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By Judge Steven Teske and Naomi Smoot Evans, Juvenile Justice Information Exchange Judge Teske first used collective decision-making beginning in 2003 to reform his local juvenile justice system, which has netted an 80% decline in juvenile arrests. Most striking, however, is how it was employed at the statewide level in the Georgia juvenile justice reform effort to net a 57% reduction in youth committed to state facilities, which resulted in the closure of three secured facilities. Most...

By Laura McKenna, The Atlantic, July 28, 2020 W hen ben started flipping desks in the classroom, his teacher Heather Boyle ushered the rest of her first-grade class into the hallway for safety. Things had begun to unravel a few moments earlier, when Ben—whose real name isn’t being used, to protect his privacy—struggled with a math lesson. He crawled under desks, bumping into other children’s legs. When his classmates complained, Boyle asked him to come out. “I don’t know how to do this...

By Brian Richart, Juvenile Justice Information Exchange, July 27, 2020 Probation in California has the responsibility of treating and supervising our community’s most high-needs and high-risk youth. We take our role in promoting healthy, prepared and positive adolescents seriously and provide each youth the supervision and support services they need to help guide them into adulthood. The use of individualized, evidence-based practices to advance the long-term well-being of youth is...

In case you are interested, there is an affordable, easy to register for Zoom course at Rutgers Graduate School of Social Work on how to create trauma responsive institutions. The focus is not limited to social work organizations. There is also a discount for the presenter's book, Trauma Doesn't Stop at the School Door and recently published by Teachers College Press. Session runs from 9:30 -- 12:30 on July 31, 2020. Look forward to seeing you there. Here's the needed link (can also be...

Playworks believes in a trauma-sensitive approach Educators should focus on providing a trauma-sensitive approach to the reopening of school. Students are all having different experiences right now. For some students, the shutdown of schools due to COVID has provided them with a welcome reprieve from toxic situations or stressors. For others, it has created an increased chance that they’re experiencing Adverse Childhood Experiences or new stressors. “A trauma-sensitive school is one in which...

This is a further resource for data driven decisions.

By Claudia Boyd-Barrett, California Health Report, July 27, 2020 Ana Blanco looked up from her hospital bed at the police officer. Her legs were bandaged, and stung with pain. She tried to focus on what he was saying. Did she want to file a restraining order against her husband? Blanco had just told the officer how, on the way home from her college psychology class, her husband had ordered her out of the truck and then begun driving away as she tried to remove her school bag. She had been...

By Betty Marquez Rosales, The New York Times, July 27, 2020 Julian Balderama’s daily mission, stated starkly, is to keep a dozen boys and young men in Stockton alive and out of jail. His official job title is “Neighborhood Change Associate” for a violence-prevention program called Advance Peace. But on the streets, Mr. Balderama is what is known as an “interrupter” — he defuses conflict. Through constant home visits, sometimes bearing takeout meals, he shows his 12 mentees how to steer clear...

By Maritza Zuluaga, Al Dia, July 27, 2020 In the last year, murders in Philadelphia have had a significant spike, almost 23% from the year before. On July 22, President Donald Trump addressed the crime rate in Philadelphia, and went so far as to threaten to send federal agents to combat the surge in violence. To date, there have been 232 homicides in Philadelphia. On July 6,, 23 people were shot throughout the city, this being the most in a single day since 2013. Of them, six victims died,...

Dr. Robert Sege, 7/29/20, positiveexperience.org/blog In times and places when Covid-19 is on the upsurge, most of us worry about our own safety and that of the ones we love. Is it a safe to go to work? It is safe for children to go to school? When will the pandemic and this uncertainty ever stop? At other times, public health restrictions are first in our minds—we can’t gather to celebrate or mourn, we need to wear masks to protect others even if we don’t feel sick ourselves, and every...

By Valerie Echeverria, Ronishlla Maharaj, Karina Mascorro, and David Sanchez, Ed Source, July 28, 2020 Black Lives Matter and the coronavirus have etched deep memories, as well as life lessons, this year for Richmond area students. Here are reflections from students and recent graduates, based on interviews conducted by participants in the West Contra Costa Student Reporting Project. Except for graduates, their class levels indicate their status in the upcoming school year. Irene Kou, 15,...

By Brandon Stratford, Child Trends, July 28, 2020 Regardless of whether students return to school in person or via distance learning , education leaders and policymakers across the country must equip schools to address the social, emotional, and behavioral effects of the ongoing pandemic. To address these issues, many policymakers are turning to school-based mental health services as a key strategy for supporting student wellness. Although mental health services are a critical, often...