SPRINGDALE -- A new program the U.S. Attorney's Office is working to start in Arkansas would let school officials know when police encounter children while responding to a violent crime, a Springdale assistant superintendent said.
Gary Compton, assistant superintendent for support services for Springdale's School District, told the School Board during Tuesday's meeting the district is talking with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Arkansas about participating in the Arkansas Defending Childhood Initiative.
National Defending Childhood Initiative
• Started by Attorney General Eric Holder in 2010
• Stems from concerns about children’s exposure to violence as victims or witnesses
• Results of a National Survey of Children’s Exposure to Violence found 60 percent of 4,549 children questioned in 2008 were exposed to violence within the past year.
• A 13-member task force in 2012 made recommendations to protect and heal children from exposure to violence
Source: Department of Justice Defending Childhood Initiative website
"We may see a kid in distress and have no idea what's going on," Compton said. "It helps us better understand what's going on in the life of a child."
The U.S. Attorney's Office plans to make a public announcement about the program in August, U.S. Attorney Conner Eldridge said. The program stems from a U.S. Department of Justice Defending Childhood Initiative.
Eldridge is seeking schools and law enforcement agencies to participate, and the Springdale district is among a number of districts the office has approached.
Eldridge hopes the initiative will expand to as many districts and communities as possible, he said.
The program is a simple concept, Eldridge said. When police encounter children, such as responding to a domestic violence call or during a search warrant, the police within 24 hours would send a "handle with care" note to school districts.
The note wouldn't provide details of what happened, he said.
"Certain homes that police are visiting for domestic battery or drug cases or other serious crimes are really bad places for kids to grow up in," Eldridge said. "It will allow the child's principal, teacher and counselor to be aware that police encountered that child."
School officials would determine how to respond, but would be able to keep the situation in mind when dealing with the child, he said.
Schools are a microcosm of society, with students sometimes balancing academics with crisis situations at home, Har-Ber High School Principal Danny Brackett said. Staff members sometimes go home with heavy hearts, concerned for their students.
"It's hard work," Brackett said. "We care about our kids."
When crises occur, the Har-Ber school resource officer, who is a police officer, acts as a liaison between the school and police, Brackett said. Depending on the need, students can be referred for counseling or for assistance from other nonprofit or state agencies.
School Board member Danny Dotson thought it would be helpful for school staffs to know of special circumstances affecting students as long as the communication does not violate any privacy issues, he said.
If the district participates in the new initiative, Compton anticipates he would be receive the "handle with care" notices from police and then work with schools.
"We will try to use information to help the kid," Compton said.
NW News on 07/15/2015