Last month, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) released the results of its National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Among the key findings were:

The key findings also includes information on mental illness, drug usage, thoughts of suicide, recovery, and more.

This week is National School Counseling Week. According to the American School Counselor Association, this week "highlights the tremendous impact school counselors can have in helping students achieve school success and plan for a career," and focuses "public attention on the unique contribution of school counselors within U.S. school systems."

February 15th is National School Resource Officer Appreciation Day! According to the National Association of School Resource Officers, "The organization chose Feb. 15 for National School Resource Officer Appreciation Day because it falls during the traditional academic year and is the birthdate of Archie Hodge, the only NASRO founding member who remains active on the organization’s board of directors. Hodge, of Jackson, Mississippi, retired from law enforcement in 2006 after serving as an SRO for 22 years."

There is still time to register for the Preparing for the Unimaginable: An In-Depth Look at Wellness, Trauma Recovery, and Resilience class on February 23rd, from 8:30 am - 12:30 pm via Zoom. This class is for K-12 schools, institutions of higher education, law enforcement, and other school and campus safety stakeholders. For more information and to register, click here.

The Illinois School and Campus Safety Program, in partnership with Safer Schools Together, is pleased to announce 2 upcoming sessions of the Digital Threat Assessment class are being held via Zoom in February and March. Digital Threat Assessment training will enable participants to establish a framework to better assess all threats by constructing and considering the digital baseline of a threat maker by locating, documenting, and evaluating social media data through a threat assessment lens. A significant portion of the day will be spent engaging in hands-on exercises on the most prevalent social media platforms and associated search applications. For more information and to register, click the corresponding link for the session you would like to attend.

The Illinois School and Campus Safety Program is pleased to announce the class Advanced Digital Threat Assessment will be held on April 19th from 9:30 am-4:00 pm via Zoom. Building upon the Digital Threat Assessment class by Safer Schools Together, Advanced Digital Threat Assessment advances participants' understanding of finding and curating relevant digital information consistent with real-life digital threat assessment data gathering scenarios. Significant engagement and hands-on practice will take place as participants are assembled into investigative teams and given a true-to-life mock scenario. For more information and to register, click here.