Philly is getting $1 million to train 400 teachers, police officers to help students who experience trauma

Stoneleigh Fellow Brandy Blasko spoke to The Philadelphia Inquirer about a new police-school district partnership program to notify school officials of Philadelphia students who witness traumatic events outside of the school setting.

When Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel worked in the Philadelphia Police Department’s narcotics division, he’d sometimes go into homes of school-age children who had witnessed deeply upsetting events, and think: What’s going to happen to them?

For years, Bethel dreamed of a formal program that would help police and school staff assist Philadelphia students who witness traumatic events. On Monday, Bethel and district officials announced the launch of just such a program, funded with a $1 million federal grant.

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