JUVENILEJUVENILE FFIRESETTINGIRESETTING A Community Guide to Prevention & Intervention This book is dedicated to Jerry Bills, whose commitment, persistence, and stubbornness opened our eyes to the problem of juvenile firesetting and the critical importance of prevention.

© 2006 by Fireproof Children/Prevention First

2 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention JUVENILE FIRESETTING: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface ...... 4 Chapter 9 A Note About Language: Individual Educational Interventions ...... 71 Fireplay and Firesetting ...... 5 Chapter 10 Acknowledgements ...... 6 Classroom and Firehouse Education ...... 79 About the Authors ...... 7 About Fireproof Children/ Section 4: ...... 87 Prevention First Company ...... 8 The Mental Health Professional’s Role Foreword by Frank A. McGarry ...... 9 Chapter 11 Assessment Approaches and Tools ...... 88 Glossary of Terms ...... 10 Chapter 12 Cognitive/Behavioral Interventions ...... 94 Section 1: ...... 11 Understanding the Problem Section 5: ...... 99 Chapter 1 Juvenile Firesetting and the Community Children and Fire ...... 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 2 Involving the Community ...... 100 Why Children Play With Fire ...... 21 Chapter 14 Chapter 3 Building Effective Community Coalitions ...... 105 What Works? Keeping Children Safe from Fire ...... 26 Appendices Chapter 4 When Fire Involvement Means More ...... 35 A. About Our Statistics ...... 120 B. References ...... 122 Section 2: ...... 39 C. Products and Services Available from The Fire Service Role Fireproof Children/Prevention First ...... 127 Chapter 5 D. Internet Resources ...... 129 Effective Information Gathering ...... 40 E. Sample Program Agreement Chapter 6 (Fire Stoppers of King County) ...... 133 Interviewing: A Step-by-Step Guide ...... 46 F. Sample Community Partner Data Form Chapter 7 (Kansas State Fire Marshal) ...... 136 Essentials of Interviewing ...... 58 G. Recommended Funding Sources for Community Coalitions ...... 137 Section 3: ...... 66 H. Sample Waiver for Education Smoke Alarm Installation ...... 138 Chapter 8 I. Juvenile Firesetter Intervention Community Education ...... 67 Program Planning Exercise (Kansas State Fire Marshal) ...... 139

3 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention JUVENILE FIRESETTING: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention PREFACE

Who should use this book Section 3 addresses Education, including the chal- lenges of community-wide education, specific tech- This book is a guide to both prevention and inter- niques for individual interventions with children and vention for everyone concerned about the problem their parents, and how to bring fire safety education of juvenile firesetting and children’s fireplay (see ‘A into schools. It includes sample lesson plans. Note About Language’ on our use of these terms), how to prevent it, and how to respond appropri- Section 4 is about The Mental Health ately. It is meant for anyone working with children, Professional’s Role. This includes assessment including fire service and other community agencies approaches and some cognitive/ behavioral interven- and services, teachers and daycare providers, social tions appropriate for these professionals to use. workers, mental health professionals, and parents. Section 5 is Juvenile Firesetting and the Keep in mind that the techniques and methods Community, and it covers who should be involved described in this book can be applied to other in community coalitions as well as guidelines for hazards beyond fire. Important principles for par- building effective coalitions. This section includes ents, such as appropriate supervision and restrict- specific tips from successful coalitions throughout ing access to dangerous materials, will help keep the country. children safe from other unintentional injuries. Coalitions are an effective way to address and reduce Each chapter begins with the Key Concepts that a variety of issues affecting any community. will be covered in that chapter. At the end of each chapter is a summary of the key facts to remem- How this book is organized ber. Also at the end of many chapters, you will find bonus materials such as sample interviews, useful This book is divided into f ive sections: forms and documents.

Section 1, Understanding the Problem, provides information on the nature and extent of the juvenile firesetting problem, reasons for children’s fireplay, key skills in keeping children safe from fire, and the characteristics that can distinguish deliberate fireset- ting from fireplay.

Section 2 goes into the details of TThehe FFireire SServiceervice Role of information gathering, including inter- viewing techniques and a step-by-step guide to interviewing both children and parents. It includes sample interviews.

4 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention JUVENILE FIRESETTING: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention A NOTE ABOUT LANGUAGE

Use of the words “fireplay” As discussed in Chapter 1, our research has found and “firesetting” that more than half of children have played with fire by the time they are out of elementary school. Throughout this book we use the word fireplay and Because we define fireplay in this broad sense, the refer to children “playing” with fire. We recognize ages of the children described in this book may be that this term is controversial. Fireplay refers to the younger than the reader is accustomed to associating kind of action that results from exploration and with juvenile firesetting. If, for example, you work empowerment, but is a more readily used and com- primarily with children who have been referred to monly understood term. We have found that most you because of repeat firesetting, they are likely to be children think of what they are doing as play, and older. Again, it is important not to ignore the need refer to it that way: “I was just playing.” for prevention and education with younger chil- dren, whose fireplay, though without intention to do While the word “misuse” has been suggested to harm, can be devastating. replace fireplay, the word implies that there is an appropriate use of fire by children. In our workshops Firesetting vs. f iresetter and training materials we teach that children under We refer to “firesetting” in this book, but we do not the age of 11 should not be given responsibility for use the term “firesetter.” Firesetting is one behavior. fire use. We do not believe that a child should be character- ized as a firesetter because he may have set fires. We deliberately define fireplay in its broadest pos- sible sense. It includes both children who are engag- Gender ing in ongoing experimentation and children who To avoid cumbersome language, we use certain con- may have played with fire only once. As we will ventions throughout this book. Male pronouns (“he” explain, it is critical that communities not ignore and “him”) are used when referring to children who this second group. We have found that 9 out of 10 play with or start fires, since boys start more fires children who start a fire that is reported to the fire than girls by a wide margin (see Chapter 1). department never start another one (Kourofsky, Crandall and Cole, 2001). But because the conse- Parent quences of even unintentional fires are often very The word “parent” is used to describe any adult serious, our goal is to prevent that first fire. who provides primary care for children. Such adults may include single parents, step parents, guardians, grandparents, foster parents, relatives, and others.

5 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention JUVENILE FIRESETTING: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This book summarizes the knowledge gained from We would like to acknowledge the substantial more than 25 years of research by the Fireproof contributions of Ellie Stauffer, Vice-President Children team, and from the experiences of com- of Fireproof Children/Prevention First, and Jen munity coalitions and service providers with which Glanton, Director of Programs, who developed the we’ve had the opportunity to work while present- NASFM Coalition Building workshops and Skills ing the National Association of State Fire Marshals Building workshops. The objectives, content and (NASFM) Juvenile Firesetting Intervention work- materials they created for these workshops consti- shops across the country. tute the basis of much of this book. Their editorial contributions to the manuscript were also invaluable. We would especially like to thank Frank McGarry, former New York State Fire Administrator, for his A book like this one results from the combined past support of our work and for the development efforts of the entire team, and we appreciate the of this book. work of the Fireproof Children/Prevention First staff in making it possible. Special thanks to In writing this community guide we have drawn Hannah Comstock, who conceived of and took the upon the collective wisdom of coalitions nationwide. photographs that bring the text alive, and to Bernice We are especially grateful to those who responded Rayburn for taking on the formidable job of proof- to our requests for their review of the manuscript or reading. for specific tips and materials for use in these pages: We would also like to acknowledge the special Rich Barlette, New York State Fire Marshal’s Office contributions of Michele McDonald of Hamilton Greg Buelow, Cedar Rapids Fire Department Creative, who designed our cover and page layout. Tony Cortese, Northeast Parent and Child Society (Schenectady, NY) Joe Day, Joe B. Day & Associates Marion Doctor, The Children’s Hospital Denver Lisa Garvich, Fire Stoppers of King County (Washington) Deborah Johnson, Texas State Fire Marshal’s Office Sherri MacKay, Ph.D., Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (Toronto) Elena Nuss, Kansas State Fire Marshal’s Office Jimmy Parks, Arkansas Children’s Hospital Burn Center Cheryl Poage, Parker Fire Protection District (Colorado) Don Porth, SOS Fires: Youth Intervention Program and Portland Fire and Rescue Fred Rion, Monroe County (New York) Fire Bureau Rosie Williams, Kansas State Fire Marshal’s Office

6 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention JUVENILE FIRESETTING: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Robert Cole, Ph.D. is President of Fireproof Chapters 11 and 12, which were written for mental Children/Prevention First. As one of the nation’s health professionals, are drawn from material writ- leading experts in fire safety education, Bob is con- ten by: tinually requested as a trainer/speaker throughout North America regarding pre-school fire safety Daryl Sharp, Ph.D., R.N., N.P.P. is an Assistant education and community intervention for juve- Professor of Nursing at the University of Rochester. nile firesetting. He is a research psychologist and She is also a psychiatric nurse practitioner with Clinical Associate Professor at the University of more than 20 years of clinical experience in psychi- Rochester Medical Center School of Nursing. He atric/mental health nursing. Her research interests has been awarded two 3-year research grants from lie in the areas of health promotion/injury preven- the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to tion and facilitating motivation for health behavior study children’s unintentional injury. change.

