Keeping Youth in School and Out of the Justice System: Promising Practices and Approaches
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June 2018 Driving Local Reform: Certificate Program Series
Keeping Youth in School and Out of the Justice
System: Promising Practices and Approaches
Amber Farn, M.S.Ed
T he “school-to-prison pipeline,” a term that has
garnered a great deal of attention in recent years,
involvement (Carter et al., 2014; Morgan et al.,
2014; Fabelo et al., 2011). Once students are
describes the direct link between exclusionary removed from schools, they have fewer
school discipline practices and students’ subsequent opportunities to participate in school activities and
involvement in the juvenile justice system. develop positive, meaningful relationships with
Behaviors such as truancy and violating school rules peers and school staff, and they are more likely to
are often part of normal adolescent development. engage in subsequent delinquent behaviors. It is also
However, due to the focus on zero-tolerance school important to note that a student’s misconduct is often
policies first implemented in the 1980s, misbehavior a symptom or manifestation of unmet needs, such as
historically handled by school staff are now often an untreated trauma, undiagnosed mental health
referred to law enforcement officers as delinquent issues, or family conflict (Skowyra & Cocozza,
offenses, causing unnecessary interactions between 2006). Exclusionary school discipline does not
youth and the juvenile or criminal justice systems. address the underlying reasons for students’ acting-
This bulletin discusses the school-to-prison pipeline out behaviors and can even exacerbate the problem
issue, focusing on school-based referrals to law behaviors. Unfortunately, schools often lack the
enforcement, arrests in schools and their harmful resources to respond to these youth’s multisystemic
consequences, and highlights promising practices needs, and school administrators increasingly
and examples of local reform efforts designed to depend on law enforcement officers and juvenile
keep youth in school and out of the justice system. courts to handle students’ behavioral incidents
(Cocozza, Keator, Skowyra, & Greene, 2016). The
The Issue traditional response from the juvenile justice system
Although schools often rely on exclusionary is usually to arrest the disruptive youth, and
consequently, the youth could end up in a juvenile
discipline such as suspensions, expulsions, and
arrests to address student misconduct, researchers detention center and/or be charged with an offense,
resulting in system involvement.
have found little evidence to support the
effectiveness of these practices (Carter, Fine, & Juvenile justice researchers and practitioners have
Russell, 2014; Morgan et al., 2014). On the contrary, found overwhelming evidence indicating that the
frequent use of exclusionary discipline is associated school-to-prison pipeline phenomenon tends to have
with negative student outcomes, including high a disproportionate impact on minority students, and
levels of insecurity and fear of disciplinary actions, schools often serve as a primary source of referrals
lower academic achievement, higher risk of school to the justice system (American Institutes for
dropout, and higher risk of juvenile justice Research, 2012; Morgan, Salomon, Plotkin, &
Cohen, 2014; National Center for Mental Health and under ESSA, Congress requires states and districts to
Juvenile Justice, 2012; Tseng & Becker, 2016). collect data on student disciplinary actions and
school arrests (Office for Civil Rights, 2016). This is
Indeed, an analysis of the 2013-2014 school
a vital step in promoting transparency and
discipline data collected from about 8,000 public
accountability to reduce the use of exclusionary
schools showed an overrepresentation of minority
discipline in schools.
youth in school-based referrals to law enforcement
and school-related arrests. In particular, while black On the local level, a growing number of schools are
youth represent only 15.5 percent of the overall beginning to revise policies and practices in order to
student enrollment in this dataset, they represent move away from a zero-tolerance approach. In this
25.8 percent of law enforcement referrals and 33.4 regard, school leaders in many jurisdictions have
percent of arrests. In comparison, white students worked to develop alternative approaches to justice
represent 50.3 percent of the overall enrollment, 38.2 referrals and incorporate these options into
percent of law enforcement referrals, and 33.7 disciplinary protocols, allowing behavioral incidents
percent of arrests (Education Week Research Center, to be handled within the school system. In order to
2017). identify youth with the most intense needs and to
provide them with preventive services, many schools
are adopting early warning systems that identify at-
risk students by looking at attendance, behavioral
incidents, and grades (Morgan et al., 2014). Further,
many schools have begun to take a behavioral-
health-focused, individualized approach when
working with disruptive students. These school staff
address the underlying factors for students’
misconduct through school-based supportive
services, including screening and assessment,
counseling, crisis intervention, mentoring, and other
cognitive skill-building programs (Tseng & Becker,
2016). The Positive Behavioral Interventions and
Supports (PBIS) approach is an example of a
framework developed to help schools shift away
from exclusionary practices through the
implementation of evidence-based behavioral
interventions (Curtis, 2014).
