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AVAILABLE TO BOOK EXCLUSIVELY THROUGH THE SAFE AND SOUND SPEAKERS BUREAU
Benjamin Fernandez, MS. Ed, is a trusted voice in school mental and behavioral health, crisis response, and student well-being. With an extensive, highly decorated and decades-long career in school psychology in large school districts, he brings a deep understanding of how to support students and staff before, during, and after emergencies. At Safe and Sound Schools, he helps lead national conversations on integrating mental and behavioral health into school safety frameworks. Ben’s presentations are grounded in real-world experience and provide actionable strategies for building trauma-informed, psychologically safe school environments. His ability to connect with educators, administrators, and mental health professionals makes him a powerful advocate and speaker for any school or organization committed to comprehensive school safety.
WHY
Book
Ben
FOR YOUR EVENT?
“Benjamin Fernandez has been an asset to the Virginia Department of Education. He has presented for the past several years at two of our annual conferences for 300+ school personal, which are attended by school psychologists, school counselors, school social workers, school nurses, and school administrators. He tailors his presentations to meet the needs of the audience, and his sessions are always well attended and well received. Participants come away with practical strategies that they can immediately implement when they return to their schools and/or policies that they can advocate for in their school divisions. Ben is engaging in his presentations, has a wealth of knowledge to share, and is pleasant to work with. He has been a partner with the VDOE to promote comprehensive suicide prevention. He is a member of the Governor’s Children’s Safety Cabinet and was a contributor to our recently adopted Suicide Prevention Guidelines for Virginia Public Schools. I would wholeheartedly recommend Ben Fernandez as a presenter.”
-Martha Montgomery, Ed.S., School Psychology Specialist, Virginia Department of Education
WHO
Books
Ben
?
Benjamin Fernandez’s expertise in school mental health and crisis response makes him a highly sought-after speaker for schools and organizations across the US and Canada. He is especially recognized for his work in helping communities prepare for, respond to, and recover from traumatic events with a focus on psychological safety and resilience.
Recent audiences include:
National Association of School Psychologists (NASP)
Virginia Department of Education
Northwestern Georgia School Psychologists Consortium
Deaf School Safety Task Force
Gangs, Guns and School Violence Prevention Summit (Vancouver, BC)
Midwest School Safety Summit
Texas Education Service Centers
Add your school or organization to the list of those inspired by Benjamin - book him today!
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Perspectives on School Crisis Response: Reflections from the Field, co-authored by Ben Fernandez, is available at Barnes & Noble and Amazon.
SPEAKER
Topics Include
Mental & Behavioral Health
Health & Wellness
Culture, Climate, & Community
Crisis Leadership
Bullying & Cyberbullying Prevention
Suicide Prevention & Mental Health Support
Identifying & Supporting At-risk Students
Intervention Strategies
MTSS (Multi-Tiered System of Supports)
Leader-care/Self-care
Behavioral Threat Assessment & Management
Violence Prevention Strategies
Staying Safe
Best Practices for Drills
Emergency Preparedness & Response
Trauma-Informed Practices
Childhood Trauma & Adverse Experiences
Inclusive School Safety Practices
Signature
PRESENTATIONS
Click on the titles to learn more about each signature presentation and fill out the form below to book for your next event.
PREPaRE Workshop 1, Third Edition, Comprehensive School Safety Planning: Prevention Through Recovery
In this 1-day workshop participants will learn how to establish and sustain comprehensive school safety efforts that attend to both physical and psychological safety. The workshop addresses critical components needed to develop, exercise, and evaluate safety and crisis teams and plans and conduct building vulnerability assessments. The model also integrates school personnel and community provider roles in providing school-based crisis preparedness and response activities. Additional topics addressed also include media/social media, communication, reunification, students with special needs, culture, and memorials. After this workshop, participants will be better prepared to improve their school’s climate, student resilience, and crisis response capabilities of school personnel. With updated research and strategies, this workshop makes a clear connection between ongoing crisis prevention, mitigation, protection, response, and recovery.
