Date: 09/09/2015

Final
Colorado Juvenile Defenders Center Presentation

SCHOOL SAFETY AND YOUTH IN CRISIS

Votes: View--> Action Taken:
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10:54 AM -- Colorado Juvenile Defenders Center Presentation

The committee took a brief recess.


11:07 AM

The committee came back to order. Michele Clark, Executive Director of the Colorado Juvenile Defender Center (CJDC), began her presentation and distributed a handout (Attachment B). Ms. Clark spoke about CJDC's vision and mission, and discussed the struggle of keeping schools safe while dealing with student behavior in a dignified, therapeutic, and fair way instead of a punitive way. She spoke about threat assessment work, and the need to manage threats of school violence in a systematic way. She said that it is important to acknowledge the rarity of violent incidents and the need to examine incidents of targeted, school-based attacks while weighing them against the collateral consequences of trying to mitigate these incidents. She discussed the need to create a safe and safe-feeling environment for all students in a multi-faceted way. She spoke about risk assessments, and explained that almost every student who is from a broken home or has a disability would rank high on the risk assessment so it is critical to ensure that these students are not being funneled into the juvenile justice system. She discussed findings from the Safe School Initiative Final Report and provided examples of questions from a threat assessment questionnaire. She told the committee that it is important to be aware of the issues that can result from an over-reliance on threat assessment.

15SchoolSafety0909AttachB.pdf15SchoolSafety0909AttachB.pdf

11:22 AM

Ms. Clark stated that it is critical to examine the impacts that labeling students can have on behavior and stigmatization. She said that it is important to not label kids too early so that they have the ability to restore, rehabilitate, and reform who they are. Hannah Seigel Proff, staff attorney for CJDC, introduced herself and spoke about her background as a juvenile defense attorney. She discussed her work with students who were arrested in school and faced charges incurred from incidents that took place in school. Ms. Seigel Proff told a story about a student helped by CJDC and the collateral consequences he faced. She explained that a threat assessment is put in a student's permanent record and given to the judge if the case is prosecuted, and can also affect acceptance to college.


11:34 AM

Ms. Clark discussed the school to prison pipeline and the need to end zero tolerance policies. She stated that some of the recommendations that follow a threat assessment may run afoul of certain requirements relating to providing services to students with disabilities. She said the use of detention can have an impact on risk factors such as school failure, low commitment to school, aggression towards peers, increased drug use, and increased risky behavior. She talked about the protective factors that are removed when a child is placed in detention, and about the disproportionate amount of law enforcement contact with minority students and resulting referrals. Ms. Clark spoke about the need for a student to have one advocate as he or she navigates through multiple systems, and the need for confidential processes for information sharing.


11:46 AM

The representatives from CJDC answered questions from the committee members.