Addressing the School-to-Prison Pipeline through a Multi-tiered Framework of Behavioral Support

1. Addressing the School-to-Prison Pipeline through a Multi-tiered Framework of Behavioral Support Dr. Brenda K. Scheuermann Texas State University Dr. C. Michael Nelson University of Kentucky *Webinar sponsored by the Connecting School Mental Health with Juvenile Justice and Dropout Prevention Practice Group, the IDEA Partnership, the Center for School Mental Health, and the UNH Institute on Disability.

2. Connecting School Mental Health with Juvenile Justice and Dropout Prevention Practice Group Mission Committed to working across stakeholders to advance knowledge and best practice related to effectively integrating school mental health with juvenile justice and dropout prevention.

3. Addressing the School-to-Prison Pipeline through a Multi-tiered Framework of Behavioral Support Dr. Brenda K. Scheuermann Professor, Texas State University Dr. C. Michael Nelson Emeritus Professor, University of Kentucky

4. Overview • What is the school-to-prison pipeline? • What factors put students at risk for entry? • What is the multi-tiered framework of behavior support (PBIS)? • How can implementation of PBIS in schools help prevent entry and improve services and outcomes for affected youth?

5. M School-to-Prison Pipeline/Discipline Gap • What it is: School policies and practices that push students out of traditional school settings into more restrictive settings, including juvenile justice settings • Pathway:

6. Polling Question 1: What is your professional or personal role? • Parent or caregiver of an at-risk child • Classroom teacher • School support services professional (counselor, psychologist, social worker, speech/language therapist, etc.) • School administrator • Community provider (mental health, social services, juvenile court worker, etc.)

7. Youth in Secure JuvenileCare

8. 66-75% of Incarcerated Youth have these Characteristics • Special education classification • Mental health disorders • Drug and alcohol abuse • History of abuse, neglect, and witnessing violence • Average literacy 5th-9thgrade

9. Racial Disproportion in the Justice System • Nationally, black youth under age 18 represent 15% of the juvenile population, but they make up: • 26% of juvenile arrests; • 31% of referrals to juvenile court; • 44% of the detained population; • 34% of youth formally processed by the juvenile court; • 46% of youth sent to adult court; • 32% of youth adjudicated delinquent; • 40% of youth in residential placement; and • 58% of youth in state adult prisons.

10. Questions • Why do these troubled, disabled, and minority youth end up in the juvenile justice system? • When do their problems first emerge? • What role do social institutions (family services, early childhood programs, schools, mental health & juvenile delinquency programs) play in either addressing or adding to these problems?

11. What Factors put Students at Risk for Pipeline Entry?

12. Citations  1, 11 Characteristics and Needs of Students Most at Risk

13. Polling Question 2: Have you or do you work with students who are at-risk for involvement with the juvenile justice system? • Yes, with students who have been or are currently incarcerated • Yes, with students who have some of the characteristics that place them at risk. • No

14. What is the Impact of School Discipline on Academic Progress and Achievement? • Each additional referral to the office reduces a student’s chances of achieving proficiency on standardized tests at the end of the school year, and reduces academic growth over the year • The effect persists into the next academic year and the year after, influencing achievement and growth for three years • Adverse effects hold for all disciplinary outcomes, but out-of-school suspension had the most devastating and lasting impact

15. Office of Civil RightsTransformed Civil Rights Data Collection (CDCR, 2009-10)

16. Arrests and Referrals of Minorities

17. Students with Disabilities

18. 35% • Only 35% of students identified as emotionally disturbed graduate with a regular high school diploma.

19. Students are more likely to drop out if: • They have been suspended repeatedly • They have been expelled for any period of time • They have been retained in a grade below their age-level peers • The more days a student misses, the more likely he or she is to drop out of school

20. School Policies and Practices that may Promote Pipeline Entry • Zero Tolerance • High Stakes Academic Testing • Repeated • Office Discipline Referrals • Suspensions • Expulsions

21. Citations  1, 11 How the pipeline works for at-risk youth

22. Preventing entry: Most effective, least expensive • “Quality educational interventions may constitute the most effective and economical protective factors against delinquency” (Center on Crime, Communities, and Culture, 1997) • Keeping youth engaged in school is a logical and cost-effective prevention.

23. Citations  1, 4, 5, 13–21 Addressing the Needs of Students with Challenging Behavior What Should We Do? • Look for alternatives to traditional school discipline practices that are: • Proactive • Preventative • Based on teaching, modeling, and reinforcing appropriate expected behaviors and skill sets • Fairly and equitably applied across all youth • Consistent across persons and settings • Economical in terms of resources, effort, and teacher/student time spent engaged in instruction • Supported by empirical evidence

24. Schools and juvenile justice systems are the most important factors over which we have the greatest control. Goal: Design systems to enhance protective factors B

26. Polling Question 3: In your professional role, to what extent are you able to influence programs and practices to enhance protective factors for youth? • To a great extent! • Not as much as is needed • Not at all • Not applicable

27. Based on all the evidence… We advise designing programs based on an approach known as “multi-tiered systems of support”

28. U.S. Public Health: 3-Tiered Logic Model A few Some All Walker et al., 1996

29. PBIS Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports PBIS is an evidence-based, systems-wide, multi-tiered framework for enhancing protective factors and improving student outcomes.

30. PBIS: 3-Tiered Logic Model PBIS team Relevant data Problem-solving A few Some All

31. Systems-level components of PBIS

32. Let’s look at a few examples of systems-level PBIS

33. PBIS team Helps foster interdisciplinary cooperation • PBIS team members: • Juvenile correctional officers • Teachers • Case managers • Administrators • Treatment providers • “I did not know Ms. X, a Caseworker, before PBIS, but she has not only been my right hand co worker for PBIS but has become a good friend that I can call on for help anytime.”

34. Expectations defined for all areas and all activities Provides clarity and predictability for all

35. Acknowledgment for Appropriate Behavior

36. Immediately useful and relevant data

37. Rapidly increasing body of research indicates PBIS, implemented with fidelity, can produce:

38. PBIS and Reducing Suspensions in KY M

39. PBIS and Keeping Kids in School M

40. PBIS is being implemented in alternative educational programs, including youth correctional programs • Texas (state-level secure facilities) • Education programs • Facility-wide • Georgia, Colorado, Arizona, Illinois • All state-level secure facilities • California, Iowa, Oregon, Washington • PBS in at least one JJ facility B

41. Texas (2011) • School settings: • 42% decrease in major incidents with a “security” (administrative segregation) referral but no admission • 21% decrease in major incidents with a security referral and admission • Non-school settings • 31% decrease in major incidents with a security referral but no admission • 26% decrease in major incidents with a security referral and admission

42. Citations  1, 11 Where we are headed with Multi-tiered Systems of Support (PBIS)

43. Polling Question 4: Do you see applications for PBIS (multi-tiered systems of support) in program with which you work? • To a great extent! • Perhaps – the concepts are applicable, but I’m not sure how this would be accomplished. • Not at all • Not applicable

44. Resources • National Technical Assistance Center for Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports http://www.pbis.org • National Evaluation and Technical Assistance Center for the Education of Children and Youth Who are Neglected, Delinquent, or At-Riskhttp://www.neglected-delinquent.org • National Center for Mental Health and Juvenile Justicehttp://www.ncmhjj.com • School to Prison.org: Challenging the School-to-Prison Pipelinehttp://www.schooltoprison.org

45. Contact us if you have questions • Brenda Scheuermann • brenda@txstate.edu • Mike Nelson • mike.nelson@uky.edu