The Minnesota Model of School-Based Diversion for Students with Co-Occurring

Disorders

Together Towards Tomorrow: Making space for courageous conversations

Bill Wyss, Minnesota Department of Human Services

Introduction

Practice of pushing kids out of school and toward the juvenile and criminal justice system has become known as the “school-to-prison pipeline” public policy issue

The school-to-prison pipeline issue is a critical national and state public policy concern that requires analysis and solutions for children and their families

Introduction Policies and practices that force at risk

students out of the classroom and into the juvenile justice system is having negative consequences, especially for students of color, the poor and those with disabilities

Excessive practices result in arrests, expulsions, and suspensions of millions of public school students, especially students of color and those with disabilities

Introduction A suspension can be life altering It is the number-one predictor

whether children will drop out of school

Far too many situations where teachers are being assaulted

Provide relevant tools to educators and communities that will avoid frequent use of harmful discipline

Background Schools are responsible to maintain a

safe and structured environment that supports learning and ensures the safety of students and school personnel

Approaches to school discipline vary The effectiveness and fairness of

these approaches have been the focus of much recent attention

Background Research suggests inconsistent or

limited effectiveness of “zero tolerance” disciplinary policies as a means to: increase safety promote positive school climate reduce suspension and expulsion

rates

Background Exclusionary discipline practices such as

arrests, expulsions, and out-of-school suspensions may be ineffective especially when applied to relatively minor offenses

Exclusionary discipline removes students from academic experience which can contribute to a number of negative academic and socio-emotional outcomes

Students arrested at school are three times more likely to drop out than their peers not arrested

Background Perhaps the most troubling form of

exclusionary discipline is school-based arrest School violence is at its lowest level since

1992 but in-school arrests are an increasingly common phenomenon

School discipline has been found to be more punitive and severe for youth of color even when the behaviors are the same and other socio-demographic factors are controlled

Background Similar findings reported for youth with

special education needs, particularly youth with mental health conditions

Research indicates that approximately 65-70 percent of youth in juvenile detention have a diagnosable behavioral health condition

Some research indicates SROs are used to enforce school rules

Student behavioral incidents are not just disciplined but are “criminalized”

Background School-based practices to reduce punitive

measures that are more supportive and restorative

School-based reform address the underlying mental health, trauma and substance abuse needs of youth who are at risk of juvenile justice involvement

Schools need linkages to community-based resources particularly crisis response and mental health services which can be effective alternatives to law enforcement involvement

Minnesota Model Tom Arneson, Managing Attorney of the

Hennepin County Attorney's Office, Juvenile Prosecution Division

Michael Franke, Licensed Psychologist Richard Gardell, President and CEO of 180

Degrees Jeffrey Hunsberger, Minnesota Department

of Human Services, Alcohol and Drug Abuse Division

Anna McLafferty, Criminal Justice Director of the National Alliance on Mental lIlness of Minnesota

Minnesota Model

Dr. Charlene Myklebust, Executive Director of Mental Health and Partnership, Intermediate District 287

Robyn Widley, Supervisor, Interagency Partnerships of the Minnesota Department of Education, Special Education Division

Bill Wyss, Team Leader and Children’s Mental Health Deputy Director of the Minnesota Department of Human Services, Children’s Mental Health Division

Minnesota Model

Minnesota’s Model vision is hope and support to keep students in school and out of the juvenile justice system leading and partnering with others to

plan and implement the model evaluating the model to ensure access

to co-occurring treatment services reducing disparities in the juvenile

justice system

Minnesota Model Assist schools and partners to become

more selective about making referrals to the juvenile justice system and develop school- and community based alternatives for addressing student behavioral incidents

Provides a blueprint for shared decision-making, new partnerships and alternatives that keep students in school and out of the juvenile justice system

Guiding Principles

Zero tolerance and exclusionary discipline practices are not the most effective or beneficial methods

Create positive relationships between students and adults

Create positive school climate to de-escalate behavior for students at risk for arrest

Guiding Principles Diversion supported by accountability for

inappropriate behavior using graduated response and restorative practices

Diversion is a process with multiple decision points following a incident in which a student can be diverted from formal processing

Recognize mental health and substance abuse needs in promoting academic success. Competencies in recognizing mental health symptoms and de-stigmatizing mental health problems

Guiding Principles Diversion strengthened by student and parent

participation from model development to implementation to evaluation

Attention to the highest risk students for arrest, including students with mental health and substance abuse, special education and racial and ethnic minority backgrounds

Access to culturally and linguistically school mental health, trauma and substance abuse services and supports including prevention, crisis stabilization, screening, assessment and intervention (treatment)

Guiding Principles

Diversion efforts must be accompanied by appropriate data collection that supports performance measurement, model fidelity and outcomes evaluation

Governance, Decision-Making and Maintaining

School Safety Determining responsibility for

disciplinary decision-making is a critical element

Combination of strong leadership and the quality of implementation

Effective and consistent communication and collaboration with all partners

Define and be clear about what behaviors to divert

Governance, Decision-Making and Maintaining School Safety

Decision-making and governance become important in the event of a serious incident

Serious incident is significant harm or significant risk of harm to anyone on school grounds and/or a threat to their safety and security

Examples: fights that involve a weapon, fights that result in serious injury and threats of mass violence

