“October 18, 1985 Detroit, Michigan: During halftime of the homecoming football game between Northwestern High School and Murray-Wright High School, a boy who was in a fight earlier that day, pulled out a shotgun and opened fire injuring six students.” (K12 Academics)

School shootings are nothing new. They’ve occurred at various times since the 1700s. What is new is the amount of media attention given to such incidents. What isn’t new is the lack of intervention when a student exhibits signs of escalating the situation, for example, the fight earlier in the day.

Escalation of violence is in part egged on by the media—news which circles around repeating itself like an earworm (a song in the head which doesn’t stop). Media outlets use sensationalism to drive viewers and clicks online in order to beat out the competitor and raise advertising revenue.

Social media is an additional avenue of escalation—videoed homicides, suicides, threats, bullying, even online harassment among neighbors.

Today’s stressors coming through these mediums ramp up community anxiety, person by person: racial tensions, war and rumors of war, cultural shifting in values and morals, the stock market, hurricanes, volcanos, Ebola, politics, etcetera.

In both cases, what was initially meant for good—news, media, talk shows and social media, have turned sour and bitter. In many cases, it has caused us to hate one another.

There are also homegrown stressors affecting families: mental illness, cancer and other illnesses, rising autism rates, the cost of food and medicine, access to medical care, debt, crime, work, aging, divorce, housing needs, domestic violence and abuse, etcetera.

Cumulatively, these outside and inside stressors affect individuals, families and homes. Scott Armstrong, President and CEO of The Bridge Effect Foundation (TBEF) states, “Children are the stress indicators of what’s happening in a community.”

Armstrong is creating TensionTrac which will map a community’s tension levels based on consistent locally collected data. It will check how much serious crisis events affect a community. Government intervention resources will be given the data about specific hot-spots and crisis de-escalation can begin.

Similar types of TensionTracs have been used successfully in Wales to cut down soccer fan violence and by Yale University identifying what people believe about climate change.

Cindy Bridges, wife of a youth pastor, is Director of Child and Family Initiatives at TBEF states, “What’s not measured can’t be managed.”

Scott Armstrong with his family's Great Dane, Keira

Armstrong has a Masters in Quality Systems Management and is a Lean Six Sigma Blackbelt, this is not judo or karate, but a high-level certification of a professional who leads improvement projects.

Begun in 2016, TBEF has de-escalation specialists in place. Director of Community Outreach, Robert Campbell, already offers a free program to teach crisis de-escalation skills to caregivers for emotionally volatile adults and children thus avoiding incidents with emergency responders. “The Bridge Effect has identified serious training gaps in law enforcement, nursing and emergency health care skills training,” he states.

Incidents like the Sandy Hook Elementary and Parkland shootings impacted Armstrong as the father of an 11-year-old daughter. He adds, “I can only imagine their families’ eternal regret. We must all do what we can to prevent these horrible episodes from reoccurring in our communities.” Armstrong began TBEF after working in the mental health industry and noticing many gaps--holes where service didn’t get to the person who needed it most.

Armstrong decided to make a difference in the world in a new way, by doing something that mattered. Armstrong, Bridges and James Lamb, are working together with an advisory board and a team of volunteers to raise funds to open a Center for the Arts where at risk children may come and participate free of charge. Early intervention is key. Problems left unattended worsen. Armstrong states that these problems create overwhelming anxiety, an inability to communicate to teachers and police, thus feeling the need to lash out and resort to violence.

Teaching a child a performance art builds self-confidence without the need to have a gun and assert himself over others. Use of the Arts relieves stress, irritability, helplessness, anger and frustration in a fun way that is beneficial to a child’s future. Arts are also a means of speaking out about the hurt experienced in childhood from neglect, abuse, abandonment and emotional needs not met. TBEF plans to begin with two areas of performance art and add from there.

Armstrong has already been in talks with the city of Fort Pierce, Florida, the mayor of nearby Port St. Lucie and other government officials regarding the use of a building to house the center.

Armstrong works with the Treasure Coast Forensic Treatment Center population in Indiantown, Florida, one of only two maximum security facilities in the State of Florida for those incompetent to stand trial by reason of insanity. With over 200 beds, the facility is always full. His role is as the performance improvement and compliance administrator, monitoring the care, safety and treatment management processes performance to the Department of Children and Families and Forensic Department of Justice level.

He sees the result of untreated mental health illnesses and understands how the crimes these individuals committed could have been headed off with early childhood intervention. Today’s shooters were yesterday’s children.

Most of America’s shooters have been on prescription drugs for mental health illnesses. In October 2017, Austin Frank, former Hill staffer of Today in Politics wrote, “And the result is that a significantly higher percentage of mass shooters were on antidepressants than in the U.S. population at large… The number for teens and young adult mass shooters on antidepressants is well over a majority...Too many modern-day mass shooters and murderers have been on these meds to call it a coincidence.”

The Citizens Commission on Human Rights International, a mental health watchdog, has investigated school violence, revealing in February 2018, “that at least 36 school shootings and /or school-related acts of violence have been committed by those taking or withdrawing from psychiatric drugs resulting in 172 wounded and 80 killed.”

Armstrong believes it is imperative that the signs of potential violence, known as leakage, be understood, discussed and given attention before an incident occurs. Lives are at stake.

