Handle with Care (HWC)
Handle with Care (HWC) is a notification system that allows law enforcement to alert schools when a child has been present during a potentially traumatic event. This timely notification enables schools and community mental health partners to provide trauma-sensitive support when it is needed most.
Childhood trauma affects children in every community, including those throughout North Dakota.
According to the CDC, nearly 76% of U.S. high school students report experiencing at least one adverse childhood experience (ACE), and nearly 1 in 5 report experiencing four or more.
Our Goal
The goal of Handle with Care is simple: connect children to support when they need it most.
When children experience trauma, the presence of just one safe, supportive adult can help reduce the impact of that experience and build resilience. Handle with Care creates a bridge between law enforcement, schools, and mental health providers so that children are met with understanding, support, and care during difficult times.
How We Implement HWC
Working with Law Enforcement:
Law Enforcement are trained to identify children at the scene and to send a confidential notification to the school with the child’s name, grade, and school and a message to “Handle with Care”. No further information pertaining to the incident is shared.
Working with Schools:
Schools are alerted to provide a “heads up” to observe the students behavior and to provide trauma-sensitive support. This is not an alert to approach the child, but rather an opportunity to observe any changes in behavior & provide additional support throughout the day.
Working with Mental Health Partners:
Schools partner with community mental health providers to provide on-site therapy when school-based interventions are not enough. On-site therapy does require consent from the parent(s) or guardian(s).
Currently, Handle with Care programs are present in Wahpeton, Grand Forks, Mandan, Fargo, West Fargo, Dickinson, Williston, and Central Cass.
A pilot program in Mandan Public Schools aimed to help students who may have experienced trauma will expand in the coming school year to other districts statewide.
North Dakota Program Assists Traumatized Children
“Our agency alone had around 110 notifications in 2025. It’s comforting to know those learners got a little extra attention during their school day…”
-HWC Law Enforcement Partner
Handle with Care Repository:
Training & Resources
Looking to learn more about HWC? Check out the resources below to get started.
Implementation Resources
Training
Get Started
If you’d like to bring Handle With Care to your community, please fill out the brief form below. We will share a toolkit with helpful resources, and a FFND teamember will follow up with you directly.