Characteristics, and Activities; and Research and Evaluation on School Safety: The Structure, Services, and Products of State School Safety Centers.

The recently released third report summarizes the research that JPRC conducted to better understand the structure, services, and perceptions of SSSCs to identify promising practices and models for replication, expansion, and evaluation. This report uses data from interviews with key education leaders involved in school safety efforts in each state who engage with their states’ SSSC services, as well as a survey of superintendents and principals in states with an SSSC.

Key Insights:

• Awareness of SSSCs: The majority of district and school leaders were aware of their SSSCs, but there is an opportunity to further expand awareness to principals and teachers.
• SSSCs assume primarily a guidance role: Online resources, training, and technical assistance are the most used SSSC supports.
• Participants and interested parties have positive perceptions of SSSCs: Services are rated as easy to access, useful, comprehensive, high quality, and aligned with safety needs. However, there may be an opportunity for improvement in ensuring that services align seamlessly with state safety requirements and encompass best practices.
• There are opportunities for improvement: Feedback from surveys identified areas for possible improvements, including increasing staff capacity; improving websites; increasing outreach; and adding new supports for threat assessment, mental health, and leadership trainings.

Common vehicles used to maintain an organized and consolidated effort at the state level to address school safety are State School Safety Centers (SSSCs)—providing a wide range of services to enhance school security.

This report, funded by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), is the second in a series that highlights findings from an evaluation of SSSCs. Given the lack of information about the structure and functionality of SSSCs across the country, the report provides insights from in-depth interviews with SSSC directors to examine the school safety landscape in their states, the history and structure of the centers, the services offered by the centers, and the centers’ accomplishments and challenges.

Key findings include the following:

• Most state legislation guiding SSSCs is focused on emergency management.
• SSSCs utilize various staffing models and staff with expertise aligned with state legislation requirements.
• SSSCs likely need diverse funding sources to conduct their work.
• Most SSSCs provide many services remotely.
• State legislation and SSSC operations play a role in shaping services

Current methods of responding to student offenses in schools are often not effective, and may even be backfiring. Many experts support the use of restorative justice (RJ), an approach to justice that focuses on repairing harm and restoring relationships, rather than simply punishing the perpetrator.

This 2015 report, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, describes the promise of RJ in improving relationships and the overall school environment, and summarizes the findings from interviews with over 40 nationally recognized RJ leaders.