Sandy Hook Promise to Protect 2.6 Million Students with its Know the Signs Violence Prevention Programs Through Partnership with School Districts in 15 States as a Result of the STOP School Violence Act

The organization is partnering with these states and school districts to train students and adults how to identify, intervene and get help for individuals who may be at-risk of hurting themselves or others, and prevent violence before it starts

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Sandy Hook Promise

Oct 03, 2018, 13:01 ET

NEWTOWN, Conn., Oct. 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Sandy Hook Promise (SHP) is proud to announce that it will be partnering with school districts in 15 States across the country to protect millions of students from violence through its proven Know the Signs programs. With these programs, SHP will be able to train youth and adults how to identify, assess, and get help for individuals who are exhibiting signs of at-risk behaviors and stop violence BEFORE it occurs. Through these training programs and partnerships, Sandy Hook Promise will be able to protect 2.6 million students from violence.

"We are so proud to partner with these great states and school districts that are committed, like us, to making a difference for students across the country. We know we can prevent violence in our schools through proven programs like our Know the Signs programs, and I am proud that we are able to train and protect millions more students across the country," said Mark Barden, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Sandy Hook Promise and father of Daniel who was killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary tragedy.

SHP is working with districts in California, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, New York, Michigan, Louisiana, Tennessee, Maine, West Virginia and Ohio to roll out its various Know the Signs programs to students.

To date, Sandy Hook Promise has trained over 3.5 million youth and adults in at least one of its Know the Signs programs in all 50 states and has helped avert multiple school shooting plots, numerous teen suicides, as well as other acts of violence and self-harm. With these additional partnerships to protect 2.6 million more students, even more lives will be saved and threats intervened upon.

These state and district partnerships with Sandy Hook Promise and its Know the Signs programs will be supported through the STOP School Violence Act, which federally recognized SHP's Know the Signs programs as evidence-based, proven solutions to prevent gun violence.

The STOP School Violence Act was introduced in the House of Representatives before the tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School to build off the research and lessons learned from Sandy Hook and other tragic shootings and scale proven, evidence-based, early intervention programming to schools across the country to prevent future school shootings, suicides, and other forms of school violence. It was passed and signed into law in March as part of the Fiscal Year 2018 omnibus funding bill. Sandy Hook Promise proudly worked with Republicans and Democrats to write and pass this legislation.

In June, it was announced that the Fiscal Year 2019 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act passed through Subcommittee and provided even more support to states and school districts to expand evidence-based violence prevention programs to train students and school personnel to identify signs of violence and intervene early to prevent people from hurting themselves or others.

About Sandy Hook Promise: Sandy Hook Promise (SHP) is a national, nonprofit organization based in Newtown, Connecticut. SHP is led by several family members whose loved ones were killed in the tragic mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012.  SHP's mission is to prevent gun violence (and other forms of violence and victimization) BEFORE it happens by educating and mobilizing youth and adults to identify, intervene and get help for at-risk individuals. SHP is a moderate, above-the-politics organization that supports sensible program and policy solutions that address the "human-side" of gun violence by preventing individuals from ever getting to the point of picking up a firearm to hurt themselves or others. Our words, actions and impact nationwide are intended to honor all victims of gun violence by turning our tragedy into a moment of transformation.

For more information, visit www.sandyhookpromise.org or call 203-304-9780.

Media Contact:
Stephanie Morris
1-646-650-5005

SOURCE Sandy Hook Promise