Vera Institute of Justice

Overview

Affirm was launched in 2002 as a strategy for preventing school violence. The one-year demonstration project of the Vera Institute of Justice in partnership with the New York City Department of Education and the New York City Police Department (NYPD) sought to train and coach school-based law enforcement staff—known in New York City as school safety agents—in the theory and techniques of positive reinforcement. Affirm's curriculum, developed with the Oregon Social Learning Center, is presented in this easy-to-use, step-by-step manual that guides trainers in the classroom instruction and field coaching that made up the Affirm program. The NYPD's School Safety Training Unit has incorporated a condensed version of this curriculum into their training of all new school safety agents.