VIOLENCE PREVENTION - STUDENT ADVOCACY

As we enter into the Summer/Fall 2025, the foundation has now begun to lobby in a limited, bipartisan level, to create even more of a powerful, long-term impact on student safety and welfare, through our lobbying efforts - Drafting legislative proposals, such as "Conrad's Law," in Missouri and "Ahmirs Law," In Iowa. We continue to advocate on behalf of students, families & school communities nationwide to end violence among our school communities & increase the quality of life for our youth!

The foundation asserts that it is only when our nation begins to systematically, politically and on a combined collaborative grassroots, including state & federal bipartisan, political levels, reverse this, "Culture Of Violence," ever growing in this nation since Columbine High School In 1999..  This, we have come to believe, requires viewing & addressing school violence in ALL its manifestations - From school shootings and school safety, to bullying prevention & mental health programming, to advocacy on behalf of students.

The Foundation further asserts that we cannot as a society underestimate any longer this particular, 'Pandemic,' taking the future's & lives of far too many of our sons and daughters. ​In part, The Foundation is accomplishing our mission, by aggressively and thoroughly coordinating our efforts & aligned mission with school communities, organizations, students, mental health professionals, law enforcement, lawmakers & perhaps most importantly students and young people themselves; in areas such as bullying prevention, nonviolent communication workshops, volunteer school community citizen patrols, mental health care seminars, performing arts outreaches.

SOME OF WHERE WE STAND:

Make it a felony offense against any individual who makes a false "swatting," threat against a school institution

- Require autopsies of children killed in school/mass shootings to be kept private- Require Metal Detectors In Every School (Elementary - High School)

- Require "Manifestos," of those who commit mass shootings at schools to be kept private, except for legitimate investigation & prevention purposes use by law enforcement, etc

- Require SROs In every public school nationwide (Elementary - High School)

- No guns law for anyone who suffers from, or is being treated for a mental illness or a serious emotional disturbance, including those who have ever had a "5150, or 5151" status, unless cleared by a mental health professional (Harm To Self Or Others)

- Allow law enforcement to petition the court to apply a mental health order for anyone who poses a threat by owning a firearm

- Increased student mental health care & multilevel programming in schools designed to recognize the varying forms of violence & implement sustainable programs to PREVENT IT- Increased bullying prevention programming & behavioral care on schools- Increased mental health support & care for teachers & school support staff

- Enact national mandate of bill nicknamed “Alyssa’s Law,” after Alyssa Alhadeff, a victim of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting that killed 17 people in early 2018; requiring all state public schools have "panic alarms," to respond to school shootings- Increased accountability to schools and student focused institutions to provide safe, violence free & healthy environment.

- Making it a felony to commit a violent crime with a deadly weapon within 3000 feet of a school

- Holding adults accountable for giving kids guns

- Nearly half of US states, 24, do not require any school safety training for teachers and staff, according to the Education Commission of the States. The Uvalde Foundation For Kids Will Be Launching An Aggressive 2023/2024 School Year National Campaign To Change That Statistic!

Those states are: Arkansas, Arizona, California, Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, New Mexico, Nevada, South Carolina, Vermont, Wisconsin, and Wyoming

- Public schools requirement nationwide to include & update specific measures for "special needs" students in safety protocols & active training- Public schools requirement nationwide to hold & document ongoing monthly school safety reviews & threat assessments.

- Passage of "Ahmir's Law," named after Perry, Iowa student shot and killed at Perry High School, Ahmir Jolliff. The bill, if sponsored & passed, will require an individual concretely & accurately "flagged," by law enforcement to be a threat to the safety of others, due to verified threats of violence and other related activities; to be prohibited from obtaining, purchasing or handling of a weapon, including a firearm, for a 6 month period. The law would require individuals to be enrolled in a mandatory 6 month violence prevention program.