Servius' Partnership with Cobb

David Owen: 00:00:00

It's been said many times that safety is Cobb school's number one priority. How Cobb's partnership with Servius supports safety is today's conversation on the Inside Scoop. Hello and welcome back to the Inside Scoop.

I'm your host, David Owen. Give us a like, if you hear something new and of course, please hit that subscribe button.

Cobls prioritizes the safety of students and staff, adding police officers, including K9s and more security cameras, et cetera. In fact, a comprehensive approach to school safety is embodied in the initiative known as the Cobb Shield.

An additional layer has been added that brings a new forward thinking approach. I'm joined today by Alicia Chandler, senior intelligence training director for Servius Group. Alicia, welcome to the podcast.

Alicia Chandler: 00:00:52

Thank you so much for having me.

David Owen: 00:00:53

So let's start with the basics. Who is the Servius group and what do you guys bring to Cobb schools?

Alicia Chandler: 00:00:59

Servius Group is a safety and prevention support partner focused on prevention and early supports for the students.

Here at Cobb, one of the main things that we're focusing on is helping the schools connect information that's oftentimes kind of in a lot of different places.

Like each system may have information in each place, and each team is working with different information, and we're working together to coordinate that information so that nothing falls through the cracks.

That coordination really is important when it comes to thinking about student safety because that's the way that we make sure that the right person has the right information at the right time to be able to be there for each student, whether that's through resources or supports or policies that can be put in place. When we have all of that information together in one place, Service Group isn't here to be the person who's making decisions about students.

That's still the Cobb County School district. They're the ones who know the children the best.

We're making sure that they have the right information and the best information to be able to apply all of that when it comes to working with each student.

David Owen: 00:02:08

When we're talking about safety, are we talking about like somebody coming to the front door wanting to harm people, or are we talking about, like, fire safety? Give us a better a clear picture of what you mean by the term safety in schools.

Alicia Chandler: 00:02:22

I mean, honestly, it's all of that. It's everything from, you know, somebody showing up at the front door. But take it back a lot of layers.

We want to make sure that every student in Cobb feels safe and has the resources and has the team and a group of adults in there to be able to support them before anything, before, you know, we call it a crisis. But that doesn't have to mean it can be anything from fights on campus.

It can be students who may want to harm themselves, children who are dealing with domestic violence at home, and then take it back even a step further.

We're working together so that the district has information that affects families, say, business that is, you know, hubbed here in Cobb does a massive layoff or something. We want the school to know that so that before that happens, they're prepared to support those students and families.

We want to know if there's major construction happening, you know, that's going to affect bus routes that then affect children getting to school on time.

David Owen: 00:03:21

Wow.

Alicia Chandler: 00:03:22

It's not just, you know, that. That one massive threat. It's the big picture. To be able to support students and to support faculty and to support Cobb.

David Owen: 00:03:31

As a whole, that is huge.

I mean, when you mentioned, like a major employer shutting down scenario, so the purpose there, it sounds to me like you would be coordinating with counselor, school counselors and that sort of thing, school social workers to be prepared for an influx of students who might be. Whose parents might have just lost their job. Is that basically kind of. That's just one example.

Alicia Chandler: 00:03:59

But yeah, that is one example.

And obviously, you know, we work with, you know, the administration and we're able to pass that information to them so that they can pass it on to the right people so that that information is known in advance.

Because if a student is struggling at home, you know, it may seem like those things aren't related to schools, but if a student is struggling at home, if they're stressed at home, then they can't learn. They can't be in a position to learn. And every child deserves the ability to sit in a classroom and learn.

David Owen: 00:04:31

Oh, that's true. That is very true. That's why we're here, to make sure they can. So you're actually not just a part of the safety side.

You're truly working towards student success. I mean, I know it's cliche by now. Sorry.

But the reality is that's a potential ding on that student's academic career, and you're looking out for the safety, so to speak, of that academic capability because you're addressing those other issues, or at least trying to connect the dots. That's more accurate.

Alicia Chandler: 00:05:03

Absolutely.

And when we talk about prevention, our goal and one of the big goals between Servius Group and Cobb County Schools is that every teacher, every staff member is prepared and has what they need, whether that's from data or training or whatever that may be, to see every child as a whole.

And so, you know, by being able to understand these factors that are taking place outside of school and how they affect each student, those resources that we've talked about can be plugged in so much sooner when we recognize these patterns that may be existing.

David Owen: 00:05:38

Okay. Recognizing patterns, that's no small task.

And it seems like you must have a huge organization to be able to keep your eyes and ears open for all of these factors to then process and determine whether or not it's a concern.

