“Draining the School-to-Prison Pipeline” is a monthly publication addressing issues of community school reintegration, sharing practical recommendations to support returning students, tracking relevant public policy and legislation, and addressing racial and other inequities in Pennsylvania’s educational system.
This final edition of the Draining the School-to-Prison Pipeline publication highlights two new tools for dismantling the cyclical nature of the School-to-Prison pipeline by improving the process of student reintegration into community school following an institutional placement. Page 3 describes new Pennsylvania legislation that provides important new protections for returning students, and below is an introduction to a new publication on the subject: School Reintegration for Youth Returning from Residential Placement: Voices from the Field and Recommendations for Pennsylvania.
Disrupting the School-to-Prison Pipeline through School Reentry
Disrupting the School-to-Prison Pipeline through School Reentry Philadelphia’s Support Center for Child Advocates (Child Advocates) and the Institute on Disabilities at Temple University (Temple IOD) collaborated over a multi-year period, with support from the Pennsylvania Developmental Disabilities Council, to understand existing barriers and outline concrete strategies to better support youth returning to a community school after exiting a residential placement in the child welfare, juvenile justice, and/or behavioral health systems.
Child Advocates and Temple IOD conducted in-depth interviews with a range of professionals involved in the process of student reentry, including staff at public school districts, Intermediate Units, charter, congregate care facilities, systems-involved youth and their families, community-based providers, and advocates from across the Commonwealth. Interview subjects represented the juvenile justice, child welfare, and behavioral health systems, as well as a mix of urban, suburban, and rural areas throughout a number of Pennsylvania counties.
Combining insights from the in-depth interviews with identified best practices in the relevant literature, our team of multi-disciplinary professionals identified five systemic barriers to successful school reintegration and compiled recommendations to improve six crucial
areas when youth return to a community school. The team focused on strategies available to schools and system professionals at or after the time of a student’s discharge from a facility, and those that can be implemented with little or no cost.
To read the full report, access advocacy material, and learn about how you can support youth reintegrate back into their community school visit our website by clicking HERE.
Click HERE to view the final newsletter in full.