Section 2.1: School Related Operations

Approved: February 20, 2001

Revised: June 24, 2025

CRISIS PREVENTION Intervention (CPI)

1.0             Rationale

Implementing trauma-informed de-escalation training yields positive long-term results.

Crisis Prevention Intervention (CPI) training provides the tools to not only prevent challenging behaviour but also to de-escalate situations if they do arise.

CPI is an evidence-based, person-centered approach to help schools achieve a consistent and effective learning environment.

2.0             Definitions

Crisis Prevention Intervention training: Provides staff with an effective framework for preventing, de-escalating, and safely responding to crisis behaviour. The program introduces how to apply knowledge of the brain and behavior to understand distress behaviour and reasons for distress. CPI school support teams learn to analyze the risks of behaviour, and how to mitigate that risk using verbal de-escalation strategies (Level 1), and if unsuccessful, using disengagement and restrictive interventions (Level 2), as the last resort. 

Level 1 Verbal Intervention (VI) Training: Prepares school staff to identify, respond to, and prevent low-risk crisis behaviour with non-restrictive intervention techniques.

Level 2 Nonviolent Crisis Intervention (NCI) Training: Prepares school staff to prevent and de-escalate medium to high-risk behaviour using both restrictive and non-restrictive safety interventions.  Restrictive methods include disengagement skills and holding skills.

3.0             Policy

District School Board Ontario North East (DSB1) is committed to using a person-centered and trauma-informed approach to managing distress behaviour. This framework uses safety interventions that range from verbal and environmental non-restrictive to disengagements and restrictive interventions.