The Support Center for Child Advocates (Child Advocates) is the oldest pro bono legal services agency in the country dedicated solely to representing court-involved children and youth who have experienced abuse or neglect. Utilizing a whole child model of representation, Child Advocates teams a master’s level social worker with a volunteer attorney to address not only the child’s legal issues, but also the child’s well-being issues, such as safety, permanency, education, and physical and behavioral health.
This newly-created newsletter, “Draining the School-to-Prison Pipeline” grows out of Child Advocates’ Project YES! (YouthEducational Success), which strives to improve educational outcomes for children and youth. In 2017, Project YES! began a partnership with Temple’s Institute on Disabilities (Temple IOD), funded through a grant through the Pennsylvania Developmental Disabilities Council (PADDC). Our joint work explores and lays fundamental groundwork for youth and families, schools, system professionals, community partners, and advocates on how to disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline, and mitigate recidivism for youth returning to their school community from a congregate-care placement in the child welfare, juvenile justice, and/or behavioral health systems.
Recently, we concluded a series of interviews with youth, their families, and professional partners from schools, residential facilities, and the child welfare, juvenile justice, and behavioral health systems. Dozens of participants from across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania identified challenges to school reintegration and shared their best practices to support students returning from congregate placement. Their wisdom has been compiled in the forthcoming publication: “School Reintegration for Youth Returning from Residential Placements: Voices from the Field and Recommendations for Pennsylvania.”
As part of this partnership, we are also pleased to launch this monthly digest – a place to learn about the issue of community school reintegration, discover practical recommendations for supporting returning students, track relevant public policy and legislation, and meet some of the individuals and organizations doing this important work. In this inaugural issue, we introduce you to foundational concepts in the school-to-prison pipeline.
Click HERE to view the newsletter in full.