Problem?

1. The Power of Collaboration: How a Jurisdiction Reduced School Arrests, Improved Safety and Improved Outcomes for StudentsJudge Steve TeskeClayton County Juvenile CourtClayton County, GeorgiaJudge Brian HuffJefferson County Family CourtBirmingham, Alabama

2. Problem? United States has the highest rate of incarceration of any country on earth. Too many children being referred to the juvenile justice system. Most children are being referred for minor misdemeanor offenses. Most children being referred are African American.

3. Reform Begins at Intake • Jefferson County Family Court Intake Initiatives include: • Children in Need of Supervision Policy • Diversion through Counsel and Advise • The School Offense Protocol Intake Detention Probation

4. Importance of Diversion Court can’t be all things to all people Limited resources should be focused on kids who warrant court involvement Research has shown that court involvement can do more harm than good Resources can be provided outside of court (but the court should strive to coordinate resources)

5. Juvenile Justice Reform is Philosophy OLD PHILOSOPHY NEW PHILOSOPHY Court as a resource “identifier” Court as a referral source Court as a Collaborator • Court as a “savior” • Probation • Supervision • Counseling • Incarceration

6. Zero Tolerance EQUALSZero Intelligence

7. EFFECTS OF ZERO TOLERANCE • Suspension rates have increased • School Code violations result in court referrals • Increase in police on school campus • Increase in suspensions and referrals has significantly increased racial & ethnic disparities • Drop-out rates increase • Juvenile crime increases

8. Birmingham educated only 25% of the county’s public school students, but accounted for 83% of school referrals in 2007-2008 SCHOOL REFERRALS TO JEFFERSON COUNTY FAMILY COURT, 2007-08 SCHOOL YEAR 10 additional school systems Jefferson County Birmingham 83%

9. Birmingham students referred to family court in 2007/08 – by offense

10. Research shows a strong link between court referrals and dropout rates • A student arrested in high school is twice as likely to drop out • A student who appears in court during high school is four times as likely to drop out Sweeten, Gary, Who Will Graduate? Disruption of High School Education by Arrest and Court Involvement. 24.4, Justice Quarterly, 462-480 (December 2006).

11. Birmingham students referred to family court in 2007/08 – by offense

12. Added to the disproportionate minority contact with the juvenile justice system…… The Birmingham system educates only 25% of students in the county, but produces more than 66% of school referrals to Family Court 99% of students arrested in the Birmingham schools are African American

13. Racial Disparities in Detention

14. Admitted that we had been doing something wrong…

15. Trying to fit in Dating Short attention span Identity Some adult responsibilities Independence/Dependence Moody Withdrawn New emotions Normal Adolescence 15

16. “Our” Kids Broken families Dysfunctional families Drug/alcohol abuse in families Criminal behavior “normal” in their families Learning disabilities Mental health issues Abuse victims

17. Solicit media support Meet with the media at regular intervals. Foster good relations. Provide reliable data. Work with the media on continued messaging.

18. Form Your Team Jefferson County Family Court Birmingham City Schools Jefferson County District Attorney Birmingham Police Department NAACP Southern Poverty Law Center Department of Human Resources

19. Build Consensus If “Columbine” happens in my jurisdiction, I want the police at the school protecting the children and not at the family court over a school yard fight.

20. Decide upon a better way of discipline. First “offense” – warning/written citation Second “offense” – Attend “School Offense Workshop Referral to court

21. Decide which “offenses” to include. Affray (fighting) Disorderly conduct Harassment Assault 3 (no weapon) Menacing (no weapon) Criminal Trespass 3 Theft 3

22. Get it in writing!

23. Birmingham educates only 25% of the county’s public school students, but now accounts for 66% of school referrals SCHOOL REFERRALS TO JEFFERSON COUNTY FAMILY COURT, 2009-10 SCHOOL YEAR 10 additional school systems Jefferson County Birmingham 66%

24. Discussion alone produced a big drop in referrals, but a written document is critical for sustained results. COURT REFERRALS FROM BHAM SCHOOLS, BY SEMESTER

25. Despite a 50% drop from 2007-08 to 2008-09, misdemeanors and violations still accounted for more than 90% of arrests

26. The average detention population is down 72%

27. Commitments to Juvenile Prison are down by 73% DYS ADMISSIONS FROM JEFFERSON COUNTY, 2003-2009

28. CHAPTER ONE:Understanding Zero Tolerance Definition, Background, & Effect

29. IDEA Congress enacted the IDEA in 1975.12 In its findings, Congress noted that “millions of children with disabilities . . . [are] excluded entirely from the public school system and [do not go through the educational process] with their peers.” To redress this problem, the IDEA sought to “ensure that all children with disabilities have available to them a free appropriate public education that emphasizes special education and related services designed to meet their unique needs and prepare them for further education, employment and independent living.” 14 20 U.S.C. § 1400(d)(1)(A).