Robert Crandall is Vice-President of Fireproof Susan W. Blaakman, M.S., R.N., N.P.P. is a Children/Prevention First. A retired, 30-year vet- board certified psychiatric nurse practitioner and eran of the fire service, Bob holds a B.A. in Fire crisis therapist for the city of Rochester and its Administration. As a line division company officer surrounding county. She is also an instructor and with the Rochester Fire Department, he helped clinical coordinator for the University of Rochester, develop and evaluate innovative community fire School of Nursing. Susan is an experienced educa- and life safety interventions, including the Adopt a tor and clinician working with Fireproof Children/ School Program. The Rochester Fire Department Prevention First on both child safety initiatives and named Bob Firefighter of the Year 2000 for his initiatives focused on injury prevention for older community-based prevention and education efforts adults. and career achievement. Elizabeth Cole, B.S., R.N. was a Fuld Scholar at Carolyn E. Kourofsky is a freelancefreelance writerwriter special-special- the University of Rochester School of Nursing and izing in health and safety. Her work has appeared in a research assistant at Fireproof Children Company. Young Children, Children and Families, Firehouse, Fire She currently works on the Burn/Trauma Unit at Chief, Post City Magazines, and other national pub- Children’s Hospital in Columbus, OH. lications. She wrote the children’s book Mikey Makes a Mess.

7 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention JUVENILE FIRESETTING: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention ABOUT FIREPROOF CHILDREN/PREVENTION FIRST

The Fireproof Children team began working of juvenile firesetting prevention and intervention together in 1982 in response to the need for com- workshops based on these findings, to help commu- munities to better understand children’s involvement nities across the country address juvenile firesetting with fire and how to teach safety to young children. through better understanding of the problem and Early research showed that the “children and fire” better coordination of existing services. We have issue is a complex problem requiring a comprehen- provided these NASFM workshops in more than 30 sive understanding of child development. states. With the City of Rochester, Fireproof Children received three grants from the New York State Fireproof Children developed the train-the-trainer Office of Fire Prevention and Control (NYSOFPC) program Prevention First: Fire Safety Education for to conduct in-depth studies of juvenile fireset- Pre-school Children and Families withwith supportsupport fromfrom ting. These studies led to publication of the an Assistance to Firefighters FEMA grant, to bring Fireproof Children Education Kit, the Firefighter’s effective fire safety education to states with high Complete Juvenile Firesetter Handbook, and the levels of fire-related deaths and injuries to young Juvenile Firesetting Video Guide to Intervention children. Prevention First Pre-school uses play safe! and Prevention. Working with the Rochester Fire be safe! and family activities developed by Fireproof Department’s juvenile firesetting program, we were Children/Prevention First, in English and Spanish. able to reduce recidivism in Rochester, New York by Following each workshop, the trainers—Head Start 74% over five years. and other pre-school program directors, lead teach- ers and health educators--return to their sites to In 1992 Fireproof Children Company began work- teach the program to their classroom teachers and ing with BIC Corporation and other child develop- distribute play safe! be safe! kitskits forfor eacheach classroom.classroom. ment specialists to create the award-winning play Teachers then implement the program in their safe! be safe!® classroomclassroom kit. SinceSince 1994, moremore thanthan classrooms. With the help of additional FEMA 80,000 play safe! be safe! kits have been distributed grants, we have brought this “train the trainer” pro- to classrooms around the world. BIC also selected gram to more than fifteen states and reached hun- Fireproof Children to present play safe! be safe! train-train- dreds of thousands of children and their families. ing workshops throughout the United States and In 2004, realizing that our research and train- Canada. ing principles were equally of value in addressing injury prevention in general, the company became In 1999, Fireproof Children received a grant from Fireproof Children/ Prevention First. Today our the National Association of State Fire Marshals mission is injury prevention through education, (NASFM) to review the current understanding research, training, global educational programs, and of the home factors contributing to juvenile fire- organizational partnerships. We provide research- setting, identify currently available social service based training and educational materials to fire resources needed to address this problem, and make departments, schools, day care centers, and commu- recommendations to NASFM and to the Office nity agencies. of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Program of the U.S. Department of Justice. Fireproof Children was later selected by NASFM to provide a series

8 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention JUVENILE FIRESETTING: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention FOREWORD

The previous edition of this book, the Firefighter’s expanded and updated. Lastly, this edition includes Complete Juvenile Firesetter Handbook, was pub- many new bonus materials including helpful forms lished in 1999. Since then, thousands of copies of and checklists for data collection, coalition planning this manual have been in use in fire departments and partnership agreements, and sample classroom across the nation, and thousands of communities lesson plans. have established Juvenile Firesetting Intervention Coalitions to assist in confronting the problems of Finally, one of the most significant aspects of this juvenile-set fires. second edition is its dedication. This volume is ded- icated to Fire Investigator Jerry Bills, recently retired The authors of this manual have been in the fore- from the Rochester, New York Fire Department. In front of establishing these community coalitions of dedicating this manual to Jerry, who devoted most firefighters, mental health and social service profes- of his career to working with children who were sionals, marshalling the skills of their respective involved with fire, the authors are not only honoring professions to address the juvenile fire problem. The Jerry, but the thousands of men and women across authors have conducted myriad workshops in more the nation who are equally dedicated to working than 30 states nationwide, sharing educational tools with our nation’s most precious resource — our chil- and sharpening the skills of the men and women dren. who care about our children. It was stated in a previous edition of the Handbook The collective experience of these dedicated profes- that “Firefighters care!” In the pastpast sevenseven years,years, thethe sionals, using the Handbook over the years in hun- Jerry Bills of the fire service, in joining the caring dreds of fire departments, has contributed greatly to professionals from the mental health and social the body of knowledge and understanding of how service arenas, have brought a wealth of knowledge, best to mitigate juvenile firesetting. Armed with this skills and concern to the effort to help our nation’s professional feedback, the authors decided it was youth. It continues to be a marvelous demonstration time to incorporate this wealth of knowledge and of the depth to which “Firefighters care,” andand a bril-bril- experience into a new edition. liant example to grateful communities.

This new edition represents the thoughtful reflec- Francis A. McGarry tions and experience of the professionals who have New York State Fire Administrator, (Ret.) used the earlier edition for the past seven years. This hands-on experience resulted in the additional chapters on building and sustaining community coalitions. These chapters summarize what has been learned through the presentation of the NASFM workshops and interaction with hundreds of com- munity coalition members. Also, the material on intervention, including new chapters specifically for mental health professionals, has been greatly

9 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention JUVENILE FIRESETTING: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention GLOSSARY OF TERMS

Common Acronyms Basic Terms Related To Fire

CDC Centers for Disease Control and Flammable Easily ignited, quick burning Prevention Combustible Capable of burning DHS Department of Homeland Security Arson The crime of intentionally E.D.I.T.H. Exit Drills In The Home setting a fire FEMA FFederalederal EmergEmergencyency ManagementManagement Flashover In a fire,fire, heat cancan buildbuild upup toto a Agency point where everything in a room NFPA NNationalational FFireire ProtectionProtection will burst into flame Association NASFM National Association of State Fire Marshals NFIRS National Fire Incident Reporting System ODP Office of Domestic Preparedness USFA United SStatestates FireFire AdministrationAdministration

Common Terms Associated With Fire Related Behaviors

The following terms are working definitions, and are defined with respect to the behavior of young children.

Curiosity Fire A term often used to refer to fire that is the result of experimentation (see Chapter 2 on the use of this term) Fireplay ChildrenChildren playingplaying withwith matchesmatches or lighters with no intent to inflict damage or harm (see ‘A Note About Language’) Firesetting SettingSetting firesfires with thethe intentintent of creating a disturbance or to inflict damage or harm

10 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention Section 1: Understanding the Problem

Fires started by children are a big problem. They cause enormous property damage, needless injuries, and deaths – most tragically, the deaths of young children. Communities use considerable resources responding to such fires. But there is much that can be done to prevent them.

11 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention CHAPTER Children and Fire

KEY CONCEPTS IN THIS CHAPTER • Fire is a major safety issue 1 • Children are at high risk from fire and burns • Children start a lot of fires • Characteristics of children who start fires • How, when and where child-started fires occur

The sources of our statistics are described in According to the National Fire Protection Appendix A. References are listed in Appendix B. Association (NFPA), a civilian is injured in a fire every 30 minutes, and dies in a fire every 135 min- Fire is a major safety issue utes. And 82% of all fire deaths occur in the place where people feel most safe: at home (Karter, 2005). Unintentional injuries are the leading cause of death in the United States for children, teens, and Most people don’t realize just how swift, frighten- young adults all the way up to age 44. See Figure 1, ing, and deadly a fire can be. The “This is Fire” Unintentional Injuries Ages 1-44. Fire and burns are description and “Fire Event Timeline” at the end of the 4th leading cause of these fatal unintentional this chapter help to make clear the dangers of fire. injuries (CDC, 2002). Underestimating Our Risk According to a 2004 NFPA survey, fire is the Unintentional Injuries Ages 1 - 44 disaster for which most people surveyed felt best prepared, perhaps because 96% of households report having a smoke alarm. (NFPA news release, October 3, 2004).

But in 1 in 5 of those homes, alarms are not work- ing, and only one-quarter of households have a plan for what to do when the smoke alarm goes off. Small communities, poor households and less edu- cated households have lower rates of smoke alarm Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, 2005 ownership.

