Baltimore launches new School-Based Violence Intervention Program

By Adam Thompson

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    BALTIMORE (WJZ) — Baltimore City leaders are partnering with the city’s school district to launch a School-Based Violence Intervention Program (SBVIP).

This new program will shift the norms about the acceptability of violence while supporting the safety of Baltimore’s students, according to city officials.

SBVIP will help students with conflict-resolution skills inside and outside the classroom. The program will also implement student ambassadors to assist with program acceptance and driving student engagement.

In connection with Baltimore’s Comprehensive Violence Prevention Plan, each school has been paired with a community-based organization equipped to meet the needs of the school community.

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott and Baltimore City Public Schools CEO Sonja Santelises will break down the SBVIP program on Tuesday.

On November 16, a 14-year-old boy turned himself in and was charged as an adult for a shooting near Dunbar High School that left a student injured, according to Baltimore police.

Police said the 15-year-old was shot in the neck, abdomen and leg about 30 minutes after school let out.

In response to the shooting, One In Five Foundation For Kids – a nonprofit created after a 2022 mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas – announced recruiting efforts for its STOPNOW citizen patrol teams.

The program aims to increase student safety and provide crisis intervention support for students.

Officials with the foundation said Dunbar High School will be one of the first schools on the patrol roster. Patrol members will be specially trained in situational awareness, conflict resolution and self-defense, according to officials.

In November, Santelises and community leaders listened to feedback from students on ways to make their schools safer during a meeting in November.

According to the latest data from the CBS News Baltimore Gun Violence Tracker, there have been 183 gun violence crimes near Baltimore City Public Schools, with 13 deaths, which is a significant decrease from last year.

“I feel that it’s important to put in place grief therapists in schools, as well as some psychiatrists and counselors that also can support mental health because I feel like a growing problem is definitely a loss,” a student said.

Santelises said the conversations with the students were constructive, with several important safety issues up for discussion.

“And I think that’s what we heard, whether we were discussing the drugs, whether we were having a discussion about relationships with police officers, whether we were having discussions even about consequences, underneath so much of that, was this unmet need, and so I think that’s what’s going to sit with me the heaviest,” Santelises said.

The district confirmed it plans to improve safety by using $50 million to upgrade door locks.

“From a lot of the most recent school safety research the kinds of doors that we need for maximum safety are doors that actually teachers can lock from the inside,” Santelises said.

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