Alicia Chandler: 00:05:58

Is that huge? Maybe a relative term? Right. Small but mighty is what we like to think.

One of the things about Servius Group that I love is that every one of us are passionate about what we do and about prevention.

You know, for example, before coming to Survius group, I spent 22 years as a detective working crimes against children and as a forensic interviewer who's interviewed, Gosh, I think at this point, I've interviewed close to 2,000 children.

And so we all bring our different backgrounds together to be able to, you know, I'm not your girl for being able to go into the computer and create the system that puts all those data pieces together. Like, you don't want me doing that. You know, not a coder, but, you know, that's why Servius believes in teams.

And it's one of the ways that we partner with Cobb schools is by strengthening each individual team member so that all of us are working together when we're all doing our part. It doesn't take a huge team and a huge network. It just takes people who know the right thing in the right place to work together.

And that's really how we focus on prevention.

David Owen: 00:07:12

So the phrase left of launch is something that doesn't immediately speak to the individual when they hear that. Is that basically just looking ahead, prevention for something that could be a big deal, or am I misreading?

Alicia Chandler: 00:07:28

No, that's exactly what it is. It's that early support, before we talked about, before a crisis, before an emergency.

There's so many things in place and so much training that exists to react to something.

David Owen: 00:07:42

Gotcha.

Alicia Chandler: 00:07:42

And that's, like I was saying, my career, I spent 22 years of showing up after the bad thing happened, you know, and so here we are working together to get several steps ahead of that. And so we know, based on all of our experiences, that a serious problem doesn't just come out of the blue. Like, there are signs, there are red flags.

And so what Service group is doing with Cobb county is putting the systems in place where those flags are not just noticed, but they're put together so that we can see those early indications. And then we're able to resolve conflict. We're able to put those supports in and those different.

Like I said, whether it's a resource, whether it's a trusted adult, whatever that resource is, when we see that pattern, we're able to put those things in place so much sooner to prevent. And that's the left of launch. We're not gonna wait for the bad thing to happen.

Because when we see patterns, every one of us can predict, right, that if this and this and this and this happens, and it's not even, I use the word predict, and that's a completely like, not even the right word, but like we all know just like cause and effect, right?

And if there are struggles and there are these things, then we know that putting those, those boundaries and those resources in place ahead of time is, you know, prevent things from getting worse. And we know like that tumbleweed effect, right, like there's this happens, then this happens and it just gets bigger and bigger.

And if we can step in before all those other things happen, then we can, we can keep that left of launch, we can keep that prevention mentality instead of just waiting for the bad thing to happen, no matter what the bad thing is.

David Owen: 00:09:32

Yeah, that's, that's interesting. And it sounds like there's been a lot of learning based on the experiences in the past.

Like you said a moment ago, if only that person had spoken to that person, this never would have happened. So just a minute ago, you were talking about all of these sets of data and you used the term predict and then you pulled back on that.

I'm going to call you out a little bit. When you pulled back on using the word predict, is that simply because no human is 100% predictable?

Alicia Chandler: 00:10:05

And it's not even. Honestly, it's more than that.

It's not even that humans aren't predictable so much as that nobody is trying to label somebody or make assumptions about something.

In fact, what we are doing is providing more information and more of the human component of it so that we don't make assumptions about somebody and we aren't labeling people. What we are doing is recognizing patterns that, that increase someone's crisis state. Right?

And so we recognize that if you're dealing with all of these things at home, like we said before, not only can you not focus in the classroom, but you can't be your best self. And so by teaching people to see students as a whole.

And by having all of those puzzle pieces that we've talked about, what we're doing is not predicting some future thing that may or may not happen, because like we said, every human is unique.

What we are doing is recogniz recognizing the places that we can plug into them and provide those supports and those tools so that predicting some future crazy whatnot isn't even a thing.

We are making each person more whole and seeing them for who they really are, and then whatever those needs may be so that they can be as successful in the classroom and in the community as possible.

David Owen: 00:11:31

Yeah, I think any parent of a middle school or higher teenager would maybe be concerned because you've got. There are some children, and I've got a lot of kids, some kids who are very dramatic.

Alicia Chandler: 00:11:51

Have you met my daughter?

David Owen: 00:11:53

I've got four. So a child can have a bad day and express something that maybe comes out wrong.

I mean, how many middle schoolers do you know that are like, totally on point with every communication? I don't know of any, frankly.

Alicia Chandler: 00:12:11

Not even middle schoolers. I don't want. You probably don't want us each day being held. You know what I mean? We recognize that.

David Owen: 00:12:18

So you can't really look necessarily at individuals in that way, but you might be able to see trends as adults.

