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and incarceration not only fails to prevent recidivism, but it increases the chances of recidivism .35 Advocates, officials, and the public at large must embrace new models for students at an earlier stage to effectively educate them and reduce their chances of becoming court involved .
Recently, the De Blasio administration created the NYC School Climate and Discipline Leadership Team .36 Among its tasks is to examine the appropriate programs and practices to create an improved school climate .37 These include forms of restorative justice, collaborative problem-solving, and—as this paper discusses—trauma-informed care .
Several other states and districts have begun to implement trauma-informed care into their schools with positive effects . There are several approaches to incorporating these programs into schools, but all are dependent upon increased awareness and education about the need for trauma-informed care . This conversation must begin in New York City: principals, advocates, lawyers, educators, social workers, teachers, counselors, psychologists, city officials, and mental health practitioners must form an interdisciplinary coalition and begin to discuss how we can reform our schools—particularly our troubled schools—to better address children’s needs .
Trauma andTrauma-Informed Care
Trauma is defined as a response to a stressful experience where a person’s ability to cope is dramatically undermined .38 It impacts children from a wide variety of backgrounds and manifests in varying degrees for different reasons . Traumatic events can include not only physical threats but also emotional maltreatment, neglect, abandonment, and devastating loss .39 Many more children are traumatized than educators and advocates realize . A 2011 U .S . Department of Justice-funded survey showed that more than 60 percent of youth (birth to age seventeen) in this country had been exposed to violence in the past year and that nearly 50 percent of children had been assaulted in that time frame .40
35 In Roper v. Simmons, 543 U. S. 551, 577 (2005), the Court recognized that, because of their lack of maturity and underdeveloped sense of responsibility, juveniles make “impetuous and ill-considered actions and decisions,” and are unlikely to consider the possible punishment before acting. See also Barry holman & Jason ziedenBerg, JusTice policy insTiTuTe, The dangers of deTenTion: The impacT of incarceraTing youTh in deTenTion and oTher secure faciliTies 5 (2006).
36 The impetus for school climate reforms was the result of a School-Justice Partnership Task Force under the leadership of the Hon. Judith S. Kaye, former Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals. The May 2013 Task Force Report recommended a Mayoral initiative and a series of programs. new york ciTy school JusTice parTnership Task force, keeping kids in schools and ouT of courT: reporT and recommendaTions (May 2013), available at https:// www.nycourts.gov/ip/justiceforchildren/PDF/NYC-School-JusticeTaskForceReportAndRecommendations.pdf. In February 2015, Mayor De Blasio created the New York School Climate and Discipline Leadership Team. It is a collaborative effort, composed of principals, parents, students, and union representatives, as well as representatives from the Department of Education, the NYPD, and various other governmental city agencies. The team is led by two co-chairs: the Senior Advisor to the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice Vincent Schiraldi and Department of Education Chief of Staff Ursulina Ramirez. The co-chairs report to several public officials directly as well as to the public. City Announces School Climate Reforms, nyc dep’T of educaTion (Feb. 23, 2015), http://schools.nyc.gov/ Offices/mediarelations/NewsandSpeeches/2014-2015/City+Announces+School+Climate+Reforms.htm.
37 Id.
38 susan f. cole eT al., helping TraumaTized children learn: supporTive school environmenTs for children TraumaTized By
family violence (2005) [hereinafter hTcl].
39 Id. at 18.
40 Allison Hyra and Jessica R. Kendall, Op-Ed: Translating the Science of Childhood Stress into Youth Service Practice, Juvenile JusTice: informaTion exchange (Apr. 29, 2015), http://jjie.org/translating-the-science-of-childhood-stress- into-youth-service-practice/108667/?utm_source=JJIE+Website+Updates&utm_campaign=46e6f576da-Weekly_ Newsletter_April_30_2015&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_a8f2f6272f-46e6f576da-129157253
Impact: Collected Essays on the Threat of Economic Inequality