Figure 1, Unintentional Injuries Ages 1-44

12 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention Children are at high risk from fire What makes us so vulnerable to fire? and burns 1. Most of us don’t test our smoke alarms often enough (once a month is recommended by A study by the Home Safety Council of uninten- NFPA). tional home injury deaths involving children found 2. Only 8% of people whose smoke alarms went that fire and burns were the leading cause of death off responded by assuming there was a fire for children aged 1 to 14 (Runyan & Casteel, 2004). and getting out immediately (OLS NNewsletter,ewsletter, See Figure 2, Unintentional Home Injury Deaths 1997). Involving Children. Arson Unintentional Home Injury Deaths While there is a persistent myth that arson is the Involving Children fastest growing crime in America, the evidence shows that arson is actually declining in thethe U.S.U.S. andand Canada.

The National Fire Protection Association, in ana- lyzing data on intentionally set fires from 1980 through 2003, has found that “by every measure, the rates of intentional fires or arson offenses, in struc- tures or in vehicles, relative to population, have been Home Safety Council, 2004 substantially downward since 1980.” Preliminary Figure 2, Unintentional Home Injury Deaths Involving Children. data for 2004 indicates this downward trend contin- ues, with arson down 6.8% nationwide from 2003 (FBI, 2004). Arson is growing in some other parts For children ages 3-5 years old, fire and burns of the world, including the United Kingdom and account for 18% of fatal unintentional injuries. See Japan (Hall, 2005b). Figure 3, Fatal Unintentional Injuries Children Ages 3-5. Despite this general downward trend, arson is the only category in which more juveniles (under age 18) than adults were arrested from 1994 to 2003. The overall ratio for property crimes for adults to Fatal Unintentional Injuries Children Ages 3-5 juveniles was 2 to 1. In 2003, 55% of those arrested for arson were 18 years old or younger. More than Drowning 30% were under age 15 (Hall, 2005b). The percent- Fire/Burn 18% 18% Suffocation age of arson arrestees under age 10 (3% in 2003) 5% is much higher than for any other crime the FBI 40% tracks. The only other offense where the 2003 per- Others centage of arrestees under age 10 was at least 1% was vandalism (1%) (Hall, 2005b). Motor Vehicle

Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, 2005 Note: the Uniform Crime Reporting Program defines arson as “any willing or malicious burning or attempt Figure 3, Fatal Unintentional Injuries Children Ages 3-5. to burn, with or without intent to defraud, a dwelling house, public building, motor vehicle or aircraft, personal property of another, etc.”

13 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention Children start a lot of fires Unreported firesetting

In addition to being particularly at risk from fire, These numbers represent only reported fires, that children are responsible for a surprising number of is, fires serious enough for the fire department to be fires. called. Research indicates that these may be just the visible tip of the iceberg of fire incidents involving Every day, 7 people are killed or injured in fires set children. See Figure 5, Unreported Firesetting. by children.1 And many of these victims are very young. Children playing with fire is the leading cause for fire deaths and fire injuries of children Unreported Firesetting under age 5 (Hall, 2005c). See Figure 4, Fire Related 80 Deaths, Children Under 5. 70 60

50

40 Fire Related Deaths 30 Percent of Children Children Under 5 20 10

0 Child Fire Play 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9101112 Intentional Grade in School Rochester Oregon Surrey 26% 24%

8% 12% 9% Electrical Figure 5, Unreported Firesetting Heating Equipment Open Flame Others

National Fire Protection Association, 2005 • In a survey of 771 children in Grades 1-8 con- ducted in Rochester, New York over 50% of Figure 4, Fire Related Deaths, Children Under 5 children reported having played with fire by the time they were out of elementary school (Grolnick et al, 1990). In 2002, the most recent year for which data is • In a similar survey of 5,416 students from available, children were responsible for an estimated 13 school districts in Portland, Oregon, 57% 13,900 reported structure fires resulting in 1,460 reported starting a fire without an adult by the deaths and injuries, and $339,000,000 in property 2 end of 6th grade. Forty-four percent of middle damage (Hall, 2005a). This does not include the school children reported having played with fire cost of responding to the fire, nor the loss of income, in the past year (Simonson(Simonson andand Bullis,Bullis, 2001). temporary housing, or out-of-pocket expenses necessitated by these fires. • A survey of 1,351 children in Surrey, British Columbia found that 88% of boys and 81% of girls in grades 1-12 had played with fire by the time they were in high school (Cotterall et al, 1999).

1Based on 5-year average data from NFIRS Version 4. 22002 data is from NFIRS Version 5.0 and includes structure fires only. For a discussion of how figures for structure fires, deaths, and injuries have been affected by changes in coding and data collection, see John Hall’s Children Playing With Fire, listed in the References.

14 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention Reported Incidents by Age

14% 12% 10% 8% 6% 4% 2% 0% 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1011 1213141516 Age of Child

Portland Rochester

Rochester, NY, 2001 – 2003; Portland, OR,1992 – 1996

Figure 6, Reported Incidents by Age, Portland and Rochester

Very young children start fires

While the popular perception of “juvenile fireset- ting” involves a troubled adolescent, in fact fires are set by children of all ages, some as young as 2 years old. See Figure 6, Reported Incidents by Age, Portland and Rochester.

More than half of the children who start fires are between the ages of 4 and 9. As children get older, the frequency of child-started fires gets smaller. This Who are these children? is not just the case in the United States. In New Zealand between 1999 and 2000, children under There is little national data specifically on children 10 years started 53% of reported child-started fires who start fires. The best source of information (Coleman, 2003). comes from communities which are keeping good records about child-started fires. Comparison of this As described in ‘A Note About Language,’ in this data shows very consistent findings across commu- book we are looking at all childrenchildren whowho havehave startedstarted nities. reported fires, whether they are engaging in ongoing experimentation or have set only one. Community After more than 25 years of research into children programs working with juveniles who have been and fires, we at Fireproof Children/Prevention referred due to repeat firesetting may be accustomed First know quite a lot about these children. First, to working with juveniles older than these statistics no single racial or ethnic group of children is more indicate. We reiterate that reaching these younger involved in fireplay or firesetting than any other (see children, even if they have apparently only played ‘A Note About Language’ concerning our use of the with fire once, is just as crucial to saving lives and word ‘fireplay’). Instead these children tend to reflect property. the racial and ethnic mix of their communities.

What else do we know?

15 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention Boys start most reported fires Children who start fires often come from divided families Data on child-started fires reported to fire service show that: Children who start fires come from all types of fam- • In Rochester, New York boys set 74% of these ilies, although there is a strong trend for these chil- fires. See Figure 7, Reported Fires by Gender. dren to come from divided families. Divided families are those where biological parents are separated, • In Portland, Oregon, the figure was 81% - 91% divorced, widowed or were never married. every year from 1990 to 2002, the most recent year for which data is available (Porth, 2003). • In Rochester, New York, 58% of the children who started fires lived in divided families, com- pared to only 36% of the children in the city as Reported Fires by Gender a whole (Cole, Crandall and Bills, 1999). • In Portland, Oregon in 2001-2002, 80% of the children reported to the fire department lived in

26% Girls divided families (Porth, 2003).

Boys 74% The incidence of fires set by children is related to household income.

Rochester Fire Department, 2001 – 2003 Children in families with below-average incomes Figure 7, Reported Fires by Gender tend to start more reported firesfires thanthan otherother children.children.

• In Rochester, the children who were reported to These findings are consistent with studies of other the fire department for fireplay were three times types of risk-taking behavior. Boys tend to take more likely to be on a reduced price or free- more risks than girls. This is evident in the number lunch program than those who were not (Cole, of unintentional deaths and injuries of all types to Crandall and Bills, 1999). boys and girls from all causes. Boys are 50% more likely to sustain an unintentional injury than are • In Portland, between 30% and 56% of the chil- girls (Glik and Greaves, 1993). dren reported to the fire department from 1990 to 2002 lived in families with incomes of less Interestingly, in Rochester we found that when boys than $20,000. Between 18% and 35% lived in play with matches and lighters, they are more likely a family with an income of less than $10,000 a to set something on fire. Girls who play with match- year (Porth, 2003). es and lighters do so without igniting anything. This too puts boys at greater risk. There are several reasons why poor children are more likely to be involved in reported fires. First, because of poor housing and the greater presence of fire hazards, their fireplay is more likely to actually start a serious fire (Glik and Greaves, 1993).

