Psychological Safety & Physical Safety:  Bridging the Gap

Expert Resource Articles by Dr. Scott Poland,
Internationally recognized expert on school psychology issues related to violence prevention and crisis response

National School Safety and Security Services has long advocated for the need to bridge the gap between the psychological components of school safety and the physical components of school safety.  Far too often, we hear calls to address school safety through single-strategy approaches instead of balanced, comprehensive programs consisting of prevention, intervention, mental health, security and crisis preparedness components.

We are pleased to have as a part of our team Dr. Scott Poland, an internationally recognized expert on school psychology issues related to violence prevention and crisis response.  Dr. Poland is the Past President of the National Association of School Psychologists and serves as Chairman  of its National Emergency Assistance Team. He also retired as the Director of Psychological Services for Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District in Houston, Texas, and now serves as on staff at Nova University in Florida while continuing to consult internationally.

Dr. Poland has responded to provide mental health support following many of the high-profile school shootings and national crisis incidents involving school children. He is the author of four books and a videotape series on school crisis available from Sopris West at 800-547-6747 or www.sopriswest.com .

In an effort to help strengthen the relationship between the psychological and physical components of school safety, Dr. Poland has graciously provided the following resource articles for us to post on our site. The following articles by Dr. Poland are in .pdf format and Adobe Acrobat Reader is needed to open files.

Articles by Dr. Scott Poland:

Practical Suggestions for Crisis Debriefing in Schools (pdf file)

Safe Schools & Late Spring Time Post-9/11/01:  Prevention Issues (pdf file)

For additional information, Dr. Poland may reached at  spoland@nova.edu .

Questions regarding this web site page may be directed to Ken Trump, president of National School Safety and Security Services.