Changing Schools’ Responses Focusing on facilitating a positive school climate,
There have been several key reform initiatives at the the PBIS is a multi-tiered prevention model (Horner
federal level that have helped to galvanize the push & Sugai, 2015). At Tier 1, the interventions are
to examine and improve school disciplinary designed to support all students and reduce problem
practices, including the Supportive School behaviors in general. At Tier 2, the intervention
Discipline Initiative (SSDI) and the Every Student intensity increases and focuses on a subset of at-risk
Succeeds Act (ESSA). Launched in 2011, the SSDI students to address underlying issues and prevent
is a collaboration between the U.S. Department of worsening of problem behaviors. At Tier 3, high-
Education and the U.S. Department of Justice that intensity interventions are individualized to assess
supports local school districts in providing effective and support a small percentage of high-risk students.
alternatives to exclusionary discipline and fostering The PBIS approach emphasizes on operationalizing
supportive school climate (U.S. Department of positive behavior interventions and measuring
Education, n.d.). Signed in December 2015, the implementation fidelity as well as youth outcomes
ESSA is a reauthorization of the 1965 Elementary (Horner & Sugai, 2015). It has shown evidence in
and Secondary Education Act that includes reducing staff’s use of exclusionary discipline in
provisions to help schools establish positive and schools and improving students’ social, academic,
supportive learning environments. In particular, and behavioral outcomes (Horner & Sugai, 2015).
June 2018 2 Driving Local Reform: Certificate Program SeriesWhat Is a Capstone Project?
The Center for Juvenile Justice Reform (CJJR) at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy hosts
intensive Certificate Programs designed to address specific issues in juvenile justice through a multi-disciplinary
approach. As part of the training, participants from state and local agencies within a jurisdiction work together to
design and implement a local Capstone Project focused on multi-system reform. The following sections of this
bulletin highlight some exemplary Capstone Projects.
Learn more about these local reform efforts:
http://cjjr.georgetown.edu/certificate-programs/capstone-projects/local-reform-efforts/
In addition to reforming school policies and protocols. Leaders in the field should also provide
practices, many local school districts are also joint trainings for school staff and law enforcement
partnering with juvenile justice agencies to develop officers, which can improve collaboration and
school-based diversion programs, usually targeting communication among parties, and lead to reduced
status offenders, students with behavioral health school-based arrests and justice system referrals.
disorders, and students involved in non-violent
behavioral incidents. Diversion programs with a Staff Training:
restorative justice component, in particular, have Local Capstone Example
become increasingly popular and have demonstrated
promising results in reducing a youth’s likelihood of Providing Cross-Systems Training to
reoffending. Restorative justice practices focus on Eliminate the School-to-Prison Pipeline:
remedying the harm caused by a youth’s delinquent
behavior through offender accountability, Colorado
competency development, and making amends to the Janelle Krueger, Program Manager of Colorado’s
victim, thereby allowing schools to hold students Department of Education’s Expelled and At-Risk
accountable for their actions while providing Student Services grant program, participated in
supportive services to meet their needs (Carter et al., CJJR’s 2015 School-Justice Partnerships
2014; Wong, Bouchard, Gravel, Bouchard, & Certificate Program. Ms. Krueger recognized that
Morselli, 2016). law enforcement officers and school administrators
were the gatekeepers influencing a student’s entry
into the juvenile justice system for school-based
Strategies and Reforms
discipline incidents. As a result, she worked with
When revising school policies and implementing her partners to establish a multi-disciplinary work
school-based diversion programs, there are four group and to develop an interactive training
important strategies that policy makers, educators, workshop for school-based teams, including
and juvenile justice leaders should consider: training School Resource Officers.
staff, addressing disproportionality and disparities, Following a successful “trial run” in June 2017
developing school-justice partnerships, and with Jefferson County School District, the second
collecting and evaluating data. largest school district in Colorado, two Denver-
metro area workshops were conducted in early
Staff Training 2018. A total of 81 participants attended the
School personnel should receive cultural competence training, representing 65 school administrators
and adolescent development trainings in order to from 18 schools in six school districts, and 16
School Resource Officers from eight law
better understand youth’s needs and the implications
enforcement jurisdictions. Three additional
of justice system involvement. Staff must be able to
workshops will be held for the 2019-2020 school
recognize potential behavioral health symptoms and year. To measure training outcomes, Ms. Krueger
locate resources for students in need. In addition, will monitor trend lines of participating schools’
they must be well versed in any new disciplinary referrals to law enforcement and law enforcement
policies and practices that are introduced, as well as agencies’ school-based arrest data.
the available diversion opportunities, criteria, and
June 2018 3 Driving Local Reform: Certificate Program SeriesDisproportionality and Disparities
another. However, many researchers, school leaders,
Disparate treatment of minority youth and their and police officers across the country agree that
overrepresentation in school discipline is well having a strong, collaborative partnership between
documented in the research literature. Policy makers the school district and local law enforcement agency
and practitioners should be attentive to potential is associated with more effective responses to
biases and inequities when creating policies and students’ misconduct and fewer arrests for minor
developing programs to support youth development. offenses (Carter et al., 2014; Morgan et al., 2014).
