Suffolk Sheriff expands trauma-informed Handle With Care program to Wyandanch

When a child is present at the scene of a police incident, Suffolk schools in Wyandanch will now get only the address and two words: Handle With Care. The Sheriff’s Office says that limited notice is meant to help teachers and counselors respond before a student has to explain a trauma in front of classmates.

The expansion adds Wyandanch Union Free School District to a program that began as a pilot with the Huntington School District in September 2025 and later reached Central Islip. Under the protocol, the Sheriff’s Office notifies designated school officials when a child has been exposed to a law-enforcement-involved incident, but it does not share details of what happened. School staff are told only enough to recognize that a student may need extra patience, flexibility or support that day.

That can mean lighter homework, testing accommodations or a quick connection to counseling and other services. The point is to reduce the chance that a crisis at home, on the street or in a family dispute turns into a discipline problem or an academic setback at school. In a district like Wyandanch, where school climate and student stability are constant concerns, the model is built around one basic idea: a child should not have to relive trauma to get help.

The approach comes from West Virginia, where Handle With Care was developed as a trauma-response model linking law enforcement, schools and mental-health providers. West Virginia materials say the notice is forwarded to school personnel before the next school day. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration says trauma-informed school efforts are designed to connect students with evidence-based support and mental health care.

At the same time, federal reviewers have warned that the broader evidence is still developing. In November 2023, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Community Preventive Services Task Force said there is insufficient evidence to determine whether multi-tier trauma-informed school programs improve PTSD symptoms, behavior, disciplinary outcomes or absenteeism. That makes Suffolk’s rollout more than a feel-good announcement; it is a local test of whether a simple notification can help schools respond faster and more appropriately to children under stress.

The Sheriff’s Office is pairing the Wyandanch expansion with wider student outreach, including a Student Ambassador Program at both the high school and middle school. Errol D. Toulon Jr., who became Suffolk County sheriff on Jan. 1, 2018, was the county’s first African-American elected to a non-judicial countywide office. His office serves more than 1.5 million residents, and the county’s Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, which Toulon leads, dates to 1974. In Wyandanch, the new program puts that public-safety network directly in the path of a child’s school day.