No. Local school districts may elect to continue to operate their existing tip line. However, we encourage districts to consider the cost to operate the service and understand that participation in Safe2Help is free and provides 24/7 accessibility.
There is no cost to the school district to participate in the program and receive reports from the Safe2Help program.
No. The objective of the Safe2Help program is support schools and schools districts in determining what mental health services they believe best to respond to each report. If requested, the Safe2Help can assist reporters and schools in identifying mental health services available within their community, county or region of the state. Direct intervention with the student is the responsibility of the district.
No. The Safe2Help program will forward confidential tips received from students, parents, school officials, and the community to the local law enforcement and/or schools whether or not they elect to formally participate in the program.
The Safe2Help program is a confidential tip line. Reporters will be encouraged to provide their name and contact information, but it isn’t a requirement. Information received by Safe2Help is exempt from the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) reporting rules and can only be accessed under limited conditions by a court order.
The school district will be asked to provide contact information for five individuals (minimum) at each school and five contacts at the district. These individuals will be called end-users. School end-users should include at least one individual from local law enforcement and the other four from within the school or community. The school can include an individual(s) on their behavioral threat assessment team in case the information would need to be shared and handled within that team. A local police department can also be an enduser.
End-users will be identified by the school or district and each of their contact information must be entered into a geoform online. The school and district would need to submit each end-user's name, title, email, office phone number, and a yes or no to if the end-user would like to subscribe to text alerts (to notify them of incoming Safe2Help Illinois report emails). Endusers will be updated every year as necessary.
End-users are the contact points within the school, district, and law enforcement. End-users will be responsible for addressing the reports that are received from Safe2Help Illinois. These individuals also will be responsible for submitting general follow-up information on how the Safe2Help Illinois report was handled at their school. Endusers will go through a brief training so they understand how to view and enter follow-up information into the Safe2Help software.
No. Each school is required to provide five end-users. If there are questions, the school and Safe2Help staff can work together to help identify end-users or come up with additional options. At least one end-users must be from local law enforcement. Schools can add more than five end users if they want. In addition to the end users provided by each school, the district will be required to provide five contacts, as well.
Schools can list an individual(s) from their Behavioral Threat Assessment Team as an end-user. This could be helpful in case the information would best be shared and handled within the Behavioral Threat Assessment Team. If you are interested in forming a Behavioral Threat Assessment Teams, there is free training in the state of Illinois. For more information, call 309-298-2646 or email schoolsafety@iletsbei.com.