PREPaRE Workshop 1, Training of Trainers, Third Edition, Comprehensive School Safety Planning: Prevention Through Recovery
This 1.5-day workshop provides participants with the information and practice needed to become a trainer of PREPaRE Workshop 1: Comprehensive School Safety Planning: Prevention Through Recovery. Included in this workshop a one-hour online module addressing logistics of workshop delivery and a 10-hour in-person workshop (1.5 days) addressing how to present the workshop content (with a special emphasis on a standardized delivery). This ToT workshop includes a mandatory pre-test (requiring a 100% pass score), preworkshop activities, interactive online access during the workshop, and a post-test (requiring a 100% pass score). From this session, participants will be provided with the information and practice needed to independently offer the core workshop. All participants receive workshop presentation materials and a certificate of completion.
PREPaRE Workshop 2, Third Edition, Mental Health Crisis Interventions: Responding to an Acute Traumatic Stressor in Schools
This 2-day workshop develops the knowledge and skill required to provide immediate mental health crisis interventions to the students, staff, and school community members who have been simultaneously exposed to an acute traumatic stressor. The knowledge and skill developed within this session also help to build a bridge to the psychotherapeutic and trauma-informed mental health response sometimes required to address challenges associated with trauma exposure. This workshop is an excellent course for all mental health professionals in your district who provide mental health crisis intervention services.
PREPaRE Workshop 2, Training of Trainers, Third Edition, Mental Health Crisis Interventions: Responding to an Acute Traumatic Stressor in Schools
This 2-day workshop provides participants with the information and practice needed to become a trainer of PREPaRE Workshop 2: Mental Health Crisis Interventions: Responding to an Acute Traumatic Stressor in Schools. Included in this workshop is a one-hour online module addressing the logistics of workshop delivery and a 13-hour in-person workshop (2 days) addressing how to present the workshop content (with a special emphasis on a standardized delivery). This ToT workshop includes a mandatory pre-test (requiring a 100% pass score), preworkshop activities, interactive online access during the workshop, and a post-test (requiring a 100% pass score). From this session, participants will be provided with the information and practice needed to independently offer the core workshop. All participants receive workshop presentation materials and a certificate of completion.
Pathways for Violence Prevention
This session equips educators and school staff with actionable strategies to prevent school violence. Participants will explore a Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) framework, learning to implement universal, targeted, and intensive interventions. Through practical application, attendees will:
Establish a culture of care within their school community.
Learn effective methods for assessing and managing active threats.
Gain insights into modules covering crucial topics such as suicide prevention, grief support, emotional awareness, positive behavior supports, threat assessment, bullying intervention, and trauma-informed practices.
This program provides a comprehensive approach to fostering student growth, wellness, and safety, ultimately creating a more secure and supportive school environment.
Suicide Prevention and Intervention
Postvention Responding to Suicide
This workshop provides evidence an informed approach for responding to and managing a suicide death within a school community. Participants will gain an understanding of key terms, statistics, and the unique factors surrounding suicide, including contagion, bereavement, stigma, and developmental and cultural differences. The session will then delve into practical strategies for school-based suicide postvention encompassing:
Triage, crisis team readiness and experience, effective communication with staff, students, community, and families, and implementing appropriate interventions using the PREPaRE model.
Ongoing triage, monitoring students of concern, and supporting school-based teams in the weeks following the incident.
Addressing long-term considerations, including anniversaries and other potentially triggering events.
Developing self-care plans for individuals, teams, and school staff to mitigate the impact of trauma.
This workshop will equip participants with the knowledge and tools necessary to effectively support their school community through the challenging process of suicide postvention.
Student Mental Health and School Safety
This presentation explores the link between student mental health and school safety. The discussion begins with examining the national landscape of child and adolescent mental health, highlighting pre-pandemic trends and the evolving challenges post-pandemic. Then we discuss common mental health challenges seen in schools, including youth suicide, substance use, and the impact of trauma/ACEs, and analyze how untreated mental health issues affect academic performance, social interactions, and long-term student success.
The presentation emphasizes the World Health Organization's definition of mental health and its alignment with educational goals, positioning schools as vital access points for youth mental health support. Next, we explore the essential components of a safe and supportive school environment, including integrated learning and student supports (MTSS), access to mental health services, balanced physical and psychological safety, and positive discipline practices.
Finally, we'll delve into practical strategies for promoting mental wellness within schools. This includes identifying key teams, establishing clear goals, utilizing relevant data sources, and implementing MTSS frameworks across Tier 1, 2, and 3 interventions. Through reflection and discussion, participants will gain insights into their school's specific needs and develop actionable steps to foster a mentally healthy and safe learning environment.
