On November 15, 2007, the Florida Supreme Court issued a 170-page report entitled "Transforming Florida's Mental Health System: Constructing a Comprehensive and Competent Criminal Justice/Mental Health/Substance Abuse Treatment System" (see attached links to executive summary and full report). The report finds that the needs of persons in the justice system who have mental disorders are not currently met by Florida's social services systems, courts, jails and prisons.
Are their needs met by the education system? How can we be more proactive? What kind of funding and resources are necessary? Can we be part of the solution?
Yes, this is an educationally related blog. However, society dictates we take many different approaches on how we educate all children. This is why I found the report from the Florida Supreme Court interesting. My questions are in relation to how we as educators can help students avoid the juvenile justice system all together? I want our students to be successful in life, whatever success means to each student, and I know that jail and/or prison is not success.
There are many who believe it is our job to teach only academics and not worry about all of the societal issues we are faced with. Is that realistic? I don't think so. We are obligated by law to educate ALL children. Not only are we dealing with students who have mental disorders, we have students who are coming from homes with parents suffering from mental disorders.
Teachers and parents do you have experiences with these types of students? Do you have ideas and suggestions? Please share them here.
6 comments:
Not sure if this made it the first time.
I applaud your desire to address the need to educate all children. I will inject a little humorous adage to make a point. My mom always told me to chew what was in my mouth before I put more in it.
My point is that there are studies that indicate that the State has not met the needs of the gifted, the special education population and various 'non-normal' groups.
Educating students with mental health issues brings with it the same challenges as each of the other "non normal" groups. The biggest challenge in most all of these groups is their behavior.
In order to educate any one with behavioral challenges, we must have educators that are well trained to address behavioral issues as a teaching challenge instead of a control issue.
Right now, individual and family mental health counseling is a related service under IDEA. I would be very surprised if there are many students, outside of the special ed centers, that receive mental health services under IDEA other than a "consult" basis. I mean true counseling.
The ability to recognize behavioral issues as a manifestation of a disability is frequently a problem with untrained "regular ed" staff - and police. It the student is not "funny looking"; most people usually assume that the thought processes are normal too. These kids are labeled as lazy or defiant. The parents are seen as making excuses, because the parents don't know what the answer is, but they know what the answer isn't.
Talk with each of the ESE Supervisors in their respective categories about the challenges they have meeting the needs of their students. Read my blog posts on "Myths and Co-Optation" and "Why Not Use a Hammer and Chisel on a Stone Tablet" and "Do HCPS LEA Rep's know they have (and should take) Authority?" along with the three links towards the end of that one.
The school system can already address mental health issues to a greater degree using what should be available by what should be trained professionals.
I have copied a couple of paragraphs from the report below to support my statements.
"Promote workforce training programs and core curricula standards in the State University System of Florida, the community college system, private colleges and private universities, public schools, and the vocational education system to ensure that individuals pursuing careers in the mental health, substance abuse, behavioral health systems (particularly in the public health system), criminal justice, juvenile justice, and legal professions possess the knowledge and skills that are necessary to work effectively in various traditional and nontraditional behavioral health settings. pg 71-72
"Frequently, disruptive or delinquent behaviors in youths are the result or symptoms of undiagnosed and/or untreated mental health disorders. For some youth, contact with the juvenile justice system is often the first and only chance to receive help. All too frequently, however, the opportunity for effective early intervention is overlooked or neglected, and youth end up entering into a system that is ill-equipped to adequately respond to their treatment needs. Even after entering the juvenile justice system, roughly 50 percent of youth with SED remain undiagnosed. Those who are identified are often not adequately treated, contributing to deeper penetration into the juvenile justice system. p87
Does HCDS currently commit enough resources to meet these responsibilities?:
IDEA 2004 Rules And Regs:
(§ 300.34(c)
(8))(i) Parent counseling and training
means assisting parents in
understanding the special needs of their
child;
(ii) Providing parents with
information about child development;
and
(iii) Helping parents to acquire the
necessary skills that will allow them to
support the implementation of their
child’s IEP or IFSP.
.
(10) Psychological services includes—
(i) Administering psychological and
educational tests, and other assessment
procedures;
(ii) Interpreting assessment results;
(iii) Obtaining, integrating, and
interpreting information about child
behavior and conditions relating to
learning;
(iv) Consulting with other staff
members in planning school programs
to meet the special educational needs of
children as indicated by psychological
tests, interviews, direct observation, and
behavioral evaluations;
(v) Planning and managing a program
of psychological services, including
psychological counseling for children
and parents; and
(vi) Assisting in developing positive
behavioral intervention strategies.
