GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – It’s been a year since the Wisconsin Department of Justice introduced the Speak Up, Speak Out threat reporting system – and so far, officials say it’s provided a lot of help.
Speak Up, Speak Out aims to provide resources about school safety – and a confidential way to report safety concerns.
“Students or teachers or anybody who is part of a school community can reach out and make contact. They can either provide a tip, or also get information about school safety,” said Attorney General Josh Kaul. “We want to make sure that students and teachers and others are aware of this resource.”
Kaul says while a program like this is important at any time, it’s especially impactful now – because of the situations at-hand due to the pandemic.
“We’ve had people who’ve been isolated from others, who haven’t had access to the same kinds of programming that they would normally. That’s had real impacts on on people’s mental health, substance use disorder, and on public safety,” Kaul told WTAQ News.
You can hear our full conversation with the attorney general here:
Students are always encourages to speak to trusted adults like their parents, teachers, or coaches. But sometimes, even that doesn’t quite work.
“There are a lot of students who may not feel comfortable providing that information that way, or they want be able to provide information confidentially. This provides that kind of resource,” Kaul explained. “It provides a way for students or anybody else in the school community to reach out and make contact, and know that they’re getting advice from a trusted, reliable source.”
Since launching on September 1, 2020, 80 percent of Wisconsin schools have provided contact information for the SUSO platform. During that time, SUSO has received 1,588 contacts. Tips reported to SUSO get referred to schools and/or law enforcement depending on the context of the tip. Over the past year, 216 different schools have received at least one tip referred from SUSO, and 62 different law enforcement agencies have received at least one tip.
Brown County had six contacts. Outagamie County had eight contacts. Winnebago County had 36 contacts.
“If there’s a concern that somebody is a threat to the safety of others at a school, this is a great way to get information to our analysts who can then relay that information to the school or to law enforcement as appropriate,” Kaul said. “But also if there are concerns about somebody potentially engaging in self harm or concerns that they’re being harmed by somebody else, again, this gives a way to report that confidentially.”
SUSO has helped students address problems that range from suicidal thoughts, to drug and alcohol abuse, to physical abuse. SUSO Resource Center staff work around-the-clock to respond to tips and to deploy a response locally by communicating directly with school administrators, law enforcement, and counselors.
If an intervention is necessary, that can also be initiated through this process.
“There are a variety of ways those scenarios can play out, but if there are real school safety concerns that people have, we want them to contact our analysts,” Kaul said.
Examples of tips over the past year include:
- A tipster shared that a friend mentioned wanting to commit suicide. A welfare check was made, parents were notified of the situation, and the student was offered mental health counseling.
- A tipster shared that a student showed evidence of self-harm and had spoken about hurting themselves. A school resource officer spoke with the student and connected them to mental health resources and support.
- A tipster shared that a student had been posting revealing videos on social media and talked about having body image issues, depression and family problems with alcohol and drug abuse. A welfare check was conducted and the student received counseling.
Students, parents, school staff, or any community members can submit a school safety concern or threat via the SUSO website, mobile phone application, or toll-free number, 1-800-MY-SUSO-1 (1-800-697-8761).
SUSO is supported by more than $2 million in federal grant funding from the U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Assistance.
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