The School Counselor and Threat Assessment

ASCA Position

School counselors are essential members of the multidisciplinary threat assessment team, contributing expertise on student development and supporting intervention strategies. School counselors’ participation on the team brings focus to prevention efforts that promote students’ well-being and responsive efforts to develop support plans for students in need of intervention. It is not appropriate for school counselors to lead threat investigations.

The Rationale

Incidents that threaten student and staff safety include bullying, harassment, violence, weapons or gang behavior (Ercek & Birel, 2021). As school violence concerns grow, the number of students who present as a potential threat to others has increased. This increase makes defining the role and scope of the school counselor’s involvement in threat assessments necessary. 
 
A threat assessment aims to interrupt people on a pathway to commit “predatory or instrumental violence, the type of behavior associated with targeted attacks” (Hoffman & Meloy, 2021). Hence, a threat assessment team’s main function is to ensure safety and to develop a support plan for students in need of intervention. School counselors play a collaborative role in threat assessment, contributing their expertise to inform interventions and support plans to gather information.
 
To protect the student-to-school-counselor relationship, it is not appropriate for school counselors to conduct assessments or make final decisions. Students need trusted adults they can turn to when sharing concerns about potential threats, and school counselors are well-positioned to serve in this role. For students to feel comfortable speaking up, they must have a reporting process that ensures their safety, makes them feel valued and provides appropriate protection. When trusted adults build relationships with students and create supportive school environments, students are encouraged to share critical information while feeling secure in doing so (Ellington, et al., 2023). 
 
Although confidentiality is a foundational component of the student-to-school-counselor relationship, it is important for students to understand that this confidentiality has limits, particularly when there is a risk of harm to self or others. School counselors have an ethical and legal duty to warn when credible threats are disclosed. By clearly communicating these boundaries in advance and consistently applying them, school counselors can maintain trust while fulfilling their obligation to protect the well-being of each and every student (ASCA, 2022). 
 

The School Counselor's Role

School counselors have an ethical obligation to promote safe school environments (ASCA, 2022). Thus, as members of a multidisciplinary team, school counselors are in an optimal position to build positive relationships with students, foster connectedness within schools, and identify and support students who are a risk to themselves or others (Ellington et al., 2023). In relation to threat assessments, school counselors:

• Participate in multidisciplinary threat assessment teams to provide input on student behavior, development and needs
• Advocate for a threat assessment team if one is not currently in place 
• Gather information about concerns for suicide along with threat assessment to acquire a comprehensive understanding of students’ needs (Ellington, et al., 2023)
• Facilitate periodic check-ins to provide additional support with students who are potentially at risk (Ellington, et al., 2023)
• Advocate for interventions that support students’ social/emotional well-being, mental health, academic and career development.
• Focus on students’ emotional needs rather than on punishment or discipline
• Recognize mental health warning signs
• Provide short-term counseling to support students involved in or affected by potential threats, helping them process emotions, manage stress and access further support when needed
• Educate the school community on preventive measures, such as fostering a safe school climate and recognizing early warning signs of distress
• Avoid responsibilities conflicting with the school counselor’s ethical role, such as interrogating students, conducting threat investigations or determining punitive outcomes
• Fulfill the ethical responsibility to always act in students’ best interest, to promote their academic success, career development and social/emotional well-being. 

Summary

School counselors understand the positive effects of providing a safe and caring school environment and play a vital role in creating a supportive atmosphere. As a member of a multidisciplinary team, school counselors collaborate with administrators and others to provide support with threat assessments.