CARE Team

Purpose

It is the goal of the CARE Team to ensure, to the extent possible, that CT State Northwestern is a safe and secure place in which to teach and learn.

The CARE Team is a group of faculty, staff, and managers who meet biweekly to manage and reduce threats to safety—whether from students or employees—before they cause harm. Once identified, the CARE Team takes a planned approach to assessing the threat and taking appropriate action.

How We Work

Matter of concern can be brought to the CARE Team in the following ways:

Contact Ruth Gonzalez (860-738-6315), Director of Student & Community Life and team chair; to discuss issue of concern;
Contact any CARE team member;
Submit the online form

In presenting your concern, please be sure to include, at a minimum, the name of the student or employee you are concerned about, that person’s ID number if available, and a complete description of the incident that caused your concern. It would be helpful to provide your name and contact information as well.

Membership

The CARE Team members are:

Susan B. Anthony Project       24 Hour Hotline                        860-482-7133
Ruth Gonzalez, Ph.D. (co-chair)    860-738-6315                        Goulet House Room 105
Andrew Wetmore (co-chair)          860-738-6344                        Green Woods Hall Room 110
Michael Emanuel                             860-738-6389                        Founders Hall Annex Room 308
Tracy Smith-Michnowicz               860-738-6305                        Founders Hall Annex Room 308
Jane O’Grady                                    860-738-6388                        Goulet House Room 204
Daneen Huddart                              860-738-6318                        Green Woods Hall Room 303
Alalyna Scarangelo                          860-738-6468                        Green Woods Hall
Brian Plessinger                               860-738-6409                        Founders Hall Room 105
Jay Whitaker, Ex-Officio                860-738-6319                        Founders Hall Room 103
Jacqueline Kuns (Secretary)         860-738-6343                         Green Woods Hall 110

Guidelines for Identifying Someone of Concern

In order to make the process of identifying concerning behavior as clear and easy as possible, the CARE Team has divided student and employee behavior into two categories:

  1. Behavior that is an immediate threat: This includes behavior where the individual involved poses a threat to him/herself or others or is in need of immediate medical attention. Some examples include:
    • A person who has access to weapons and is threatening to use them
    • A person who is attempting suicide
    • A person who threatens suicide
    • A person who threatens to harm someone else
  1. Behavior that is of concern:
    • Changes in a student’s or employee’s behavior that is unusual or abrupt
    • Work or student performance that declines abruptly or is unusually poor
    • Frequent discussion or preoccupation with violent events or with weapons
    • Intolerance and bigotry
    • Intimidating and/or bullying others
    • References to planning a violent event or to harming others
    • Responses to circumstances or conversation that is uncharacteristically intense in emotion

Principles of Threat Assessment

The concept of threat assessment rests on several principles:

  1. Information is usually fragmented but prevention is possible
  2. That violent acts tend to follow a logical and predictable progression of behavior:
  3. That people in and of themselves are not violent; there are characteristics and conditions that promote violence
  4. Input from multiple sources is critical

Rehabs.org

Rehabs.org provides info for people at any stage of their recovery journey, including info on different types of therapy/recovery options, warning signs, how to talk to a family member, definitions of different types of treatment, and a local treatment center directory.

 

NaBITA Risk Rubric