16 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention Second, because of the higher density of people R. Crandall: in multiple-family dwellings, a fire started by poor I recall a family where the parents were divorced. children may be more likely to be reported. If some- Mom had to be at work by 8 a.m., and she had to one smells smoke in an apartment, they call the fire leave her young son home alone in the morning. department. If someone smells smoke in a single- While waiting for the bus one day, he started play- family house, they often look for the fire and suc- ing with matches. A match dropped on the carpet ceed in putting it out. Consequently, a large number and ignited. He put the fire out by stepping on it. of fires started by suburban children may never get He was pretty sure it was completely out, but he got reported to the fire department. worried when he got to school. Finally, he gathered enough courage to tell the principal, who in turn Third, very poor families are more likely to be under called the fire department. It turned out there was acute stress and without the resources to effectively no fire. However, I took the time to talk to his mom respond. This stress leads to less than adequate about supervision and the proper storage of matches supervision. In several other studies, poverty has and lighters. been identified as the single most important factor related to unintentional injuries in children. In one When and where do these fires particular study, low income children were two-and- occur? a-half times more likely to die of injury than non- poor children and five times more likely to die in a Of structure fires started by children playing, 84% fire (Nersesian et al, 1985). occur in one- or two-family dwellings or apartments (Hall, 2005a). This emphasizes again the impor- How do children start fires? tance of preventing such fires: by far the highest percentage of fire-related deaths and injuries occur Matches and lighters are the primary ignition sourc- in residences. In 2001, 77% of fire deaths occurred es of child-started residential fires. See Figure 8, in residences (USFA, 2004b). Ignition Source Average 1999-2002. Nationally, they are responsible for 71% of child-started fires (Hall, About half of home fires are started in bedrooms. 2005a). As we will discuss in Chapter 2, keeping After the bedroom, most fires start in the living matches and lighters out of sight and reach of chil- room, den, or family room (Hall, 2005a). The first dren is key to reducing the number of fires started items ignited are most often bedding or mattresses, by children. followed by clothing and upholstered furniture (Hall, 2005a). See Figure 9, Items Burned, Structure Fires 1999-2002. Ignition Source Average 1999-2002 Items Burned Other Matches Structure Fires, 1999-2002 29% 29%

% 42 35%

30% 33% 25% 20% 15% 10% 11% Lighters 5% 6% 5% 5% 0% Mattress/ Clothing Furniture Trash Paper National Fire Protection Association, 2005 Bedding

Figure 8, Ignition Source Average 1999-2002 National Fire Protection Association, 2005

Figure 9, Items Burned, Structure Fires 1999-2002

17 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention In Rochester, New York and Portland, Oregon, local • In general, deliberate arson has been declining data found that most child-started fires occur during in the United States and Canada over the past the day or early evening (Cole, Crandall and Bills, 20 years. From 1994-2003, arson was the only 1999 and Porth, 2003). See Figure 10, Time of Day category in which more juveniles (under age 18) Children Start Fires. This corresponds with national than adults were arrested. data from 2002 indicating that fires caused by chil- • Every day, 7 people are killed or injured in fires dren playing were at their highest around noon, set by children. 3:00p.m., and during the early evening (USFA, 2004a). • Children playing with fire is the leading cause of fire deaths and injuries for children under age 10. Time of Day Children Start Fires • In 2002, the most recent year for which data is available, children were responsible for an esti- mated 13,900 reported structure fires resulting 50%

40% in 1,460 deaths and injuries, and $339,000,000 41% 30% in property damage. 20% 27%

17% 10% 12% 2% 1% • Most children who start fires are between the 0% 12:00am - 4:00am - 8:00am - 12:00pm 4:00pm - 8:00pm - 4:00am 8:00am 12:00pm - 4:00pm 8:00pm 12:00am ages of 4 and 9.

• Boys start most reported fires.

Rochester Fire Department Data • Children who start reported fires tend to come Figure 10, Time of Day Children Start Fires from divided, low-income families

• Matches and lighters are used most often by children to start fires.

• About half of child-started fires are started in J. Bills: bedrooms, most during the day and early If I’m sitting in my office late in the afternoon and evening. I hear the dispatcher call for a closet or bedroom fire, I just look at my partner and say, “Let’s go.” Sure enough, when we arrive at the scene, I’ll usually find a parent sitting on the porch with a crying THIS IS FIRE! child. And I already know what happened. Children and Fire FAST Summary of Key Points • Plan and practice your exits—you do not have time to figure a way out! • Unintentional injuries are the leading causecause of death in the United States for children, teens, • Be prepared and act immediately. and young adults. • You have no time to look for things to take. Get • Fire and burns are the 4th leading cause of these everyone up and out! fatal unintentional injuries. • Call the fire department from a neighbor’s house.

18 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention • Do not stop to look for pets—or go back inside. Fire Event Time Line*

• Go to your prearranged meeting place and tell Six-year-old Zack comes home from school. His firefighters about pets when they arrive. Help mother, Marge, greets him in the kitchen with a them locate the fire and get pets to safety by peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a glass of providing information. milk—his favorite snack. As Zack tells his mother about his day, she puts a pot roast into the oven to DARK slow cook for dinner. Marge then goes upstairs to sort clothes. Zack heads to the living room where • There is a lot of thick, heavy, and black the family dog usually naps. In the living room he smoke—fire smoke is not white. finds a book of matches that has been left out on the coffee table. • You will not be able to see, and can easily become disoriented. So memorize your exit plan Remembering how his mother lit a candle at din- and practice, practice, practice! ner the night before, Zack picks up the matches. He ignites one and watches it burn for a few moments • Fire is pitch black. before shaking it out. Pleased with his mastery, Zack lights a second match. Suddenly, it flares up and DANGER from SMOKE and GASES stings Zack’s finger. He shakes his hand. The match drops onto a sofa cushion and a burn spot immedi- • Fire feeds on the oxygen you need to breathe! ately appears.

• Even small fires produce smoke and poisonous Scared he will be scolded for the burn mark, Zack gases that are acrid, toxic and hot. quickly leaves the living room, the dog trailing at his • You must get under the smoke layer where the heels. Zack is careful to close the pocket doors to air is cleaner and cooler. the living room to hide the burnt cushion. He and the dog run outside to hide in the backyard. • Breathing even a small amount of smoke and gases can be deadly. (0.00) A small flame is visible on the cushion.

(0:34) In another 34 seconds: The entire sofa cush- HOT ion is burning. Smoke is filling the living room. • Heat from a fire can reach over 1,000 F degrees (1:05) One minute and 35 seconds after ignition: in just a few minutes. Temperature in the area around the sofa exceeds 190 • 1,000 F degrees is 5 times hotter than boiling degrees F. The smoke layer descends rapidly from water. the ceiling.

• Heat is more dangerous than flames—it can (1:20) One minute and 50 seconds after ignition: burn your lungs and prevent you from The smoke alarm in the downstairs hallway goes breathing. off. Marge, not seeing or smelling smoke, finishes folding Zack’s last two tee-shirts before leaving the bedroom.

19 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention (2:00) 40 seconds after the smoke alarm sounds: Resource: Speed of a fire, based upon a fire recorded by Marge finally smells smoke. Temperature above the City of Phoenix Fire Service. the sofa is now over 400 degrees F. Panic-stricken, Marge is unable to organize her thoughts . She runs *Every situation may vary. There is the possibility down the stairs and into the front hall, calling for that the whole room can explode within 2 1⁄2 min- Zack. She pulls open the pocket doors. utes from the first flame. You need to be prepared for this. Lt. Robert Crandall, Fireproof Children/ (2:18) Smoke pours into other rooms in the house. Prevention First

(2:33) Another 15 seconds pass: No one can survive in the living room now, where the temperature is over 500 degrees F. Unable to breathe standing up, Marge crawls down the hallway, completely disori- ented.

(2:50) One minute and 30 seconds after the smoke alarm sounds: Smoke fills the upstairs hallway from floor to ceiling. If Marge were still upstairs, escape from the second story would be very difficult.

(3:11) 21 more seconds pass: A surge of energy called a ‘flashover’ ignites everything in the living room. The temperature is now 1400 degrees F. In the hallway, Marge is fighting for her life.

(3:20) 9 more seconds go by: The front of the house’s first floor is engulfed in flames, blocking the front door. Marge crawls toward the sound of people screaming outside the back door. Neighbors drag her from the house.

Zack, who has been hiding in the backyard all this time, is reunited with his mother.

(4:00) 2 minutes and 43 seconds after the smoke alarm sounds: Flames are visible from the house’s exterior. If anyone were still inside, rescue might not be possible.

20 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention Why Children CHAPTER Play With Fire

KEY CONCEPTS IN THIS CHAPTER • Children’s perception of fire: fun, familiar, and fragile2 • What pre-school children understand about fire • What elementary school children understand about fire • “Curiosity fires” are not about exploring the unknown but about empowerment

Children who play with matches or lighters, and development. It is usually encouraged by parents start fires, do so for a variety of reasons. Most chil- and other adults. But it is important for adults to dren who play with fire never intend to cause dam- understand how children’s perception of fire puts age, or hurt anyone. Other children do, and we will them at risk. discuss these children in Chapter 4. Note: Please see ‘A Note About Language’ at the front of this book for a discussion of why we use the terms “fireplay” and “playing with fire.”

In research conducted in Rochester, New York from 1985 to 1993, we found that 9 out of 10 children who started a fire that was reported to the fire department never started another one (Kourofsky, Crandall and Cole, 2001). Once they see the con- sequences of their actions, the vast majority of chil- dren don’t do it again. But because the consequences of even unintentional fires are often very serious, our goal is to prevent that first fire.

As discussed in Chapter 1, our research found that more than half of children have played with fire by Children’s perception of fire the time they are out of elementary school. As far back as 1980, we noticed that most fires started by Human beings create their own understanding of children in our community were the result of exper- the world. Children’s perception of fire is based not imentation. Exploring the world, using many types on what adults tell them, but on their own experi- of experimentation, is a normal part of all children’s ence. And their experience of fire is usually positive.

