The correlation between academic achievement and learning environments in which students feel safe, secure, and connected, is clear. The programs described below are designed to address unmet needs in the area of school safety and violence prevention.
School Community Violence Prevention (SCVP)
Provides approximately $16 million annually to school districts and county offices of education (COEs). Grants are for a maximum of $500,000 for a grant term of five years, and they may be used to address any unmet violence-prevention needs, including gang prevention and intervention. This grant funding is the result of Assembly Bill 825 of 2004, which consolidated all previous apportionments for school violence prevention into one grant.
School Community Violence Prevention Training Grant
Offers information to all local educational agencies through publications, training, and conferences. Training on three topics is offered statewide: safe school planning, crisis preparedness and response, and bullying and cyberbullying prevention and intervention. This training is conducted by law enforcement and education professionals.
School Safety and Violence Prevention (SSVP) Act, Assembly Bill 1113
Provides approximately $93 million annually for a block grant, based primarily on student enrollment, to school districts serving students in grades eight through twelve. Approximately $1 million (also based on enrollment) is allocated to COEs. Prior to 2008, these funds could be used for all violence-prevention strategies, including implementing science-based violence-prevention programs, hiring personnel trained in conflict resolution, providing on-campus communication devices, establishing staff training programs in violence prevention, and establishing cooperative arrangements with law enforcement. The 2008 budget act made these program funds flexible, allowing districts to use the funds for any educational purpose.
Teen Dating Abuse Prevention
Physical, sexual, verbal, emotional, or technological conduct by a person to harm, threaten, intimidate, or control a dating partner, regardless of whether that relationship is continuing or has concluded. The number of interactions between the individuals involved is insignificant.
Examples of the four types of dating abuse include:
- Verbal: threats to the partner or their family, putdowns, yelling or name calling;
- Physical: hitting, hair-pulling, slapping, punching, pinching or shoving;
- Emotional: telling the partner how they can dress, expressing a high degree of jealousy, stalking, calling or texting frequently to keep "track" of a partner;
- Sexual: forcing the partner to have unwanted sex, touching or kissing when the partner does not want to and not allowing the partner to use birth control;
- Technological: unwanted, repeated calls or text messages, non-consensual access to email, social networking accounts, texts or cell phone call logs, pressuring for or disseminating private or embarrassing pictures, videos, or other personal information.
