This conference will examine emerging trends and best practices in the identification, assessment, and prevention of targeted violence among youth, with an emphasis on behavioral threat assessment and early intervention. Presenters will share evidence-based strategies for early intervention, counter-messaging, and supportive responses in schools, along with guidance on information sharing, legal considerations, and when schools should involve law enforcement or mental health professionals. Participants will also explore psychological considerations to take into account when conducting threat assessments.
Drawing on case examples, presenters will explore how concerning behaviors, risk factors, and pathways to violence can be recognized and addressed through multidisciplinary collaboration, information sharing, and individualized risk management strategies. Case studies will illustrate how warning behaviors such as leakage, fixation, identification, and pathway progression may present in school and online environments. Participants will also learn how schools can distinguish between edgy online identity exploration and behaviors that may indicate a more serious risk of mobilization toward violence.
Registration: 8:15 – 8:45 am
Conference: 8:45 am – 2:30 pm
To receive PDPs, participants must attend this conference and the conference, Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking, on December 8, 2026 (Registration opening soon). Participants need to register for each conference individually. Members can participate in-person, virtually or by viewing the recording.
Speakers
- Ted E. Docks, Special Agent in Charge
- James Barrett, Ph.D.
- Molly Fitzpatrick, Psy.D.,
- Brian LeBlanc, Supervisory Special Agent
- Ashley Murray, Ph.D., Designated Forensic Psychologist
About the Speakers
Ted E. Docks
Ted E. Docks serves as the Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of the FBI Boston Division, overseeing operations across Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. He previously led the Criminal Division at the Los Angeles Field Office and has held numerous leadership, operational, and investigative roles since joining the FBI in 2005. His assignments have included counterintelligence work in Louisville, leading the Joint Terrorism Task Force in Michigan, and serving as Supervisory Special Agent in the Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate at FBI Headquarters, where he earned the National Intelligence Exceptional Achievement Medal.
James Barrett, Ph.D.
James Barrett, Ph.D., is the Director Clinical Support at the Cambridge Police Department and an Assistant Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry (part-time) at Harvard Medical School. He also is an associate with the Health Equity Research Lab at Cambridge Health Alliance. Dr. Barrett is the recipient of the Academic Council Award for Excellence, the HMS Eleanor and Miles Shore Fellowship, the HMS Leston L. Havens Teaching Award and the Gold Standard in School Safety Award. He is a member of the FBI’s Mass Bay Threat Assessment Team, and a National Institute of Justice LEADS Scholar. His research has been published in JAMA Network Open, Psychology, Public Policy and the Law, Psychological Services, Police Chief Magazine, Adolescent Psychiatry, Journal of Applied Juvenile Justice Services, and Translational Issues in Psychological Science.
Brian LeBlanc
Brian LeBlanc is Supervisory Special Agent, FBI Boston, assigned to the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) in the Boston Division, with a prior assignment to the JTTF in Miami, Florida. Since joining the FBI in 2007, SA LeBlanc has specialized in complex counterterrorism investigations, as well as in the mitigation of terrorism threats as a WMD specialist and bomb technician. SA LeBlanc has led counterterrorism investigations domestically and internationally throughout South America, the Caribbean and Africa. SA LeBlanc has also served as the FBI counterterrorism specialist assigned to U.S. Special Operations Command (SOC) in Afghanistan as well as a long-term assignment to the FBI Legal Attaché Office at the U.S. Embassy Nairobi, Kenya. Prior to joining the FBI, SA LeBlanc served seven years as a municipal police officer and six years in the U.S. Marine Corps. SA LeBlanc holds a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Arts in Criminal Justice from the University of Massachusetts and a Graduate Certificate in Terrorism Analysis from the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism at the University of Maryland.
Ashley Murray, Ph.D.,
Ashley Murray, Ph.D., obtained her doctorate degree in clinical forensic psychology at Simon Fraser University, where her research and clinical work focused on violence risk assessment and psychopathic personality disorder. She completed a predoctoral internship at the Federal Correctional Complex in Butner, North Carolina, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in forensic psychology at UMass Chan Medical School. She currently works as a designated forensic evaluator for the state of Massachusetts, and is the Director of the UMass Chan Forensic Psychology Fellowship, where she also serves as a Forensic Mental Health Supervisor. She is an assistant professor in the department of psychiatry at UMass Chan Medical School, and has conducted many trainings across the state for the trial courts, DMH, DYS, and UMass Chan Medical School, on topics of violence risk assessment, psychopathic personality disorder assessment, competency to stand trial, ethical practice, and the intersection of mental illness and the criminal justice system.
Membership Information
Most MPY webinars are available ONLY to current staff from member districts and organizations. Public school memberships include police and fire personnel. Former and retired employees and members of committees, including but not limited to, PTO/PTA, PAC, School Improvement Councils, Health Councils, Drug/Alcohol Councils, and school volunteers, are not considered MPY members.
PDPs and CEUs
MPY is an approved Professional Development Provider through the Massachusetts Department of Elementary & Secondary Education (Provider No. F20180079). Professional Development Points (PDPs) are offered for most MPY professional development webinars. PDPs are issued in 10 hour increments, per DESE requirements.
Continuing Education Units (CEUs) are available for clinical staff through the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) and the Massachusetts Mental Health Counselors Association, Inc. (MaMHCA). The NASW and the MaMHCA approve each event individually. CEUs may be given in hourly increments.
To receive PDPs and CEUs, participants must pass the quiz.
Event Cancellation Policy
If you are unable to attend a MPY webinar you must cancel, through Bonnie Mullen at bonnie@mpyinc.org, one business day before the webinar.
For MPY hybrid conferences, the date in-person registration closes will be posted on MPY’s website. Virtual conference registration will close one business day before the hybrid conference. You cannot cancel or switch your registration from in-person to virtual after in-person registration closes. Please email Bonnie Mullen with any questions regarding registration.