The Office of School Safety strongly encourages all school administrators and safety partners to review a critical new co-branded report: "The State of Behavioral Threat Assessment and Management in K–12 Public Schools."
This comprehensive study provides the most current, nationally representative findings on how K–12 schools are implementing and utilizing Behavioral Threat Assessment and Management (BTAM) programs as core components of their violence prevention efforts.
Why This Report Matters Now
This research, sponsored by the U.S. Secret Service’s National Threat Assessment Center (NTAC) and conducted by the RAND Homeland Security Operational Analysis Center (HSOAC), is based on a survey of 1,746 school leaders. It offers a vital benchmark for our field:
Data-Driven Practices: It moves beyond theory by providing hard data on the effectiveness and implementation methods of BTAM across the country.
National Benchmark: It allows districts and schools to measure their own threat assessment practices against a nationally representative sample.
Key Audience: This report is explicitly designed for school- and district-level administrators, school safety partners, and local law enforcement—the professionals who drive successful prevention outcomes.
The Role of BTAM
As the Secret Service continues to emphasize, effective school violence prevention relies on an organized, multi-disciplinary BTAM process to identify, assess, and manage students who may pose a threat to themselves or others. This report offers the necessary framework to advance the field’s understanding of these crucial practices.
Access the Full Report: We urge you to access the full findings to inform your violence prevention strategies for the 2025-2026 school year.