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All children and youth have a human right to quality public education in safe and supportive learning environments. Such an education provides a foundation for access to higher education, meaningful employment and full participation in society. Although a ...

Excerpt from website Continuing the efforts of the Federal Supportive School Discipline Initiative, the U.S. Departments of Justice and Education* are pleased to announce the next event in the 2014 Supportive School Discipline (SSD) Webinar Series. T ...

Educators, mental health professionals and other community leaders are about to conclude a year of education on how to make Hancock County more sensitive to the needs of people who have suffered trauma. But, they say, the work is just beginning. The Ha ...

New data from the Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) estimates that over 3 million students are suspended or expelled every year, with minorities and special needs students often facing harsher discipline than their peers for the same offenses. Such excl ...

Excerpt from website This second Webinar in the joint U.S. Departments of Education, Justice, and Health and Human Services Supportive School Discipline (SSD) Webinar Series provides the knowledge that school, district, residential facility, and cour ...

The main body of this report documents gross disparities in the use of out-of-school suspension experienced by students with disabilities and those from historically disadvantaged racial, ethnic, and gender subgroups. The egregious disparities revealed in ...

Screening and assessment of traumatic stress and its psychosocial after-effects play an important role in a trauma-informed juvenile justice system. Trauma exposure and its negative consequences are highly prevalent among justice-involved youth. For examp ...

Excerpt from website Leading up to the most recent school tragedy and the subsequent call for increasing the number of school resource officers (SROs), growing evidence indicates the need for (1) improved school climate and (2) supportive school disc ...

Girls of color face much harsher school discipline than their white peers but are excluded from current efforts to address the school-to-prison pipeline, according to a new report issued today by the African American Policy Forum and Columbia Law School’s ...

Every day, hundreds of thousands of youth cycle in and out of state and local juvenile justice systems throughout the county. They are seen in probation offices, juvenile detention centers, juvenile courts, and correctional facilities every day. Many of t ...

Lawmakers have set aside $10 million in one-time funds to be used during the next three years to train teachers and administrators across the state on how to use more positive approaches to disciplining students.

This guide was written to educate policymakers about the scope and impact of childhood trauma, to offer effective solutions that can be implemented with the support of informed public policy, and to provide information about additional resources. The Nati ...

This Brief describes how partnerships developed by Network members and police agencies are helping to create a trauma-informed law enforcement system.

High rates of suspensions and expulsions are daunting problems affecting many California schools. In part, these rates are the result of Zero Tolerance policies enacted in the early 1990s to improve school safety. Although Zero Tolerance policies original ...

The first issue of the series describes why creating trauma-informed child-serving systems is necessary and suggests specific competencies that systems can adopt to work effectively with traumatized children and their families.

Exert from article: Ending the summer and beginning a new school year is a source of both excitement and anxiety for most children. But amidst the thrill of choosing special school supplies, finding a distinctive backpack, and shopping for new clothes ...

A memorandum of understanding (MOU) is a critical document in establishing coordinated efforts in a school-justice partnership. An MOU is a multilateral agreement among multiple parties intended to express a common vision and line of action. MOUs in schoo ...

The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges joined by the Honorable Steven Teske, Chief Judge, Clayton County, Georgia, introduces and discussed the steps to develop a MOU during this interactive online training. A memorandum of understand ...

Disparities in the use of school discipline by race, gender, and sexual orientation have been well-documented and continue to place large numbers of students at risk for short- and long-term negative outcomes. In order to improve the state of our knowledg ...

While the extent of and reasons for disciplinary disparities have been well documented for at least the last 40 years, a number of inaccurate assumptions and myths remain popular but lack research support. This fact sheet describes many of the most common ...

Discipline Disparities: A Research-to-Practice Collaborative All schools must be safe places for all members of the learning community. Schools have the right and indeed the responsibility to develop safe school climates to protect the safety of studen ...

Discipline in schools, when appropriately used, can help to create structure and establish rules for a well-functioning classroom and school. All students should feel safe, and have a positive environment in which to learn. The underlying empirical data s ...

Therapeutic treatment of the psychosocial after-effects of childhood exposure to traumatic stressors is a key component in the development of trauma-informed juvenile justice systems (Kerig, 2012). More than 80% of juvenile justice-involved youth report a ...

