A child can walk into school carrying a backpack, books, and something nobody else can see.
Maybe police were called to the child's home the night before. Maybe the student witnessed a serious accident, domestic dispute or another frightening situation.
By the next morning, that experience may show up in the classroom.
The student might be tired. Angry. Quiet. Unable to concentrate. Homework may suddenly be forgotten, or behavior may change for no obvious reason.
A Missouri program is working to give schools a little heads-up when something like that happens.
Handle with Care Missouri allows law enforcement and other first responders to alert a school that a student has recently been exposed to a potentially traumatic event. The program was brought to Missouri by the Missouri Juvenile Justice Association in 2021.
Tammy Walden, Trauma and Delinquency Coordinator for the association, has spent decades working with children and families. She believes Handle with Care gives educators information they otherwise wouldn't have.
“It is the program that provides the earliest possible notification to schools that one of their students may exhibit some symptoms of having been subjected to trauma,” Walden said.
The important part is that schools don't get the whole story.
They don't need it.
A simple message
When law enforcement, firefighters or emergency medical personnel encounter a child at the scene of a potentially traumatic situation, a Handle with Care notification can be sent to the child's school.
The message doesn't explain what happened.
It simply lets the school know the student may need a little extra care and attention.
The child doesn't have to be the direct victim of a crime. He or she may have simply been present when something serious happened.
“It doesn't necessarily rise to the level of making a hotline because the child may or may not be the direct victim related to the nature of the call,” Walden said.
Missouri's electronic notifications are handled through the Missouri State Highway Patrol's Missouri Information Analysis Center, better known as MIAC.
Walden said that allows first responders and schools to communicate without unnecessarily sharing sensitive information.
Don't start asking questions
There is also something educators aren't supposed to do when they receive the notification.
Don't start questioning the student about what happened.
“The very first thing that we ask you to do is observe,” Walden said.
Teachers and staff simply know to keep an extra eye on the child.
“It is not an invitation to engage the student in a conversation about what happened, because that could potentially re-traumatize the student,” she said.
If the student begins having trouble in class, educators can consider whether trauma may be playing a role.
That could mean trying trauma-informed approaches before immediately turning to discipline, a school resource officer or the juvenile justice system.
If the student continues struggling, counselors and parents can become involved. When more help is needed, the child and family can be connected with community mental health or behavioral health services.
It's not about ignoring bad behavior.
It's about asking whether there may be a reason behind a sudden change and giving the student a chance to get through it.
Nixa embraces the program
Handle with Care originated in West Virginia before making its way to Missouri.
The Missouri Juvenile Justice Association began piloting the program with one law enforcement agency in late 2021. Participation has grown since then.
Nixa has become one of the program's success stories. Walden calls the community her “star on top of the Christmas tree.”
She said the Nixa Police Department has embraced Handle with Care as a way to communicate with schools while protecting confidential information and ongoing criminal investigations.
“This is a safe way to do that without violating any statutes, without jeopardizing any potential criminal investigation by releasing information that isn't ready to be released yet,” Walden said.
For teachers, it means they may know there's a reason to give a student a little extra patience that day.
Four decades working with children
Walden's interest in helping children comes from a career that stretches back more than 40 years.
She was born in Arkansas but grew up in Springfield, where her father coached at Hillcrest High School for more than 50 years.
Her original plan wasn't necessarily criminal justice.
Walden attended Drury on a vocal music scholarship before discovering another interest.
“I fell in love with criminal justice,” she said.
She changed her major and moved to the Lake of the Ozarks in 1979.
A year later, Walden went to work as a deputy juvenile officer in the 26th Judicial Circuit. She eventually became chief juvenile officer before retiring after 40 years.
But she wasn't quite ready to call it a career. Walden had been involved with the Missouri Juvenile Justice Association for years and had served on its board. After retirement, she joined the organization professionally.
“I knew I wasn't ready to give up the work,” she said.
Everyone has a role
One thing Walden learned during those years is that helping children requires people to work together.
Schools have a role. So do police officers, juvenile officers, firefighters, mental health providers, foster care organizations, social service agencies and the Children's Division.
“The juvenile justice system is not just juvenile officers and the juvenile court,” Walden said. “It's all of our partners together.”
Each organization still needs to understand its own responsibilities and professional boundaries.
But communication matters.
“We've got to be able to communicate with one another about our roles and responsibilities and how we can best serve children and families in our state,” Walden said.
Handle with Care gives those groups a relatively simple way to do that.
The program is free to participate in
Walden hopes more Missouri communities will consider joining.
Handle with Care is free for participating schools and emergency response agencies. Municipal, county and state law enforcement agencies can participate, along with fire departments and EMS providers.
Training can be provided in person, online or through a short virtual session.
After spending 45 years working in the field, Walden said she's struck by how straightforward the program is.
“This is the easiest program I think we've ever launched,” she said.
When she first learned about Handle with Care, Walden remembers asking herself two questions.
“How do I not know about this?” she said. “And number two, why aren't we all doing it?”
Schools, first responders, and others interested in the program can learn more through the Missouri Juvenile Justice Association at MJJA.org.