21 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention What pre-school children understand about fire

Pre-school children, many kindergartners, and even some first graders focus on only one feature of an object at a time. A single match is small. A house fire is large. How one becomes the other is a mys- tery. Even if we show them how it happens, they really don’t understand.

Psychologists test children’s understanding of how one object transforms into another with simple tests. To demonstrate the mentality of young children, the eminent child development psychologist Piaget created a dramatic test that involves two glasses of water. One glass is short and wide, the other tall and thin. Each is capable of holding the same amount of water. Pre-school children generally think there Fire is a familiar part of our culture. We have can- is more water in the tall glass than in the short glass dles on our birthday cakes and on our dinner tables (Piaget, 1969). during holiday meals. Candles are a part of many religious ceremonies. We have fires in our fireplaces Even when they actually see the water poured from in winter and campfires and barbecues in the sum- one glass to the other, they can’t explain what hap- mer. Even the language of fire is compelling. When pens to the “extra” water. things get exciting, they get “hot”; when we get excited we “burn” with desire. Pre-school children have only a limited understand- ing of cause and effect. And those that do have Fire is fun to watch. It is colorful and dynamic. some notion of what it is all about are easily con- Its movement is gentle and soothing. Fire is also fused by too much or distracting information. This powerful. With a single match we can burn papers, is crucial, because until a child can understand more boxes or trash. With a magnifying glass and the complex cause and effect, he can’t recognize unsafe heat of the sun, we can burn holes in papers and fry conditions or figure out how to correct or avoid insects on the sidewalk. It is not surprising that fire them (Coppens, 1986). captures our interest. From a child’s point of view, fire seems the perfect toy: colorful, animated, and Many parents overestimate their children’s level of responsive. understanding. They often confuse their children’s language ability with a real understanding of cause Fire seems fragile. Most fires children see are and effect. Many three- and four-year old chil- small—candles, matches, lighters. They are easily dren have remarkable language skills. Since parents extinguished with a puff of breath. Any child who overestimate their children’s ability to understand, watches an adult struggle to light the barbecue with they focus on teaching these young children safety old charcoal or start a campfire with damp wood can principles long before the children can benefit easily conclude that fire is hard to get started and from them, rather than simply eliminating hazards easy to put out. and closely supervising the children (Gärling and Gärling, 1995).

22 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention What elementary school children Parents are often fooled by children of this age too. understand about fire Elementary school children are very good at follow- ing directions. If they are shown how to do some- Most elementary school children have a better thing, most often they can perform even a complex appreciation of the power of small flames, but it is chore correctly time and again—as long as the pat- limited. In our survey of elementary school children tern remains the same. What they are not good at ages 6-14, we asked what one match could burn up. is anticipating what might go wrong and how to All of the children understood that one match could respond if something does. So even if they can cook, burn up a piece of paper. But when asked about toys, and do so regularly, they need close supervision. If furniture and houses, the younger children were not the grease catches on fire or a napkin falls across a so sure. burner, it is only by chance that they will respond quickly and appropriately. When asked if a match could burn up a house, less than half of the six-year-olds believed that this Think about hiring a babysitter for your own chil- could happen and only three out of five children dren. Most people want a sitter who is older than between the ages of 7 and 11 believed it could. elementary school age. They understand, intuitively, that one of the key responsibilities of a babysitter is Sometimes even adults don’t realize the power and to keep their children safe in an emergency – that is, danger of fire: to be able to respond if something unexpected hap- pens. The Babysitting Training Courses sanctioned R. Crandall: by the American Red Cross and the National Safety Once we were interviewing a child who had set a Council are designed for 11-to-15-year-olds, setting fire, with his mother and brother in the next room a national standard concerning the age of responsi- with the door open. We had given the brother some bility. learning games, including one that asked “how many matches would it take” to burn up vari- Curiosity vs. control ous household items, such as a book, bed, or house. Through the door we could hear the brother specu- Fires started by children who do not mean to set late that a person could burn up the bed with one anything on fire or cause harm are often referred match. And just as clearly we heard his mother to as “curiosity fires.” This name can be mislead- correct him: “I don’t think so. You’re going to need ing because it suggests that children set fires out of some gasoline, too!” curiosity about something unfamiliar and that fire- play can be prevented by giving children experience Elementary school children understand the trans- with fire. The fact is, fire is already very familiar. As formations that fire can make and they understand described above, it is part of everyday life. Playing cause and effect. They think they know how to with fire is not an exploration of the unknown. The use ignition materials and how to control a fire. true motivation is empowerment. But children at this age can’t anticipate events they haven’t experienced. If something unexpected hap- It’s Not About Curiosity pens, they are unprepared. Some adults assume that if they teach children “how to handle” fire, this will satisfy children’s “curiosity” At this age, most children have no real fear of fire. about fire and prevent them from playing with fire And every time a child takes a risk (even if he when adults are not present. Unfortunately, noth- doesn’t perceive it as a risk), and experiences no con- ing could be further from the truth. sequences, the chance increases that he will take that risk again (Peterson et al, 1995).

23 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention When we let children use fire, we’re showing we to have played with fire as those who did not have trust them with it. They are empowered and feel a that feeling of control. See Figure 11, Control and sense of control. They will assume they can handle it Firesetting, Ages 6-11. For 8 and 9 year olds, those just as well when adults are not present. But unlike who felt a sense of control played with fire five times adults, children are not able to envision a possible more than those who did not have a sense of control! chain of events leading from a single, apparently harmless flame to a raging fire. Control and Firesetting

Excerpted from “Do We Really Understand Curiosity Ages 6-11 Fires?” Firehouse Magazine, October 2002 50%

40% Children who play with fire have an unrealistic sense of control. We asked children if they felt they 30% could put out a small fire. Only the youngest chil- Fireplay 20% dren were unsure of themselves (Cole, Crandall and 10%

Bills, 1999). 0% No Control Feels Control

• Almost two of three 7-year-olds felt they could Rochester Central School District Survey put out a small fire. Figure 11, Control and Firesetting, Ages 6-11 • By age 10, more than 80% felt confident they could extinguish a small blaze.

The average child in our survey in the Rochester On average, children with an unrealistic sense of City School District was exposed to seven activities control have: at home involving fire, and had supervised experi- ence with nearly four. See Figure 12, Exposure and • More exposure to household activities involving Firesetting, Ages 6-14. The greater their exposure to fire, such as smoking. fire, the more likely children are to play with fire. • More supervised experience with fire, such as Furthermore, the average child had responsibility for building campfires. between one and two fire-related activities – most • More responsibilities for chores involving fire, often cooking. We found that the more responsibil- such as cooking. ity children carried, the more unrealistic their sense • Greater access to matches and lighters.

Exposure and Firesetting Children who feel a sense of control over fire, and are more confident in their ability to extinguish a Ages 6-14 small fire, are also more likely to engage in fireplay. 50%

This is completely consistent with studies of injuries 40% and risk taking. In general, children who overesti- 30% mate their physical abilities are more likely to take 20% risks leading to injury (Plumert, 1995). Percent Who Play 10%

0% There is a dramatic difference between children who Low Exposure High Exposure felt they had control (could put out a small fire) Rochester Central School District Survey, Grolnick and those who did not feel control (could not put out a small fire). From age 6 to 11, those who felt a Figure 12, Exposure and Firesetting, Ages 6-14 sense of control were more than three times as likely

24 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention of control. and the greater their likelihood of play- Why Children Play With Fire ing with fire (Cole, Crandall and Bills, 1999). See Summary of Key Points Figure 13, Responsibility and Firesetting, Ages 6-14. • 9 out of 10 children who start a fire that is reported to the fire department never start Responsibility and Firesetting another one. Once they see the consequences of

Ages 6-14 their actions, the vast majority of children don’t do it again. 50% 40% • Parents often give children too much responsi- 30% bility for activities involving fire, giving them a 20% sense of confidence and control over fire.

Percent Who Play 10% • Pre-school children may understand simple 0% No Responsibilities One or More cause and effect, e.g. a match can burn you. Responsibilities

Rochester Central School District Survey, Grolnick They can’t understand a longer sequence of events that allows a single match to burn down Figure 13, Responsibility and Firesetting, Ages 6-14 a whole house.

• Elementary school children understand the Other factors transformations that fire can make and they understand cause and effect. But they can’t be Other important factors related to children’s fireplay expected to anticipate problems or act appropri- include access to ignition materials, parents’ attitude ately in an emergency. toward fire, supervision, and lack of recognition of fire hazards. All of these home and family factors • Playing with fire is not an exploration of the are within our control. To keep children safe, we unknown. The true motivation for “curiosity must change family behavior, educate parents and fires” is not exploration of something unfamiliar, children, and make matches and lighters less acces- but empowerment. sible to children. We will discuss how to do this in • Children who play with fire have an unrealistic Chapter 3. sense of control, i.e. that they could put out a small fire.

• Children with an unrealistic sense of con- trol have more exposure to household activi- ties involving fire, such as smoking, and more responsibilities for chores involving fire, such as cooking.