Every young person has the human right to a high quality education and to learn in a safe, respectful school environment that protects human dignity. Research has shown that punitive, zero-tolerance approaches to discipline do not prevent or reduce misbe ...

The NCMHJJ convened several meetings to review possible options for a final Strategic Innovation Group project to be undertaken by the Mental Health/Juvenile Justice Action Network. By the end of the meetings, several important areas were identified: tra ...

In the nine years since Congress reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) as the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), startling growth has occurred in what is often described as the “School-to-Prison Pipeline”1 – the use of educational p ...

Excerpt from website This webinar will describe the National Initiative's implementation efforts in its six pilot sites and give background on the concepts and practices of reconciliation. In many communities where public trust in law enforcement ha ...

Exert: Published in 2005, TLPI’s landmark report summarizes research from psychology and neurobiology that documents the impact trauma from exposure to violence can have on children’s learning, behavior and relationships in school. The report also introdu ...

Exert: Volume 2 of Helping Traumatized Children Learn: Creating and Advocating for Trauma-Sensitive Schools, safe, supportive learning environments that benefit all children offers a Guide to a process for creating trauma-sensitive schools and a policy ag ...

A majority of children involved in the juvenile justice system have a history of trauma. Children and adolescents who come into the court system frequently have experienced not only chronic abuse and neglect, but also exposure to substance abuse, domesti ...

In the wake of the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, communities, advocates, and policymakers across the country are proposing and already implementing different ways to address gun violence in our society—such as passing new gun control me ...

The number of students issued suspensions in U.S. schools continues to be extremely high, resulting in thousands of students missing school every day. Simultaneously, disparities in school suspension continue to worsen, indicating that students in some gr ...

Excerpt from website Identity traps are situations that trigger mental reactions which influence behaviors. Identity traps may cause us to act inconsistently with our beliefs and in ways that disadvantage already stigmatized groups. This webinar wil ...

The first webinar in this series of four provides an overview of two school-based diversion initiatives that emerged from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s Models for Change Mental Health/Juvenile Justice Action Network, and that have be ...

Learning is not just a cognitive process. Research shows that powerful social and emotional factors affect learning. Some of these factors involve social relationships. These social factors include the teacher's relationship with the student, the student' ...

Last week, Attorney General Eric Holder and Education Secretary Arne Duncan issued the first ever national guidelines for school discipline in public schools, in an effort to keep more students in class and reduce racial disparities in punishment. The fed ...

Excerpt from website In early childhood settings across the country, professionals understand that young children need to be taught social and emotional skills just like they need to be taught math and reading. When children are impacted by stress a ...

Ohio

Mahoning County has a total of 29 public school districts, and consists of 82 schools serving 33,889 students. SJP Initiatives: Implementation of restorative justice practices to address student issues. Establishment of the Mahoning County High School ...

Excerpt from website As a result of the growing body of evidence demonstrating the alarming relationship between widespread school suspensions and expulsions and involvement in the justice system, today’s schools, courts, and communities require new ...

North Carolina

Mecklenburg County has a total of 13 public school districts, and consists of 186 schools (175 of which are part of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools) serving 142,318 students. SJP Initiatives: Development of a S.M.A.R.T. (Specific, Manageable, Achievable, ...

The last twenty years have seen a remarkable increase in the criminalization of American schools and students. What officially began in 1994 with the signing of the federal Gun Free School Zone’s Act (GFSA), has escalated from a series of reforms intende ...

Since first identified by the Children's Defense Fund nearly 40 years ago, researchers have consistently documented African American disproportionality in a range of exclusionary discipline practices including office disciplinary referrals, suspensions, e ...

Passed in the 2014 legislative session, Substitute House Bill 2739 (Chapter 196, Laws of 2014) directs that an analysis examine the effects of community factors such as economic well-being, safety and family challenges on academic and youth success. In c ...

For schools and districts across the U.S., family engagement (1) is rapidly shifting from a low-priority recommendation to an integral part of education reform efforts. Family engagement has long been enshrined in policy at the federal level through Title ...