30. IDEA Supreme Court Decisions • Grove Sch. Dist. v. T.A., 129 U.S. 2484 (2009); • Winkelman v. Parma City Sch. Dist., 550 U.S. 516 (2007); • Arlington Cent. Sch. Dist. Bd. of Educ. v. Murphy, 548 U.S. 291 (2006); • Schaffer ex rel. Schaffer v. Weast, 546 U.S. 49 (2005); • Cedar Rapids Cmty. Sch. Dist. v. Garret F. , 526 U.S. 66 (1999); • Florence County Sch. Dist. v. Carter, 510 U.S. 7 (1993); • Zobrest v. Catalina Foothills Sch. Dist., 509 U.S. 1 (1993); • Honig v. Doe, 484 U.S. 305 (1988); • Sch. Comm. of Burlington v. Dep’t of Educ., 471 U.S. 359 (1985); • Irving Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Tatro, 468 U.S. 883 (1984); • Bd. of Educ. of Hendrick Hudson Cent. Sch. Dist. v. Rowley, 458 U.S. 176 (1982)

31. Honig v. Doe We think it clear, however, that Congress very much meant to strip school systems of the unilateral authority they had traditionally employed to exclude disabled students, particularly emotionally disturbed students, from school. In so doing, Congress did not leave school administrators powerless to deal with dangerous students; it did, however, deny school officials their former right to “self-help,” and directed that in the future the removal of disabled students could be accomplished only with the permission of the parents or, as a last resort, the courts.. at 323–24. Justice Brennan

32. The Case of Chris L.Morgan v. Chris L., 927 F. Supp. 267 (E.D. Tenn. 1994), aff ’d, 106 F.3d 401 (6th Cir. 1997), cert. denied, 520 U.S. 1271 (1997). • Middle School Student • ADHD • School’s Failure to work IEP • Juvenile Complaint Referral • Due Process Hearing • Litigation

33. Federal District Court The court relied in part on a Tennessee IDEA due process opinion that ordered a school system “to do everything it can” to dismiss a juvenile court petition.

34. U.S. Court of Appeals The court stated that, “pursuant to the IDEA’s procedural safeguards . . . the school system must adopt its own plan and institute an M-team meeting before initiating a juvenile court petition for this purpose.”

35. DEFINITION “A philosophy or policy that mandates the application of pre-determined consequences, most often severe and punitive in nature, that are intended to be applied regardless of the seriousness of behavior, mitigating circumstances, or situational context.” Skiba et al. 2006

36. HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT • 80’s War on Drugs • Later applied to combat pollution, trespassing, sexual trespassing, & sexual harrassment • Attributed to “Broken Windows” theory of crime (Kelling, George & Coles, 1997) • School Systems begin adopting in early 90’s • Suspensions nearly doubled from 1.7 million in 74 to 3.1 million in 01. • Assumes that removal of disruptive students deters others from similar conduct while enhancing classroom

37. Zero Tolerance=Zero Intelligence Adolescent Brain Research, School as a Protective Buffer, & Racial & Ethnic Disparity

38. SCHOOL CONNECTEDNESS • School connectedness is a strong protective factor against delinquency. US Surgeon General. (2001). Youth Violence: A Report of the Surgeon General. • School connectedness is linked to lower levels of substance abuse, violence, suicide attempts, pregnancy, & emotional distress. Journal of School Health 72 (4). • OSS of elementary & middle school students contributes to drop-out rates. Predictors of Suspension & Negative School Outcomes: A Longitudinal Investigation (2003)

39. EFFECTS OF ZERO TOLERANCE • Suspension rates have doubled • School Code violations result in court referrals • Increase in police on school campus • Increase in suspensions and referrals has significantly increased racial & ethnic disparities • Drop-out rates increase • Juvenile crime increases

40. CHAPTER TWO:SYSTEMS THEORY A Roadmap to Recovery, or It’s the Process; Not the Product

41. SYSTEM DEFINED a set of interacting components, acting interdependently and sharing a common boundary separating the set of components from its environment. Bozeman, B. Public Management and policy Analysis, St. Martin Press, Inc. New York (1979), 309.

42. SYSTEMS THEORY BOUNDARY INPUTS OUTPUTS SYSTEM

43. LINEAR PROGRAMMING MODEL those values of X, the variables that maximize the linear objective Z while simultaneously satisfying the imposed linear constraints and the non-negativity constraints. Bozeman, B. Public Management and policy Analysis, St. Martin Press, Inc. New York (1979), 309.

44. WHAT IS THE A JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM? • WHAT IF THE DESIRED OUTCOME IS DEPENDENT ON MULTIPLE SYSTEMS? • HOW ARE THOSE MULTIPLE SYSTEMS INTEGRATED TO MAXIMIZE THE DESIRED OUTCOME?

45. IT TAKES A COMMUNITY TO TARGET CRIMINOGENIC NEEDS • SOCIAL SERVICES • MENTAL HEALTH • COGNITIVE RESTRUCTURING • SCHOOL SYSTEM • MULTI-SYSTEMIC THERAPY • FUNCTIONAL FAMILY THERAPY • PROBATION/COURTS • COGNITION • PEERS • SCHOOL CONNECTEDNESS • FAMILY FUNCTION • SUBSTANCE ABUSE • WEAK PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS

46. MULTI-INTEGRATED SYSTEM THEORY INPUTS Education INPUTS INPUTS Law Enforcement Social Services OUTPUTS Mental Health INPUTS

47. CHAPTER THREE:The Protocol The Clayton County Case Study

48. Number of Referrals Figure 3. Line graph showing the increase in referrals after police placed on campus and the decrease after the protocol became effective in 2004.

49. OBJECTIVES OF PROTOCOL • Reduce misdemeanor school referrals to the juvenile court & keep kids in school; • Reduce probation caseloads that will increase supervision of high risk youth (the kids we are scared of); • Give police more time to build rapport with students to gather intelligence on crimes about to occur; • Increase safety in the school and the community; • Increase graduation rates.

50. SCHOOL OFFENSE PROTOCOL AGREEMENT • Focused Acts: Affray, DPS, DC, Obstruction • First Offense/Warning • Second Offense/Referral to Workshop • Third Offense/Complaint Filed School Offense Agreement Signed by all Police Chiefs, School Superintendent, Juvenile Judges, DFCS Director, and other partners on July 8, 2004