A new approach to school and community safety is being piloted in Oregon

March 5, 2006

In a time when school officials are working to improve safe school programs, a group of professionals are pioneering a new and innovative approach. “Conventional screening and risk assessment approaches are expensive and require a lot of resources”, says Michael Conner, an Oregon psychologist and former engineer. "With the internet, we now have an effective way to screen children and support community safety by involving, educating, empowering and connecting people with resources."

As a psychologist, Conner has worked in hospital, residential, primary medical care and health education settings. At one point in his career, he worked simultaneously with law enforcement, community crisis intervention and emergency room psychiatry. These unique experiences gave him insight into the needs of adults, parents, families, adolescents, professionals and organizations facing the most challenging problems. According to Conner, "Too many parents don’t know what to do, where to go, what to say and they can’t get help until it’s too late. It can take weeks to find the right person and months just to get an appointment."

As a former engineer, Conner relied on his experience solving problems using a process called reverse engineering. Conner and a team of parents, professionals and computer programmers developed a series of sophisticated computer programs that are available on the internet 24-7. Their first program, StepOne for Parents, is designed to help parents, teachers, health care professionals and law enforcement screen and refer children for behavioral and mental health problems.

“This approach would not have been possible were it not for new internet technologies developed by Microsoft” says Conner. “The programmers were able to develop this amazing software because off Microsoft’s Dot NET software.” It wasn’t until just a few years ago that a complex program like this could be developed and operated on the internet.

Kevin Rea, Director for Parent Advocacy at Mentor Research Institute (MRI) says, “MRI is excited to pilot StepOne for Parents. StepOne is an innovative practical application of screening science and it effectively educates, organizes and puts into words what parents already know in a way that empowers parents to effectively intervene before it’s too late”

"There is a tremendous need for mental health and crisis services but the resources available to screen and intervene are very small", says Rea. “Parents need tools to screen their children when they suspect there may be a problem no matter how serious. All one needs with StepOne for Parents is access to the internet. We are now able to offer ‘Help at the Speed of Thought’, no appointment necessary, just the desire to engage and focus attention on what you know about your child”.

Research has shown that parents often know their child has emotional or behavioral problems but they don’t know where to get help and what to say. The problem for parents in such circumstances is sorting out the factors in the information they do have. This is the value of the StepOne for Parents screening process. StepOne for Parents is a comprehensive screening and it generates a report in a reliable, valuable and useful manner.

Working with Mentor Research Institute, a Portland non-profit, Rea and his team began piloting StepOne for Parents over a year ago. According to Michaele Dunlap, a psychologist who chairs the Board of Directors, “StepOne for Parents is a powerful tool that is designed to involve, educate, empower, guide and refer parents to appropriate and necessary services.” Over 3000 Parents have used the StepOne web site and we are now designing programs that will demonstrate a range of uses with an “evidence base”. StepOne so far is endorsed by the Oregon Foster Parents Association and the National Coalition of Mental Health Professionals and Consumers.

According to the US Health Department nearly 1 out of 5 adolescents have a significant mental health, behavioral or substance abuse problem. Nearly 1 out of 10 have very severe problems. Less than 1 out of 5 will be identified and receive help if traditional strategies are used. The best time to help is between 11 and 14 years old. As many a 1 out of 16 adolescents attempt suicide everyday. The US Surgeon General's 2000 report on Mental Health in America recommends family involvement in  adolescent risk assessment. (Link to this report and others are available at www.InCrisis.Org).

Predicting suicide and violence can be difficult, but identifying behavior associated with a high risk of violence and suicidal behavior is much easier. Research by MRI indicates that parents and students have information and knowledge that a child is potentially suicidal or violent. Ironically, teachers and counselors are not the ones who are in touch with individual behavior associated with violence and suicide. Conner believes parents and students have information that can prevent targeted violence such as the recent school shooting in Roseburg, Oregon. MRI believe it is an economic reality that teachers and school officials don’t have the resources to screen children and they don’t have all the information.

StepOne is designed to support school and community safety programs. Captain Kevin Sawyer, of the City of Bend Police Department offered to following comments. “During my law enforcement career, I have worked an assortment of assignments to include traffic team, SWAT, narcotics investigations as well as uniformed patrol. The tragedies encountered in the day-to-day duties of a police officer were often compounded by the exposure of these situations to the children encountered through our investigations. Many times during drug investigations, criminal actions or just plain behavioral problems, a parent would ask for help on how to deal with the situation. Unfortunately, we were unable to provide an abundance of resources, and the kids would often ‘slip through the cracks’…. After I evaluated the StepOne for Parents program, I had cards printed with information regarding this innovative idea and distributed them to each School Resource Officer. I believe this is only the beginning of an opportunity to provide members of our community with the information they need to find the resources available for our youth…..I firmly believe this program has the opportunity to help our kids and perhaps even save some lives.”

Mentor Research Institute is a non-profit educational and research organization with a focus on mental health for youth and families including homelessness, effective intervention, public and professional education.

Revised/Corrected for Errors: March 6, 2006 (note: The original release was deleted by accident. This article is a previous version that was revised as closely as possible to reflect the original press release.)

Contact Kevin Rea: 541 390-9848
For more information and photos go to:  www.InCrisis.Org/pr
Mentor Research Institute
818 NW 17th Ave. Suite 2
Portland, OR 97209-2327
503 227-2027
501 c 3 Non-Profit
Tax Id# 91-1777183
www.InCrisis.Org
www.MentorResearch.Org

# # #