Florida

Pinellas County Public Schools serves all of Pinellas County, Florida, and consists of 166 schools serving 104,001 students. SJP Initiatives: Ongoing data collection system and optimized sharing agreements between Pinellas County School and the court. ...

Cyberbullying is bullying through technology, such as computers and cell phones. Law enforcement officers are increasingly confronted with cyberbullying complaints due to the prevalence of technology used by children and youth, and new legislation and law ...

Excerpt from website This Webinar was the fourth in NDTAC's 2012-2013 Webinar series, Tailoring Academic and Behavioral Support Services for Youth. NDTAC Director Simon Gonsoulin opened the Webinar with an overview of NDTAC’s work and the context o ...

The US Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights and the US Department Of Justice's Civil Rights Division will review recent Federal guidance to school districts which outlines each school’s obligation under the Civil Rights Act to administer disci ...

Excerpt from website This sixth Webinar in the 2014 series, School Discipline Laws and Regulations will be held on June 11, 2014, at 3:30 p.m. ET. This 90-minute Webinar will provide an in-depth review of the Compendium of School Discipline Laws and R ...

As scrutiny of the relationship between law enforcement agencies and the communities they're charged with protecting continues – heightened following the deaths of Michael Brown, Eric Garner and Tamir Rice, among others, at the hands of police – some are ...

The Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) funded the School-Based Partnerships (SBP) grant program for the purpose of partnering law enforcement agencies with schools to address crime and disorder problems in and around middle and h ...

Excerpt from website This is the third Webinar in the 2014 series, Guiding Principle 1: Fostering Positive School Climate to Prevent Behavioral Issues and Promote Student Success. This 90-minute Webinar provides an in-depth review of Guiding Principle ...

Excerpt from website This fifth Webinar in the 2014 series, Guiding Principle 3: Equity and Continuous Improvement will be held on April 29, 2014, at 3:30 p.m. ET. This 90-minute Webinar will provide an in-depth review of Guiding Principle #3 as ou ...

This Field Guide is written for Assistant Attorneys General, Child Protective Service Specialists (case managers), County Attorneys, Court Appointed Special Advocates, Behavioral Health Treatment Providers, Juvenile Probation and Parole Officers, and Scho ...

In the early 1990s, many schools adopted zero tolerance policies, which mandate the use of specific disciplinary consequences—often severe and punitive—in an effort to increase school safety. Originally designed to reduce weapon-carrying in schools, these ...

The juvenile justice system in America is a paradox when it comes to promoting the welfare of our nation’s young people. We have come a long way from old English common law which treated children as adults under the "vicious will” doctrine,1 to creating j ...

Ironically, zero tolerance policies once promoted as a solution to youth violence have created a school to prison pipeline. Widespread discipline practices of suspension, expulsion, and arrest for school behavior problems are turning kids in conflict int ...

Please join the International Association of Chiefs of Police, in partnership with the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges and supported by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention's School Justice Collaboration Program i ...

RESEARCH AND DATA ON SCHOOL DISCIPLINE practices are clear: millions of students are being removed from their classrooms each year, mostly in middle and high schools, and overwhelmingly for minor misconduct. When suspended, these students are at a signif ...

Indiana

Tippecanoe County has a total of 6 public school districts, and consists of 35 schools serving 21,232 students. SJP Initiatives: Development of a new and improved inventory system. Consideration of data sharing agreements between agencies. Involvement ...

Excerpt from website This 90-minute Webinar, the seventh in a series from the Supportive School Discipline Initiative, examines the impact of exposure to trauma on student behavior, discusses how some discipline responses can traumatize or re-traum ...

Excerpt from website This Webinar provides the knowledge that school, district, and court staff, law enforcement and legal personnel, youth, families, and other community stakeholders need to better understand how the use of youth courts in schools c ...

Excerpt from website This Webinar provides the knowledge that school, district, and court staff, law enforcement and legal personnel, youth, families, and other community stakeholders need to better understand how the use of youth courts in schools ...

The restraint and seclusion of individuals—practices usually associated with highly restrictive environments—are extreme responses to student behavior used in some public schools (see Box 1). This brief aims to answer important questions about the extent ...