Governance, Decision-Making and Maintaining

School Safety Serious incidents require immediate

decision-making and deferred to law enforcement for safety, security and order

Serious incidents have the highest risk of arrest and court referral

Schools should work close with law enforcement before and after incidents

Governance, Decision-Making and Maintaining

School Safety Minnesota Model has two tracks with

a number of possible actions that address behaviors, ensure accountability, provide services, supports and promote diversion when possible School Case Conference Team School Officer/Law Enforcement

Involvement

Prevention and Positive School Climate

Create a positive and supportive environment

Strong relationships between students and adult staff

Prevention can identify students at risk for juvenile justice involvement

Parent and Student Involvement

Parents and students are encouraged at all levels of implementation Model development Oversight and advisory board Post-incident case conferencing Promoting awareness and

advocacy

Student Incident

Serious and non-serious incidents Non-serious incidents may include

behaviors such as threatening, bullying, fighting (without weapon/no serious injury), disrespect toward student or staff

Disruption of classroom and school environment, violation of school rules, smoking, substance use and trespassing

Student Incidents

Many of these incidents result in school-based arrests

Diversion will lead to alternatives rather than arrest or juvenile court

School-based diversion model seeks to avoid arrest, expulsion and out-of-school suspension whenever possible

Student Incident Schools frame behavioral incidents in lay

language rather than criminal language Creates a decriminalized language to

describe adolescent behavior Schools must create and agree on list of

behaviors Consult with law enforcement or legal

council to distinguish non-serious and serious student incidents

Response to Student Incidents

Three possible responses to student incidents Inform Parent Only Refer to School Case Conference

or Behavior Support Team Refer to School Resource

Officer/Law Enforcement

Inform Parent Only

Response recognizes many minor incidents can be quickly resolved with little formal processing

Notify parent Document response for purpose of

program monitoring

School Case Conference

Diverse group including parents, students, school administrators, SROs, guidance counselors, school psychologists, school staff and others come together to review the incident and response

Arrange for additional screening and assessment as needed

Implement restorative practices

Refer to School Resource Officer/Law Enforcement

Call for serious incidents Consult for the criminality of the incident Officers will exercise judgement to

determine arrest or diversion Arrest student and refer to county

attorney for disposition decision Consult and involve in non-serious

incidents

Implementing a Comprehensive

Diversion Initiative

School Selection and Planning

Ensure appropriate project coordination Select participating schools

Interest• Key school leaders want to divert arrests

and address unmet student needs Need• High arrests, expulsions and

suspensions Capacity• Committing time and resources

Implementation

Engage school and community partners

Identify workgroup team Identify case conference team Identify and schedule professional

development time Conduct needs assessment

Implementation Phase

Establish MOUs and agreements with key partners

Arrange screening, assessment and treatment for mental health, trauma and substance abuse

Role of mobile crisis services Review/revise school disciplinary

policies and practices

Implementation Phase

Implement a professional development curriculum Awareness, knowledge and skills of school

staff align with diversion principles and professional development activities

Plans for sustainability and provide follow-up Evaluation results shape the discussion Did the diversion initiative “work?”

Organize sustainability plan around key ingredients of the initiative How they will be maintained or expanded

Implementation Phase Sustainability and follow-up key

ingredients Implementing the Diversion Decision-Making

Model and Team Structure Professional Development Activities Revisions to Disciplinary Policies and Practices Enhancing Access to In-School and

Community-Based Providers Role and Effectiveness of Data Collection and

Evaluation

Professional Development

Understanding/increasing empathy for students with mental health needs

Normal adolescent development and recognizing mental health, trauma and substance abuse symptoms

Overview of local mental health, trauma and substance abuse services

Professional Development

Values, principles and practices of juvenile arrest diversion

Introduction to graduated response Partnering with law enforcement and

the juvenile justice system Classroom behavior management

Data Collection and Evaluation

Model has various data collection and evaluation methods

Outcomes at different levels Student School personnel Program School Community

Data Collection Data indicators

Incident-level indicators• Type of incident• Response to incident

School-level indicators• Total number of school-based arrests• Total number of expulsions

School professional indicators• Needs assessment survey related to

professional development curriculum

Data Collection

Performance measurement uses data for program monitoring Subset of 6-8 key indicators for

important program outcomes Regularly analyze and report indicators

to stakeholders Use findings to modify and improve

program “mid-stream” to keep initiative on track

Dashboard Stakeholders work together to identify

key indicators for important outcomes Create a “dashboard” of findings that

are highly visual, updated and shared Dashboard examples

Type of student incidents Total number of school arrests Total number of student screenings,

assessments and treatment services

Fidelity Monitoring

Purpose is to ensure the Minnesota Model is implemented as designed

Key deliverables are achieved Often relies on qualitative data like

interviews and focus groups Project coordinators develop a list of

key deliverables

Evaluation

Rigorous evaluation design can provide convincing data of effectiveness

Most cost and labor intensive method Design and method of evaluation

depends on questions under consideration

May include a mixture of designs, methods and data types (qualitative, quantitative)

Evaluating Disproportionate Minority Contact

Study of public school found African-American students although only one-third of the student population, accounted for 63% of all arrests

African-American and Hispanic boys with disabilities may experience harsher discipline when compared to peers

Students with disabilities more highly represented among arrestees compared to overall student population

Reporting

Selected indicators should be summarized in a final report

Preferable to review data more regularly to make adjustments

Example: Dashboard reporting can be viewed on a monthly bases to guide implementation efforts

Thank you!Bill Wyss, Deputy Director Email: bill.wyss@state.mn.us or 651-431-2364Children’s Mental Health Division