Warren Schools Launch Handle With Care Program

Warren County School System has launched the Handle With Care Program to support students who have recently experienced a traumatic event.

Communications Coordinator Sarah Cantrell said the school system has partnered with local first responders to set up the program. Cantrell said when first responders respond to a traumatic event where children are either involved or present they will notify the school system that an event has happened but will not disclose details about the event.

“We are prepared in the school system to offer rest or maybe postpone a test or connect students to special counseling,” Cantrell said. “And we just kind of go from there and respond to the needs that we feel like that individual student requires.”

Cantrell said it can be tough for students to focus and learn when traumatic events happen outside of school. Cantrell said the goal of the program is to help students recover from traumatic event and continue succeeding in school.

“We want to make sure that they get every opportunity possible to heal from a traumatic event that continues their learning experience within school,” Cantrell said. “So they can thrive to be successful both as a student and in the future after they are done with school.”

Cantrell said the program has been very successful so far as they have seen it work firsthand.

“It has been very seamless for us,” Cantrell said. “We have gotten multiple Handle With Care notifications from local first responders and we act on them immediately and we’ve seen how impactful the program can be in supporting our students so we will continue with it for the foreseeable future.”

Cantrell said the program is modeled after a program that was first started in West Virginia. Cantrell said when first responders approached the school system about implementing the program she said the school system agreed that it was a no-brainer.