John Van Dreal is a school psychologist and owner of John Van Dreal Consulting, a practice dedicated to assisting school districts and other organizations improve psychological safety and peace of mind by building effective systems for violence prevention, mitigation, and response. Previously John was the director of security, safety, and risk management for the Salem-Keizer School District in Oregon.
John began the development and implementation of the Salem-Keizer Cascade Model, a multiagency student violence prevention and behavioral threat assessment (BTA) system, in 1999. With more than 30 years of experience in preventive BTA and management, psycho-educational evaluation, crisis intervention, behavioral intervention, and security and risk management systems consultation, his program is considered the gold standard by both the FBI and the U.S. Department of Education.
In April 2022, John released a book named “Youth Violence Prevention: The Pathway Back through Inclusion and Connection”. The book emphasizes the importance of early intervention and prevention through BTA. It underscores the significance of providing a positive school environment for the younger generation, which can be achieved by fostering connection, inclusion and prosocial relationship building, as well as restoring positive experiences.
BOOK REVIEWS
"This book was a must read for anyone working in schools. It includes content that will stimulate those working in the field of student threat assessment, but also provides enough support and description to engage and inform those who do not. The Case Studies that are outlined in the book are an invaluable resource that I will continue to refer back to."
"I liked the layout of the material. I felt like I was walking through each case with the authors. They addressed possible challenges and helpful explanations as I read through each unique case. I have been in education for over 25 years and I would highly recommend this book to any school district that is actively using student threat assessment or is hoping to begin a solid model like this Salem Keizer Cascade Model. Thank you to John, Coleen and Courtenay for sharing their knowledge, insight and experience with others."