This article describes a crisis response framework based on the authors' first-hand experience following three Colorado school shootings. During each crisis response, one or more of the authors joined school and/or district crisis teams, providing direct assistance and leadership. The authors' experiences helped guide subsequent responses and…

During the past two decades there has been increased public, professional, and legislative interest in school crisis prevention and intervention. It is recommended that comprehensive crisis teams be established at the school, district, and community levels. A case study was conducted in which interviews were utilized to facilitate an increased…

The Thompson School District recognized after the Columbine incident in the spring of 1999 that it was lacking an adequate plan for crisis response. Colorado legislation led to a mandate for having a crisis response plan so the district purchased a "canned" crisis response plan that served the needs of response in a very immediate but…

As cities across the country and globe continue to generate new solutions to a wide variety of vexing problems, sharing information about what works and what doesn't has become more important than ever. Yet, outside of a few prominent policies, the vast majority of successful municipal experiments never reach a national audience or, for that…

Some tragedies are so emblazoned in people's minds that years later they can recall where they were when they first heard the news. The assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr., the Challenger explosion, and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks are among these events. So also is the Columbine High School tragedy of April 20, 1999.…

In the wake of several high-profile shootings at schools in the United States, most notably the shootings that occurred at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999, the United States Secret Service (Secret Service) and the United States Department of Education (ED) embarked on a collaborative endeavor to study incidents of planned (or…

This booklet presents guidelines for the development of various types of 24-hour crisis nurseries designed to counter or prevent child abuse by providing parents with emergency relief from child care. Such centers accommodate small groups of children for a limited maximum time, ranging from 72 hours to six months. Topics covered are: types of…