25 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention CHAPTER What Works? Keeping Children Safe From Fire

KEY CONCEPTS IN THIS CHAPTER • What parents can do to help keep themselves and3 their children safer from fire • Basic fire safety rules and skills that even young children can learn • What families should know about smoke alarms and exit plans

Fire’s fascination and familiarity in our lives, and practice firesetting skills build children’s confidence children’s lack of understanding of what fire can do, and sense of control. combine to put all children at risk for playing with fire. But there is also much we can do to prevent Again, children learn not from what they’re told their engaging with fire and to protect them in the but from what they experience. Despite a parent’s event of a fire. admonition to do this only when a parent is pres- ent, the child reasons: “Mom and Dad taught me What parents can do to do this, and trust me to do it, so it’s okay to do it even if they don’t happen to be here. What’s the Model appropriate concern about fire difference?” Parents often unknowingly increase children’s likeli- hood of playing with fire by communicating a lack Provide good supervision of concern about fire. In our survey we found that In Rochester, New York, we found that nearly children who play with matches and lighters believe two in five children were entirely unsupervised at their parents would not punish them for it. the time of the fire. Our experience is not unique. Inappropriate supervision is one of the major con- We don’t know what these parents would really do tributors to unintentional injuries of all types. if they found their children playing with fire. We do know that their children don’t worry about it. Proper supervision is a true challenge for parents. Our rules and expectations must change from Perhaps some parents really don’t care whether their situation to situation and from year to year as our children play with matches and lighters. It is more children grow. They must be restrictive enough to likely, however, that they use fire frequently and protect our children, yet not so limiting that they even give their children responsibilities for chores inhibit our children’s exploration and experimenta- involving fire – cooking, tending a fire, lighting a tion and undermine their self-confidence. cigarette, burning trash. These opportunities to In one interesting study, parents, social service

26 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention workers, and medical personnel could not agree Parents also had trouble recognizing a hazard unless about when and for how long children should be left the child was in the same room as the dangerous unsupervised (Peterson et al, 1993). No one group object. If a child plays quietly in the living room and was any more cautious than any other, but within a lighter is out on the kitchen counter, parents feel each group there was considerable disagreement. In safe. Unfortunately, in the few minutes that most situations where some people would leave children parents feel comfortable leaving their pre-school unsupervised for an hour or more, others would not children, it’s easy for the child to wander into the leave them alone at all. kitchen, pick up the lighter, and find himself in trouble. This lack of recognition relates directly to another important thing parents can do to keep their children safe:

Limit access to ignition materials Access to matches and lighters is common in most households. Parents are very casual about storage. Wanting to have these materials available, many adults keep them quite accessible. They may leave them out on coffee tables, night stands, or kitchen counters. Even if they’re out of sight, they’re not typically out of reach—in a silverware drawer, for example. Children observe where these items are There was one area where there did seem to be kept, and can get to them easily. agreement. Most felt that even young children, ages three and four, could be left alone for a short time We found that: in their own living rooms and bedrooms. While this • In the Rochester City School District, 60% of belief is understandable, these are precisely the loca- children who reported having played with fire tions of most of the fires started by children (Hall, also reported having ready access to ignition 2005a). materials (Grolnick, 1990). See Figure 14, Access to Ignition Materials and Firesetting, Ages 6-14. Just as with children’s understanding of cause and effect, parents can be fooled by a child’s compliant temperament into thinking they can leave the child Access to Ignition Materials and alone for longer periods. A University of Rochester Firesetting study found that mothers of 3-year-olds were more Ages 6-14 willing to leave self-controlled children alone for longer periods of time. But children who were less 60% 50% supervised were at higher riskrisk forfor injury,injury, whetherwhether 40% or not they were compliant with rules (Cole et al, 30% 2005b). 20% Percent Who Play 10% Recognize hazards 0% No Access Ready Access

In another study, parents were asked to keep a diary Rochester Central School District Survey, Grolnick of all anticipated and actual injuries that occurred (Gärling and Gärling, 1995). It turned out that Figure 14, Access to Ignition Materials and Firesetting, Ages 6-14 parents anticipated fewer than three of five of the actual injuries.

27 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention • In a survey in British Columbia, 95% of chil- J. Bills: dren who reported extensive fire histories could A parent asked me to talk to her child because he “get matches or lighters if they wanted to,” com- was playing with matches. When I asked the child pared to only 18% of those with no fire experi- where he found the matches, he told me in the ence (Cotterall et al, 1999). drawer in the kitchen. I asked him to show me where he found them, and sure enough, they were still there – even after a fire! After 35 years in the In two thirds of the cases reported to the Rochester fire service, it still amazes me. Parents just don’t Fire Department, investigators noted that matches think. They wouldn’t leave a loaded gun on top of and lighters were “...always available” to the chil- a dresser, but they don’t think twice about leaving dren–even after a fire (Cole, Crandall and Bills, matches there. 1999). Whether the adults are smokers or not, child-resis- J. Bills: tant lighters are a good idea for most households. Most of the time, I walk into a house and find They should be kept out of sight and reach like any matches and lighters easily accessible. Children are other lighter. Some children will figure out how naturally curious, and when they find matches left to get around the resistant mechanism. But it will out, it’s very tempting. No one is around, and before take time, and that time gives parents the chance to they know it, a fire “just happens.” A match drops notice what is happening. Consider child-resistant into a pile of clothing and starts a fire that spreads. lighters an aid to supervision, not a substitute for it.

Children who live with adults who smoke are more Have clear rules likely to have played with fire (Grolnick, 1990). See Figure 15, Adult Smoking and Child Firesetting, Ages Parents frequently report simply that they told their 6-14. This may be related to both greater exposure children not to play with matches and lighters, and to fire-related activities, and to access to ignition that they could get hurt. Such little emphasis on fire materials. Smoking was the cause of 18% of fatal safety, combined with frequent use of fire at home fires in 2002, the most recent year for which data is and the occasional assignment of tasks to children, available, second only to incendiary/suspicious fires will leave children trusting their own experience. (USFA, 2005). When asked about rules concerning fire in their homes, kids often say: “I don’t know. We don’t have any rules.” Adult Smoking and Child Firesetting Even when parents place adequate emphasis on Ages 6-14 safety, they can undermine it through an approach

50% based on threats or warnings such as “don’t touch

40% that,” or “if I told you once, I told you a hundred times...” Children may indeed hear this threat a 30% hundred times, but never experience any other con- 20% sequences to their fire use. Percent Who Play 10%

0% Adults Do Not Smoke Adults Smoke What do children learn from these empty threats?

Rochester Central School District Survey, Grolnick They learn not to get caught! This may very well explain why so many children start fires in closets Figure 15, Adult Smoking and Child Firesetting, Ages 6-14 and bedrooms. They know Mom and Dad won’t like it, so they hide.

28 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention A more effective approach is to establish and teach firmer hand.” For children with poor self-control, children clear safety rules, and reinforce good behav- a more controlling approach has been found to ior when it occurs. decrease the child’s compliance (Cole, Arcoleo et al, 2005). What Children Can Learn The advantages of a skill-based approach Even very young children can learn basic fire safety It’s more effective to tell children what we do want rules and skills. The key is to use appropriate lessons them to do. This skill-based approach includes prac- and present them effectively. ticing the skill and getting positive reinforcement.

Pitfalls of traditional fire safety approach For example, an important safety message is: Too often, fire safety “education” involves an adult “Matches and lighters are adult tools only. Tell a warning or scolding a child: “Stay away from that.” grown-up if you see these tools left lying around.” “Don’t touch that.” This tells children what to do, that is, not just “don’t pick up matches,” but “go tell a grown-up.” A child Most parents have noticed that young children don’t finds matches, comes and tells a grown-up, and the process the words “not” or “don’t” very well! Why do adult reinforces the behavior by praising the child, they seem to ignore these warnings? In part, because thus shaping future behavior. This positive approach they contain little or no real information, and are is much more effective than punishment. not consistent with the child’s own experience of fire (as described in Chapter 2). In a 3- or 4-year-old’s Effective fire safety education for children: mind, the messages often get translated into: “Boy, • Is age-appropriate. It takes into account chil- she’s mad!” “What’s the big deal?” “Better not get dren’s ability to understand cause and effect, and Dad upset.” Sometimes young children treat warn- does not attempt to teach everything anyone ings as a game, and will actually try out the behavior should know about fire safety all at once. to see if parents “catch” them. It’s not surprising that 53% of child-started fires reported to fire depart- • Recognizes that the best insurance for safe chil- ments occur in the bedroom, and another 5% in dren combines fire safety skills with a safe home closets (Hall, 2005a) – if Mom and Dad can’t see environment and good supervision. them, they won’t be upset! • Is designed to change behavior, not just inform. When we think about it, it’s not surprising that children don’t respond well to threats and warnings. The play safe! be safe!® model Adults don’t either! Think of all the risk-taking In 1992, Fireproof Children Company began work- actions adults continue to take despite many warn- ing with BIC Corporation and other child develop- ings about well-documented risk: smoking, driv- ment specialists to create the award-winning play ing without a seat belt, not having a smoke alarm. safe! be safe! classroom kit. We identified and devel- Reactions to dire warnings range from denial (“I’m oped four skills that 3- to 5-year-olds can under- different, that won’t happen to me”) to a sense of stand and remember to help protect them in a fire helplessness (“It’s hopeless anyway, I don’t want to and prevent child-started fires. These skills are best deal with it”) to defiance (“I’ll do what I want”). learned through practice and repetition.

