Safe Schools Initiative returns to UB

Published March 12, 2025

Educators, law enforcement, first-responders, mental health professionals and other school stakeholders including parents and guardians are invited to attend the 21st Annual Safe Schools Initiative Seminar to help them be proactive in their violence-protection efforts. 

“Working Together to Reduce the Threat of Violence in our Schools & Communities” will take place from 8:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. March 19 in the Mainstage Theatre in the Center for the Arts, North Campus.

The free event will be accessible both in-person and virtually. .

This annual event, presented by the Erie County Law Enforcement Foundation (ECLEF), is a forum for school-safety stakeholders to come together and learn about important topics tied to protecting our children and communities. 

The seminar includes presentations by Patricia Logan-Greene, associate professor and associate dean for academic affairs in the School of Social Work. She will discuss “Addressing Violence in the Lives of our Youth: Pulling all the Levers We Can.” Logan-Greene will provide an overview of her research on gun violence prevention and intervention, including key takeaways from the recent report of the American Academy of Social Work & Social Welfare’s (AASWW) “Grand Challenge to Prevent Gun Violence,”which she co-authored.

“American youth are growing up under a specter of gun violence that affects their families, communities and mental health,” Logan-Greene says. “Policy approaches to our gun violence epidemic face many barriers. However, there are still important actions that school personnel and allied professionals, parents and guardians can take to make kids safer and support their development in these challenging times.”

The program includes the latest research focused on reducing gun violence by UB Social Work faculty members, and how schools and law enforcement can utilize the Behavioral Threat Assessment & Management (BTAM) model for addressing school safety.

An overview of ERPO (Extreme Risk Protection Order) legislation, which can be used to temporarily remove gun access during a crisis, will also be discussed, along with other prevention strategies to reduce harm.

A full description of the event’s speakers and panel members taking part in the discussion is available on .