(Decatur County, IN) – The Decatur County Sheriff’s Office and Decatur County Community Schools have teamed up to launch the “Handle with Care” program to support children facing trauma.
The initiative enables police to notify schools if they encounter a child at a traumatic scene so that school and mental health care leaders can provide trauma-sensitive support right away.
Law enforcement, educators, mental health leaders and other stakeholders met on January 25 to learn about and discuss the program. Since then, they have established a notification system and joined over 65 U.S. cities that have started their own Handle with Care program.
The local effort is supported by Decatur County Sheriff Bill Meyerrose and Decatur County Schools Superintendent Dr. Jarrod Burns.
“We are excited to work with such great partners on a program that will help students achieve at their highest levels despite whatever traumatic circumstances they may have endured,” Meyerrose said.
Handle with Care has three components:
- Decatur County Sheriff’s deputies will notify the Decatur County Community School Corporation when they encounter a child at a traumatic scene. Deputies will not send incident details to schools but will say three words: “Handle with Care.”
- Decatur County Schools will distribute the notification to the appropriate teacher and/or counselor so they can monitor the student’s behavior and determine what trauma-sensitive support the child may need at school, such as reteaching lessons, giving more time on tests, sending the student to the nurse’s office to sleep, or sending the student to the counselor.
- If needed, the counselor will make a referral to a mental health provider who will coordinate with parents/caretakers and the school to provide therapy on site.
To get involved in the Handle with Care program, contact Chief Deputy Eric Blodgett at (812) 663-8125.