Positive discipline that provides gentle guidance In working with children on these skills, help them (such as suggestions and explanations) works better to think a little about how the environment may than controlling or power-based discipline (verbal be different when there is a fire. Ask kids what do commands, threats, punishment and physical restric- they think might be going on if there is a fire. For tions) even with children who may seem to “need a

29 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention example, smoke makes it hard to see. There may be Language is important. Use the phrase: “If the fire noise, the smoke alarm might be sounding. While gets on your clothes,” not “if you catch on fire.” discussing these changes, it’s important not to scare You want to avoid frightening children or creating them. Don’t create such a realistic environment that anxiety that can interfere with their attention and they are too afraid, or over-stimulated, to be able to practice. concentrate on learning the skills. Some fire safety educators and firefighters are Skill #1: Crawl Low Under Smoke against having children cover their faces. They’re concerned that children will bring a burning cuff or Smoke and toxic gases can cause more harm than sleeve close to their faces. Still others are concerned the flames associated with fire. Many fire-related with the children’s arms creating a funnel that might deaths and injuries actually result from asphyxiation. bring smoke up to their faces. After consulting with a number of fire safety experts and with the NFPA, First, children should know that the sound of a we continue to recommend having children cover smoke alarm means get outside now. Second, they their faces during Stop! Drop! and Roll! should know that if they are in a room filling with smoke, they should get down on their hands and Tell children that the goal is to smother, or squash, knees and crawl under the smoke to the outside. the fire. This gives the children a picture of what they are trying to do and makes the action of “Stop! Older children can understand that heat and smoke Drop! and Roll!” much more effective. When chil- rise, so the coolest, freshest air is near the floor. For dren understand this, they’re more apt to not just roll younger children, a simple instruction is best, such around, but really try to squash the fire. Emphasize as “Get down on your hands and knees to help you that they should keep rolling until the fire is out. see and breathe.” For all children it is important to understand the end result: to get outside to the fresh Always stress to children that “Stop! Drop! and air. Roll!” is to be used only if fire gets on their clothes.

Be sure to emphasize that “crawl low under smoke” Skill #3: Matches and lighters are adult tools/ is only to be used when they are in a room with Tell a grown-up. smoke, and is different from “Stop! Drop! and Roll!” described below, used if fire gets on their clothes. Children know what tools are. Making it clear that Children can easily confuse when to use these two matches and lighters are also tools helps reinforce different skills. that they are meant for adults only to use.

Skill #2: Stop! Drop! And Roll! J. Bills: This simple skill is easy to understand and can I like to ask children what tools their parents use buy valuable time if an adult is not present. All a at home. They’re always eager to list them. They’re child needs to remember is that if fire gets on your usually quick to admit that adult tools, especially clothes: potentially dangerous ones such as power tools, are not for children to use. I’ll ask if they use the • Stop! power tools at their house or if they think it’s okay • Drop to the ground. for children to use power tools. The younger ones almost always say no. I try to capture that feeling • Cover your face. and transfer it to matches and lighters. Matches and • Roll one way and then the other way lighters are adult tools and children should be taught until the fire is out. that they are just as dangerous as power tools.

30 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention Sometimes adults need help remembering to put Older children may not be frightened by the ignition materials out of sight and out of reach. appearance of turn-out gear, but seeing it and Locking up matches and lighters is inconvenient, understanding how it protects the firefighter is still after all. The more difficult it is for children to get important. We want children and adults to “get out to them, the more difficult it is for adults as well. and stay out” immediately when a smoke alarm sounds, yet they see firefighters go right into burn- Urge children to remind their parents to put ing buildings. It’s important they understand that matches and lighters away. Children like to “have a firefighters’ unique protective gear allows them to do job” to do, and helping to keep their families safe is what no one else can or should try to do. an important job. Enlist children as helpers. Their vigilance and persistence pays off when it comes to How Much Can Young Children Learn? properly storing ignition materials. Best of all, they Research has shown the play safe! be safe! program like to tell parents something when they know they to be highly effective in teaching children ages 3 to 5 are right! Use this positive reinforcement as a means important fire safety lessons. In a study using post- for getting children to cooperate. testing of children in classrooms that received the program and control classrooms not receiving it, we Emphasize that they should not touch ignition found that: materials, but instead should go tell a grown-up • 75% of children receiving the program knew to put them away. You don’t want them to pick up that if they saw a firefighter in his/her special ignition materials any more than you want them to clothes they were to ‘Go to the firefighter,’ com- grab a circular saw and bring it to Dad. pared to only 10% of the children in the control classrooms; Skill #4: Go to the f iref ighter. • 67% of children receiving the program knew Children can become frightened by a firefighter’s to ‘Crawl low under smoke’ and could demon- equipment and may hide in a rescue situation. strate the behavior, compared to 3% of children Children can become familiar with how firefighters in the control classrooms; look in their gear – through books and pictures, a • 75% of children receiving the program knew visit to a firehouse “open house” event, or a class- to ‘Stop, drop and roll’ and could demonstrate room visit by their local fire service (see Chapter 10, the behavior, compared to 3% of children in the Classroom and Firehouse Education). control classrooms;

R. Cole: • 71% of children receiving the program correctly I was at a firehouse teaching the pre-school fire responded that they would not touch a match safety program, play safe! be safe!® A local fire- or lighter and/or would tell a grown-up if they fighter was demonstrating his turn-out gear. Once found these items, compared to 35% of the chil- he put on his face mask and held his hand out to the dren in the control classrooms. children, their eyes became as big as saucers and they took a big step back. I asked for volunteers to shake (Excerpted from “We Can Teach Young Children the firefighter’s hand. It took considerable prompt- Fire Safety”, Young Children, the journal of the ing to convince the children that this strange, funny National Association for the Education of Young sounding being was really there to help them – and Children, March 2004). that was after they had watched him put on his gear, piece by piece. In the end, making friends with the human being in the “odd costume” goes a long way toward showing children that a firefighter is their friend even when he looks and sounds funny.

31 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention What Families Can Do “Voice alarms” are now available that allow parents To Stay Safe to record a message on a smoke alarm installed in children’s bedrooms. Such alarms can provide an Have a working smoke alarm. opportunity to remind the child of the family’s exit plan and meeting place in the parent’s own voice. NFPA studies have found that having a smoke alarm cuts your chances of dying, if you have a fire Create and Practice Escape Routes in your home, by 40-50 percent (Ahrens, 2004). Smoke alarms are inexpensive, and if a family can- A working smoke alarm alerts you to danger. What not afford an alarm many fire departments will pro- you do next is just as important as getting that vide one. warning. The NFPA has found that only one-fourth of those surveyed have developed and rehearsed a For a smoke alarm to protect a family, it must be plan for escaping their home in a fire. And only 8 working. While studies have found that as many percent of those whose smoke alarms went off actu- as 96% of households have a smoke alarm, one in ally responded correctly – by assuming there was a five of those alarms is not working (Ahrens, 2004). fire and leaving immediately (OLS Newsletter 1997). Approximately 70% of home-fire fatalities occur in houses with no working smoke alarms. Following this chapter are specific instructions for making and practicing an exit plan. Non-working smoke alarms most often have miss- ing, dead, or disconnected batteries. The NFPA rec- ommends testing smoke alarms once a month, and Where Should I Install My Smoke Alarm? replacing the batteries twice a year, or as soon as the alarm “chirps” warning that the battery is low. Ten- • If you only have one, place it in the hallway or area near the bedrooms. year batteries are another option, but they too must • If you have two, place the second one, centrally located, be checked. in the next most occupied area of the house – usually the first floor living area. A Consumer Product Safety Commission survey • Don’t place the alarm too close to the cooking area. Generally keep it about 20 feet from the stove/range. found that when batteries were removed or discon- • If you have three, place the third on another floor level – nected, the leading reason given was “nuisance” usually the basement. activations: the alarm sounded due to smoke from • If you have more, place them inside the sleeping areas, cooking or steam from showers. To deal with “nui- beginning with the children. sance” activations: Figure 16, Where Should I Install My Smoke Alarm? 1. Always respondrespond appropriatelyappropriately whenwhen thethe alarmalarm sounds: assume there is a fire,fire, andand getget out.out.

2. Don’t remove the battery. Instead, move the alarm to a more suitable location. See Figure 16, Where Should I Install My Smoke Alarm?

