(LEX 18) — Every law enforcement officer takes an oath.
A commitment to protect and serve.
Kentucky State Police shows no exception to that rule.
In fact, they have been working to expand on that service to Kentucky's youth.
“A lot of folks are surprised when they realize what a child may go through the night before and still show up for school the next day," KSP justice program administrator Danielle Perkins said.
To better address those struggles, KSP started the Handle with Care program.
It came on the heels of the school safety and resiliency bill being passed in 2019.
The program connected law enforcement with schools across the state to keep them informed on if any of their students go through something traumatic that officers may respond to.
“It allows for that law enforcement agency, if they have a child that’s involved in that incident that’s not in their area, it can allow them to do a notification for a school on the other side of the state," Perkins said.
“I know everyone’s heard the phrase it takes a village and it does. This day and age, kids need all the support they can get.”
Handle with Care works through a notification system, either by email or text, to school administration with the child's name, age and grade to alert them something has happened.
Since the program started, more than 10,000 notifications have been sent across more than 1,400 schools.
Those include the Madison County School district where leaders have spoken highly of Handle with Care.
“It just gave us an avenue of trying to break through it and talk about maybe what has happened and how can we help," Madison County Schools deputy superintendent Randy Neeley said.
Neeley told LEX 18 last year alone, there were roughly 250 notifications sent through Handle with Care, many of which may have gone unnoticed without the program being in place.
“That’s a lot of notices. That’s a lot of things happening in our county that we can try and help fix. It has really opened my eyes to how many families have traumatic events weekly in our county. I’m so glad we started it in 2019 and we’ll keep it going for as long as we can.”
Click here to learn more about Handle with Care.