More specifically, services and interventions should Several jurisdictions have developed memoranda of
be individualized and responsive to students’ understanding (MOU) to delineate roles and
race/ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, responsibilities of school staff and law enforcement
immigration status, and disability. officers, which helps to prevent confusion and
decrease conflict between staff from different
Disproportionality and Disparities: agencies.
Local Capstone Example
Reducing Racial and Ethnic Disparities School-Justice Partnerships:
in School Arrests: Local Capstone Example
Johnson County, Iowa Improving Youth Outcomes Through
Leaders from Johnson County district court, School-Justice Partnerships:
schools, police department, and community
programs participated in CJJR’s 2013 Reducing Spokane County, Washington
Racial and Ethnic Disparities Certificate Program. Leaders from the Spokane County juvenile court,
As part of their Capstone Project, team members police department, school district, and the
created protocols designed to reduce the practice of Washington State Department of Social and Health
school staff contacting law enforcement in Services participated in CJJR’s 2016 School-
response to students’ problem behaviors. They also Justice Partnerships Certificate Program. The
implemented a uniform set of graduated sanctions team’s Capstone Project focuses on improving
for in-school behaviors to limit law enforcement disciplinary outcomes for youth in Spokane Public
intervention, and created a community-based School (SPS), piloting the effort in an elementary
diversion program, the Learning Alternative Daily school, middle school, and high school. In these
Decisions to Ensure Reasonable Safety schools, staff revised decision-making processes so
(LADDERS), to address disorderly behavior in that the policies reflect culturally-sensitive
schools. approaches and support community collaboration.
First implemented in the 2013-2014 school year, In addition, the Capstone team is in the process of
the project has led to promising results. In 2012, developing an MOU with partnering youth-serving
there were 40 arrests in schools for disorderly agencies to share school discipline data.
conduct, of which 30 (75%) were African As of September 2017, the team has organized
American youth. In 2017, there were 15 arrests for training in restorative justice practices, de-
disorderly conduct, of which 10 (67%) were escalation techniques, and cultural competence for
African American youth. Since the inception of the SPS Campus Resource Officers, developed
LADDERS, school arrests for disorderly conduct initiatives to build relationships between police
have reduced by almost 63 percent, and arrests of officers and youth on probation, and supported
African American youth have reduced from 75 SPS in adopting new safety policy and procedures
percent to 67 percent. to reduce campus arrests. Within one year of these
policy and practice changes, school arrests have
dropped by more than 85 percent. The team is
working closely with the school district to continue
School-Justice Partnerships
data collection and analysis, and to utilize findings
The relationship between school and juvenile justice to further refine policies and practices.
agencies varies greatly from one jurisdiction to
June 2018 4 Driving Local Reform: Certificate Program SeriesThe Role of School Resource Officers
Data Collection and Evaluation (SROs)
Collecting and evaluating consistent and reliable The presence of SROs, or law enforcement officers
data is an essential element of monitoring schools’ assigned to work in collaboration with one or more
use of exclusionary and diversionary practices. In schools, has become increasingly common. The
particular, disaggregating data by race, gender, 2013-2014 Civil Rights Data Collection showed that
sexual orientation, and other subgroups can help approximately 30 percent of public schools
schools to identify disparate treatment and nationally have sworn police officers (Education
overrepresentation of minority youth, and further Week Research Center, 2017). The National
inform policy reform efforts. Association of School Resource Officers
recommended that SROs fulfill three primary roles
in schools: educator, informal counselor, and law
Data Collection and Evaluation: enforcer (Canady, James, & Nease, 2012). Through
Local Capstone Example their educator and counselor roles, SROs resolve
conflicts, educate staff, students, and parents about
Tracking Over-Representation of
justice issues and crisis prevention, and develop
Minority Youth in School Diversion rapport with at-risk students to help them avoid
Programs to Inform Policy Change: justice involvement. In their law enforcer roles,
Prince George’s County, Maryland SROs patrol school grounds to ensure campus safety
and take part in school disciplinary responses such
In 2014, staff from Maryland Department of
as diverting students, issuing citations, and making
Juvenile Services and the Prince George’s (PG)
County’s Disproportionate Minority Contact arrests when necessary.
(DMC) Coordinator attended CJJR’s Juvenile For those schools with SROs or law enforcement
Diversion Certificate Program. Through their officers assigned to their campuses, it is imperative
Capstone Project, the team piloted a pre-arrest that school administrators work with the officers to
school-based diversion program. In 2015, the PG make them an integral part of the diversion process.