Alicia Chandler: 00:12:26

Absolutely. Absolutely.

Patterns and trends and being able to apply what we know based on studies in real life of what it takes for humans, not even just children, but to be as successful and as well prepared as possible.

David Owen: 00:12:44

So Servius is collecting all of this information. Let's say that you find something of concern. How do you relate to the schools?

I mean, a lot of people would be concerned that you guys are going down the halls looking in windows and the mind races. Because we know you can't divulge every approach to what you do because that defeats the purpose in some cases.

But there is, I think, a legitimate concern that is there anything that you guys do that could be determined as distracting or taking away from the classroom experience? How do you relate to the schools locally?

Alicia Chandler: 00:13:24

Well, I think it's really important first to address, like Survius isn't collecting any information, okay. The information that we are putting together is information that already exists, that the schools already have.

We are just merely putting it together so that, you know, we talked about earlier. Like, this person knows that, and that person knows that. We're just putting those pieces of the puzzle together for everybody.

And so in addition to that, though, you know, Cobb county schools already has some great Resources and things in place. Our job at Survius Group is just to facilitate that collaboration, you know, maybe even to the next level.

You know, teachers today are being asked to be teachers and parents and coaches and administrators. You know, what service is doing is taking some of that off.

And so that those administrators and those counselors and that support staff and those police officers can focus on, you know, what they can. What. What they're here to do, what they were hired to do, and we're able just present that information so that they can apply it.

David Owen: 00:14:35

So it seems to me that one common denominator. If I can go a little mathish on you.

Alicia Chandler: 00:14:41

Don't make me math.

David Owen: 00:14:42

Yeah. Is you guys are pulling together critical pieces of information, but relying on relationships for the solution. Is that.

Alicia Chandler: 00:14:57

Absolutely. And that's the thing. I think anyone should be concerned, right. When we try to take humans out of the equation.

So this isn't computers or robots or something coming in like, do, do, do, do, plugging in a bunch of stuff and being like, here's your thing. No, we are taking humans. Cobb county has some of the best faculty and staff in the country.

David Owen: 00:15:19

You know, strive for that.

Alicia Chandler: 00:15:21

And so we are just providing the tools so that those people's skills can shine. Right. Like, we are providing that coordination, that collaboration and those extra tools so that all of those things can work together.

Because that is. That's the key. Right. Like, that's our greatest strength, is that human aspect of it.

David Owen: 00:15:44

Alicia, you have.

You've conveyed a lot of interesting and good information here today, but I wanted to ask you just one last piece, and that is, if there's one thing you guys do so much and you've given us so much, if there's just one thing that people come away from the podcast with about surveus, what would you like them to think of?

Alicia Chandler: 00:16:08

Honestly, I think it's just that it's that team prevention and collaboration.

Like, we are passionate about getting so far ahead of things and providing those resources and those tools so that the right person has the right information at the right time to really be able to be there and support the students.

You know, I think that when we talk about school safety, so many people are thinking, you know, more law enforcement, they're thinking metal detectors, they're thinking all of those things. And certainly they all have a place. Right?

David Owen: 00:16:45

Right.

Alicia Chandler: 00:16:45

What we want to do is prevent any of that getting there.

And that' one of the things we're most proud of, that Cobb relationship and Cobb leading the way and saying we don't we don't want to ever even get to that. And people don't always see prevention, but when you see this partnership, you'll never see all of the bad things that never happened. Right.

David Owen: 00:17:06

And that's our goal, ideally.

Alicia Chandler: 00:17:09

But what you will see is smoother communication, better collaboration with schools. You're going to see more consistency in response to things. And that's something that everybody.

And so, you know, we're just, we're excited to be a part of this team. We're excited about our partnership with Cobb and just really looking forward to what prevention really can be at a level like this.

David Owen: 00:17:34

Well, thank you so much. This is intriguing to me and probably a lot of people. We would love to know more about the details of what you do.

But, but we also understand that some things have to be kept close to the vest because otherwise people could. Could work the system, as it were, and we don't want to enable anybody to do that.

Alicia Chandler: 00:17:57

And honestly, though, a lot of what we're doing really isn't that secret. It's just putting in that extra effort and going that extra step to bring all the right people together.

David Owen: 00:18:07

Well, we will be sure to drop any relevant links and more information in the description and show notes of podcast. Thank you again, of course. Thank you for having me and thank you for what you do. We all appreciate that as well.

So if you've heard something you didn't know today, hit that like button. Spread the word. Make sure other parents know about it as well, so they might find it reassuring.

Thank you for listening to this edition of the Inside Scoop, a podcast produced by the Cobb County School.