I have had the opportunity to spend years in an adolescent mental health in-patient unit (as an employee :) ) and have been to many of the special ed centers within public school systems.
A striking phenomenon between the majority of the two different groups of inhabitants is their physical looks.
If a kid "looks different" or "anyone can see they have a disability", or has a "stereotypical appearance", educators are willing to recognize the need for at least some type of evaluation to validate ESE eligibility. Unfortunately all too frequently, the evaluation is used only for eligibility purposes, not for obtaining educational implications (other than a recommendation to consider ESE services) for the individual that happens to have a label. The label does not address an individual's disability. All deaf kids are not the same. All autistic kids are not the same.
On the other hand, especially with mental illness and "thought process disabilities", frequently the kid "looks normal". Getting evaluations for these kids is difficult. Especially when most educators only look at academics as an indicator of a disability. The other components that are overlooked are behavioral, social and emotional (BASE). IDEA 2004 clearly defines the responsibility of the LEA to address each and all of these areas if they impede the student’s access to their curriculum. All the more reason an adequate evaluation should be done.
Asperger's and bi-polar kids are frequently overlooked because they are "smart". Yet their behavior, from their disability, impedes their or their peers' ability to access their curriculum.
Because their behavior takes them out of the classroom.
The often heard statement is "we know the kid can do the work". Or "they are spoiled" or have poor parenting.
How many regular educators are trained to recognize behavioral issues as a symptom (manifestation)? How many regular educators escalate consequences thinking that it will eventually work? How many regular educators think that suspending the student will "finally make the parent do something"?
Behavioral issues are the first thing that gets attention. But if the reason for the behavior is not appropriately understood, District time and resources, just like jail and prison resources, are useless.
Mental illness or disabilities are not excuses. How many educators buy into dyslexia or dysgraphia?
What is the real waiting time in HCDS for a psychological assessment?
How many truly trained behavioral specialists are there in HCDS? And I don't mean someone who sat through a short in-service by KM. He can not teach in a short session what takes years to learn and comprehend. "Teaching appropriate behavior" is a far different concept than "behavior management". Understanding different types of reinforcement schedules and how to use them effectively takes time and frequent training. The process of habituating a non preferred behavior takes time but can be accomplished with the appropriate introduction of replacement behaviors. But it doesn't happen only in the resource room or in pull out sessions or suspensions.
I hope the people that answer your questions tell you the truth.
This may be of interest.
http://www.splcenter.org/images/dynamic/main/SpecialEducationLaw.pdf
"Stopping the Schoolhouse to
Jailhouse Pipeline by Enforcing
Federal Special Education Law"
While I realize it deals with an "isolated incident" in another state, I believe if you talk with the local juvenile justice system, you may find similar concerns.
Selective IDEA compliance to save money or "paper work compliance" as an end to itself by school systems all to often leave many kids at risk. It is far too easy and cost effective to allow behaviors to go unaddressed in school settings under the phrase "we must keep our kids safe".
The laws are already in effect for those who choose to comply with them and take professional responsibility.
This might be a stereotype, but I don't think so. My recent research shows that southern states in general and particularly Florida, tend to handle mental illness through a filter of stigma. This filter exists toward adults with mental illness; of course it reflects in the treatment of children in classrooms.
I am a person with a mental impairment; have been for most of my life. For many years I functioned "under the radar" until deliberate attempts were made to exacerbate my condition. This, by district officials and board members. If you haven't already, read the Whitehead case where a district administrator hid a student's IEP in her desk drawer during legal action from the parents.
I worked in this district for more than 20 years. During that time I never had any inservice training about mental health issues as pertains to day-to-day life. For example, I never learned how to avoid or diffuse aggravating episodes of students or adults with mental illness. I never received any information about the rights of students under IDEA, nor of employees under ADA; to my knowledge, there is no method in place for requesting ADA accommodations, or for following up on district handling of them. The compliance requirements of the state are very lax. I don't know whether the district reports directly to the federal government, or if the compliance reports sent to the state are then forwarded to the feds. Either way, most of the employees and students remain in ignorance because of no accountability or no information.
Last of all, I will say that while the research also confirms the existence of high levels of mental illness in the criminal justice system, the mere attachment of the services to that agency acts as a deterrent to me. Given a choice, I would never use a government facility. In my opinion, there are too many good mental health professionals, whose services are covered by many insurance plans, to resort to those services.
does drug abuse lead more to mental health instability or is it the other way round?
............................
jim dunn
Florida Drug Rehab
Florida Drug Rehab/
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