Crisis Leadership: Integration of the What and the How
Effective school crisis leadership requires both a clear understanding of crisis response frameworks and the ability to lead with confidence in complex, high-stakes situations. This session explores the integration of the PREPaRE model with National Preparedness Leadership Initiative’s Metaleadership concept, providing school crisis leaders with a structured approach to what they need to do and how they can lead effectively during a crisis.
Participants will examine key components of the PREPaRE model, focusing on evidence-based strategies for crisis prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery. These will be aligned with Metaleadership’s principles, which emphasize leading down (within teams), up (to leadership), and across (to community partners) to build coordination, trust, and adaptive decision-making in crisis situations.
A Practitioner's Approach to Evaluating Effectiveness of Crisis Response
This presentation focuses on the critical yet often overlooked practice of examining the effectiveness of crisis response, emphasizing its role in data collection and analysis for performance improvement, efficiency, and better service to students and staff. Utilizing the PREPaRE model as a guide, participants will delve into the importance of After Action Reviews (AARs) as a powerful tool for organizational change. AARs, when conducted effectively, provide valuable learning opportunities by comparing expected outcomes with actual results, allowing for adjustments to organizational structures, practices and procedures. This presentation explores the key elements of an AAR, highlighting its purpose as a fact-finding exercise to assess response, intervention, and effectiveness. Despite the infrequent nature of crisis events, AARs are essential for maintaining and improving crisis team performance, informing training, and creating a repository of lessons learned for broader sharing through regular reports and staff communications. By embracing AARs as a constructive feedback mechanism, participants will be able to enhance their crisis response capabilities and continuously improve procedures and strategies.
"I’ve had the pleasure of working with Ben Fernandez since 2008. With more than 20 years of clinical experience as a school psychologist, Mr. Fernandez has particular interest and expertise in the areas of school crisis prevention and intervention as well as suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention. His work has been instrumental to Loudoun County Public Schools—with individual students and families, school buildings and administrators, as well as systems wide—particularly through his leadership and coordination of division wide crisis response teams. Having a national perspective on these and other topics that are urgent to school psychologists and other educators, Mr. Fernandez has been called on to testify on Capitol Hill and train school systems in NASP’s PREPaRE curriculum. I highly recommend and endorse Mr. Fernandez for what he can offer you and your professional organizations."
- Charles Barrett, Ph.D., Loudoun County Public Schools
Speaker
BIOGRAPHY
Benjamin S. Fernandez, MS. Ed, completed his graduate studies in School Psychology at Bucknell University (Lewisburg, PA) and has worked as a school psychologist in Pennsylvania and Virginia with over 28 years of experience as a practitioner. Currently, he serves as the Director of Mental and Behavioral Health Programs for Safe and Sounds Schools.
He previously held the position of crisis intervention specialist in Fairfax County Public Schools, providing leadership and the coordination of crisis intervention services, and response consultation after acute traumatic events. As a lead school psychologist and coordinator in Loudoun County Public Schools, he provided a broad array of psychological and school-based mental health services including assessment, suicide screenings, threat assessments of students and nonstudents, consultation, counseling, prevention, and intervention as well as serving as a crisis team leader. Further, he has conducted presentations on suicide prevention for families as well as helping to establish the collection and review of suicide screening data to enhance processes and identify areas of further prevention and intervention.
Additionally, he is a Lead PREPaRE Trainer and has contributed to presentations, articles, books, and webinars related to youth suicide, PREPaRE, school mental health, school safety and crisis intervention on the local, state, and national levels. He has testified before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, the Federal Commission on School Safety, the Congressional School Safety Caucus, and served as a member of the Governor of Virginia’s Children’s Cabinet on Student Safety. Mr. Fernandez contributed to the Virginia Department of Education’s Suicide Prevention Guidelines. In 2010, he was named School Psychologist of the Year by the Virginia Academy of School Psychologists and in 2012, he was named School Psychologist of the Year by the National Association of School Psychologists. In 2015 and 2018, Benjamin received the NASP Presidential Award and in 2021 received the National Association of School Psychologists Crisis Management and Grief Support in Schools Interest Group Award for Excellence for significant contributions to the field of school safety and crisis intervention.