In June 2018, the FBI released the Study of Pre-Attack Behaviors of Active Shooters which covered shooter incidents between 2000 and 2013. It states, “The most frequently occurring behaviors were related to the active shooter’s mental health, problematic interpersonal interactions and leakage of violent intent.”

Leakage comes through social media, video, text, phone calls, email or even in person. Such threats can also come through student assignments, passed notes or artwork. Leakage can be intentional or unintentional to a third-party.

Prevention, the FBI states, is not and cannot be a passive process. It needs strong and ongoing commitment by the community. This includes the adoption of programs and policy “to support targeted violence prevention efforts,” building of threat assessment teams, and education. Everyone must be on board.

TensionTrac is the first of its kind, no other exists like the one Armstrong is creating for monitoring community tension. Armstrong refers to it as “an innovation in community health management.” Armstrong and his team have devoted their time and money to this community without cost, for the purpose of saving lives. Maybe even your child’s. Armstrong intends to see the use of TensionTrac nationwide. Won’t you support him and The Bridge Effect Foundation, filling the gaps, finding the children, keeping citizens safe.

Contact Scott Armstrong: 2scottarmstrong@gmail.com or info@bridgeeffect.org

*Mr. Armstrong’s comments on this site are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Correct Care, LLC.

It was a dark windy night on Chicago’s north side. The homeless were lined up outside the church patiently waiting for the door to open, an escape from the bitter cold in the January winter of 1984. That night I was on duty in the shelter: food, a cot, a shower. A mother, a child, a father. Homeless.

Florida’s churches do not have basements for shelter use. Our homeless sleep in cars and tents in the woods, or they couch surf.

Every Florida county faces the homeless issue.

Rozanne Brown, Founder of Carebag Inc, an outreach to the homeless on Florida’s Treasure Coast, states that Indian River State College currently has 120 homeless students, many who sleep on a friend’s sofa. She and her support team just met with students on the college campus in March, handing out bags of necessities.

Hurricane Irma created an increase in homelessness on the Treasure Coast. Rozanne Brown states that in 2018, more than 1500 children in the St. Lucie County School district were registered as homeless.

Homeless children are living in precarious situations, affecting them both physically and mentally. Their parents have divorced, been battered, are trying to live on low incomes, are without employment or have substance abuse problems. These kids have been traumatized. Because of living in homeless situations, they are “sick at twice the rate of other children”—ear infections, diarrhea, asthma. They are hungry. More than half “develop emotional problems serious enough to require professional care, but less than one-third receive any treatment.” These emotional problems include anxiety, depression, withdrawal, behavioral problems and learning disabilities. “By the time homeless children are eight years old, one in three has a major mental disorder.” (National Child Traumatic Stress Network)

In 2015, Florida school districts counted 71,446 children and teens who were either homeless or couch surfers. (DCF)

Rozanne Brown knows of a mother living homeless with her two-month-old baby and 15-year-old son in a car. She cannot come into a women’s shelter because her son will be separated from her.

There are many rules regarding shelters and the age of children allowed to remain with a parent.

“Chronic homelessness, in particular, results in especially high community costs.” People who are homeless need emergency care at hospitals they cannot pay for. They need financial help for food, medicine, everyday supplies that community organizations, such as Carebag, support. Amazingly, these people are not loafers, they do work, but their incomes are low.

A University of Florida study shows that there is a critical shortage of affordable low-income housing. Most people in Florida who are homeless because of extremely low incomes.

The solution is “a combination of limited rental assistance funding with limited services provision after moving in.” This plan is known as rapid-rehousing. (DCF)

For children, rapid-rehousing plan is a necessity. It’s also a less expensive way to help people who are homeless.

It is estimated that communities spend about $300 million each year to help the homeless. (DCF) http://www.dcf.state.fl.us/programs/homelessness/docs/2011CouncilReport.pdfh

Until more communities step up and help provide rapid-rehousing, organizations like Carebag fill the gaps.

Rozanne Brown has never been homeless; a former medical researcher, she has faced her own life-adversities. Her young daughter, her only child, died of spinal meningitis at age seven. She has also seen her parents into heaven.

Rozanne is known as “Roxy” in the woods. She is the face of Carebag. To those who are homeless, Rozanne Brown is the face of compassion, the person trusted by the homeless. She has a special Google phone number they can dial when help is needed.

Rozanne began Carebag out of her car with 120 hamburgers every other day from McDonald’s. Patron after patron either matched or helped her. Three and a half years later, Carebag Inc. has a board of directors and is a registered charity. Working beside Rozanne are 200 local volunteers.

In 2017 Carebag served 1700 hours handing out 98,700 personal items and clothing, and 67,000 bags of food.

Currently, Rozanne Brown is looking for a donation of a storage unit or building to hold the many donated items she has. She also is raising funds for a mobile shower unit, which together with a truck, trailer and everything associated with it will cost $110,000, for one year’s budget.

Not many people would do what Rozanne has done--left her career, gone into the woods, made a difference. But she has taken the words of her father, “You can do nothing but give and help, knowing you’ll expect nothing back,” and put actions to them.

The world is watching. Words matter. But actions are seen.

This is the question: “Will you too help children who are homeless?”

Contact Carebag and Rozanne “Roxy” Brown with questions or help at: roxy@carebagfl.org, visit her online at www.carebag.org or call 772.222.7399.

Contact Kelly Jadon at: kfjadon@gmail.com

Hometown Heroes