County DMC Coordinator joined with staff from
the county public schools and the State’s Attorney
A research study investigating SROs’ arrest
office for PG County, as well as the Maryland decision-making behavior found that laws, rules, and
State DMC Coordinator to attend CJJR’s Reducing regulations are some of the most important factors
Racial and Ethnic Disparities Certificate Program. that officers consider when making an arrest, along
Their goal in attending the program was to bolster with the availability of diversion options (Wolf,
the data collection and analysis of all school-based 2013). Therefore, school policies should encourage
diversion referral and outcomes. the use of evidence-based behavioral interventions
In 2017, the team piloted the school-based and keep exclusionary discipline and arrest as a last
diversion program at a local PG County high resort.
school for students who committed non-restitution SROs should also be trained in school disciplinary
misdemeanor offenses. School staff work with
policies, diversion protocols, as well as all available
SROs to identify and refer eligible youth to the
school-and community-based diversion resources.
County Department of Family Services for
assessment and services. In addition to collecting Thomas, Towvim, Rosiak, & Anderson (2013) have
data on race and ethnicity, the PG County team has identified three main components of an effective
distinguished itself by gathering information on SRO program:
students’ social and economic status, sexual 1. Carefully selected and trained officers;
orientation, and language spoken at home to
2. Well-defined roles and responsibilities; and
identify disparities and disproportionality in other
subgroups. The PG County Capstone Teams are
3. Clear and comprehensive agreement between
continuing their data tracking efforts, monitoring the school and the law enforcement agency.
youth outcomes, and making policy
recommendations based on the data collected.
June 2018 5 Driving Local Reform: Certificate Program SeriesEvaluation Resources
Assessing School Discipline
The U.S. Department of Education released a suite of free school climate surveys, the ED School Climate Surveys
(EDSCLS)1, to measure school engagement, safety, and environment, which also include the assessment of
disciplinary practices. The surveys are available on a web-based platform and for download free of charge.
The National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments has also created resources2 to help school
administrators interpret the EDSCLS data and utilize the survey results to create actionable next steps in improving
school climate.
SROs, and law enforcement officers more broadly, arrests are critical steps in cultivating a positive
can be an invaluable resource to address students’ school environment. School-based diversion
needs while also keeping schools safe. The programs, especially those with a restorative justice
effectiveness of SROs is contingent upon policies focus, have the potential to reorient traditionally
related to supportive school disciplinary practices punitive approaches toward prevention and
and diversion, as well as strong school-justice rehabilitation, while also allowing students to take
partnerships. responsibility for their misconduct. With clear and
carefully designed diversion policies and protocols,
Conclusion school staff and law enforcement officers can
collaborate to effectively address youth’s needs and
Zero-tolerance policies, originally created to deter
prevent their further involvement with the justice
serious, violent crimes in schools, have
system.
unintentionally resulted in greater numbers of
students, particularly youth of color, receiving
punishment that drive them into the juvenile justice
system. Tackling the school-to-prison pipeline is
often complicated and requires strong collaboration
between multiple youth-serving systems, including,
Questions? Contact Us!
but not limited to, education and law enforcement. It
is critical that leaders from these systems seize Center for Juvenile Justice Reform
opportunities to train staff in fostering a safe and McCourt School of Public Policy
positive school climate, identify and address Georgetown University
disproportionality and disparate treatment of
minority students, establish collaborative http://cjjr.georgetown.edu/
partnerships with key stakeholders, and commit to jjreform@georgetown.edu
driving reform efforts based on data.
It is impractical to suggest that schools eliminate
exclusionary discipline completely; however,
assessing and responding to students’ needs by
fostering a safe, diverse, and supportive learning
environment should take priority. Changing school
discipline policies and developing alternatives to
1
The ED School Climate Surveys can be found at https://safesupportivelearning.ed.gov/edscls
2
The resources can be found at https://safesupportivelearning.ed.gov/edscls/data-interpretation
June 2018 6 Driving Local Reform: Certificate Program SeriesAcknowledgments Jill Adams, Shay Bilchik, Janelle Krueger, Judge Deborah Minot, Kwabena Tuffour, Michael Umpierre, Lyrica Welch, and Christopher Wyatt also edited and/or provided guidance on the development of this document. Recommended Citation Farn, A. (2018). Keeping youth in school and out of the justice system: Promising practices and approaches. Washington, DC: Center for Juvenile Justice Reform, Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy. Available from http://cjjr.georgetown.edu/wp- content/uploads/2018/05/CP-Series-Bulletin_School-Justice-May-2018.pdf. June 2018 7 Driving Local Reform: Certificate Program Series
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