3. Purchase alarms with a “hush button” feature.

32 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention What Works? Making an Exit Plan Summary of Key Points 1. Draw a floor plan of your home, including every floor. Mark all windows and doors, label What parents can do each bedroom, and note where smoke alarms • Model appropriate concern about fire, using it are located (ideally on every level of your home, with care and refraining from assigning fire- outside sleeping areas, and for added safety, in related tasks to children. every room where people sleep). Or, actually go into each room of your home and try to get • Provide good supervision. out. This approach can help you “think in three dimensions” in planning your escape. • Recognize hazards. 2. Plan two escape routes from every room, espe- • Limit access to ignition materials, keeping cially bedrooms. Include escape plans for any- matches and lighters truly out of sight and one with special needs (see Internet Resources reach of children. for the U.S. Fire Administration’s Special • Have clear rules rather than relying on vague Populations Fire-Safe Checklist). warnings or threats. 3. Choose a family meeting spot a safe distance from your home, where everyone will gather What children can learn and wait for the fire department. When every- one meets at the meeting place, the firefighters • Positive, skill-based education is the most can easily find you and learn exactly who is left effective approach. in the house. They can use their time fighting • Lessons must be age-appropriate and designed the fire or looking for those who truly need to change behavior. help. At the meeting place you can also provide firefighters with important information such as • Even young children can learn: where the fire is and how to get there. • Crawl low under smoke 4. Have the whole family discuss the escape route • Stop! Drop! and Roll! and the meeting place. Decide who will “moni- • Matches and lighters are adult tools only tor” and make sure everyone gets out. • Go to the firefighter 5. Be sure everyone understands they should get out first, then call the fire department from a neighbor’s house. Be prepared to give the com- What families can do to stay safe plete address of your house or wherever the fire • Have a working smoke alarm. is. 9-1-1 calls can be traced to the phone from which they are made, but that will be a neigh- • Create and practice an exit plan,plan, includingincluding twotwo bor’s house, not the actual location of the fire. escape routes from every room and level of Stay calm and speak clearly, providing a full and their home. accurate address. The difference between Smith Street and Smith Road is significant.

33 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention Practice your escape route at least twice a year

1. Have everyone participate, and make sure everyone can unlock doors and windows quick- ly. Pretend that an exit is blocked, and practice alternative escape routes. Pretend the lights are out and practice finding a way out.

2. Go over what to do if trapped in an upstairs bedroom: close the bedroom door, place a towel or blanket across the bottom of the door, and call for help from the window.

3. Plan a drill at night when children are asleep (let everyone in the family know that a night drill is coming up).

4. Respond immediately if your smoke alarm acti- vates. Every time the alarm activates it should be considered a call to action by all occupants, reminding them of what they have already dis- cussed and practiced. Be sure everyone in your family knows never to go back into a burning building; if a family member or pet is missing you will tell the firefighters, who are equipped to perform rescues safely. Remember that in some areas, it may take longer for the fire department to arrive. Families in these areas may need to be more self-sufficient, investing in and practicing the use of escape ladders.

34 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention CHAPTER When Fire Involvement Means More

KEY CONCEPTS IN THIS CHAPTER 4 • Motivations for firesetting • Child characteristics associated with firesetting • Family characteristics associated with firesetting

In the previous chapters we have focused on fires in their behavior as well as any child their age. They that result mostly from a combination of children’s can identify hazards in their environments and plan typical interest in fire, inability to understand the preventive strategies as well. consequences of fire, access to ignition materials and lack of supervision. We generally refer to these as What sets them apart from other children is that unintentional fires. Even though the child may have they like to take risks and aren’t afraid of the con- intended to strike a match and even start a fire, he sequences. They climb on top of furniture, leave did not intend the results of these actions. In this the yard without permission, take chances on play- chapter, we will address the behavior of children ground equipment, and engage in other exciting who do intend some result. and risky behaviors (Potts, 1995). They have taken risks before without being hurt, so they don’t see About one third of the fires started by children are why they shouldn’t continue. In one study of more motivated by something other than typical interest than 500 children in a group pediatric practice, one in fire, sense of control over fire, and lack of under- of the best predictors of injury during the year of standing of consequences. Children who set fires the study was an injury in the year before (Horwitz are more likely to have conduct problems, act out, et al, 1988). be aggressive, and have poor social skills (Kolko and Kazdin, 1985; Moore et al, 1996; and Sakheim et al, The Case Against Prof iling 1991). This chapter discusses a range of characteristics frequently found in children who set fires, and Active, aggressive, impulsive children are at risk for characteristics of their families. Fireproof Children/ all types of injury (Bijur et al, 1986; Matheny, 1987; Prevention First does not refer to a ‘profile’ of chil- Mori and Peterson, 1995; and Horwitz et al, 1988). dren who set fires for several reasons. First, the rise Active and impulsive children understand the risks in recent years of novels, television programs and films featuring criminal investigations has led to

35 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention the word ‘profile’ taking on a criminal connotation. • Attention Def icit / Hyperactivity Disorder As discussed in previous chapters, most children who While the rate of firesetting is higher among start a fire do so out of typical interest in fire and a children with Attention Deficit / Hyperactivity sense of control, combined with lack of supervision Disorder (ADHD), it is a contributor to only and access to ignition materials. And among chil- a small portion of juvenile fires. As reported dren whose use of fire may be a symptom of social, in Chapter 1, a number of studies surveying emotional or mental problems, there is not neces- children have found that about half had played sarily the intent to do harm that we associate with with fire. According to the National Mental criminal behavior. Health Association, estimates of the prevalence of ADHD in childhood range from 5% to 10%. In addition, putting a label on a child whether Not every active, fast-talking child is hyperac- it is “delinquent” or “Level II,” or another term, tive. It only becomes a potential symptom if the interrupts communication and precludes a thought- behavior impedes the child’s functioning and ful, thorough, investigation of why ththee cchildhild hhasas gets in the way of performing important tasks, done what he has done. Labeling of children may not simply because some adults find it annoying minimize the complexity of the problem, lead to (American Psychiatric Association). A diagnosis premature conclusions, and keep you from provid- of ADHD should only be made by a mental ing an early intervention that could prevent future health professional. problems (Chappius, 2000). • Other psychological issues Child characteristics associated Despite the popular misconception that children with deliberate firesetting who set fires have severe emotional or psycho- logical issues, such cases are very rare. Most fire investigators report that out of the thousands • Anger and aggression of cases they investigate, they can count on one Anger often arises from difficult family charac- hand those that a mental health professional teristics, discussed below. Some children express would classify as pyromania. their anger through aggression. In other cases, children learn aggression in their families. Family characteristics associated • Poor social skills and social isolation Many children living in challenging environ- with firesetting ments have never been taught the social skills Family factors such as marital separation, divorce, needed to effectively or appropriately handle the loss, neglect, physical or sexual abuse, parent psycho- difficulties they live with. This sometimes leads pathology, parental drug abuse or criminal activity, to social isolation. It also makes aggression in are all related to firesetting. In Rochester, New York, general, and firesetting in particular, among the family factors were the best predictors of repeat fire- few strategies they have to deal with these dif- setting: ficulties. • 14% of children who started fires lived in fami- • Conduct disorders lies that had been involved with child protective This includes various forms of delinquency services; and is often associated with family factors. In Rochester, New York, 15% of reported child- • 13% of these children had parents with a crimi- started fires were classified as delinquent acts. nal record (Cole, Crandall and Bills, 1999). This includes vandalism, hate crimes, or gang initiations.

36 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention Other studies have found links to stressful life Children who set fires in response to family stress events, such as death, separation, divorce, family ill- are more likely to engage in repeat firesetting. In ness, frequent moves, and unemployment (Fineman, Rochester: 1980; Kolko and Kazdin, 1990 and 1991; Jacobson, 1985; Showers and Pickrell, 1985; Gruber and • 11% of children in families with child protec- Mintzer, 1981). Still others have found relationships tive services involvement started additional fires, between parent’s mental illness, depression, and their compared to only 2.3% of children without pro- children’s firesetting (Fineman, 1980; Kolko and tective services involvement (Cole, Crandall and Kazdin, 1990 and 1991; Bruger and Mintzer, 1981; Bills, 1999). Kazdin and Kolko, 1986; Wooden and Berkeley, • 8.7% of children whose parents had criminal 1984; Macht and Mack, 1968). And others have records started additional fires. This compares found relationships between injuries of all types to only 2.4% of children whose parents had and marital discord, a mother’s physical health and no criminal history (Cole, Crandall and Bills, mental health, poor coping skills (Glik and Greaves, 1999). 1993 and Bijur et al, 1986) and disorganization at home (Roberts and Less, 1995). In Rochester our research and field experience show J. Bills: that intervention and referrals to appropriate servic- Once I received a call about a father who had been es can have a major impact on firesetting recidivism. jailed for sexually assaulting his young daughter. Fireproof Children began working with the City Several weeks later, there was a fire in the home. of Rochester on their juvenile firesetting program No one was harmed, and the young girl had rescued in 1982. Between 1983 and 1987, every family in her baby brother from the fire. After talking with need of services was referred to appropriate social the girl, I found that she had started the fire so that services or mental health agencies. We involved the she could save her baby brother. She thought her police, child protective services, and two mental mother had stopped loving her because of what had health organizations. We were able to reduce repeat happened with her father and that by saving the firesetting by 74%. See Figure 17, Repeat Firesetting, baby, she could make her mother love her again. Rochester Data.

Children who engage in firesetting often have a broader spectrum of problem behaviors. In a study Repeat Firesetting of children ages 6-16 in Oregon, Washington and Recidivism in Juvenile Firesetting Compared to Other Indices of Delinquency Alaska who had been referred to intervention pro- grams, it was found that by kindergarten over half 160 140 JD Petitions the parents of these children had been told their 120 100 children were experiencing problems in school. School Suspensions 80 (SOS Fires study, 2004). In another study of chil- 60

Percent Change Repeat Firesetting 40 dren referred to juvenile firesetting prevention pro- 20 grams in Portland, Oregon and Anchorage, Alaska, 0 Program Start Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 81% of the 15-17-year-olds had already been referred to other services of some kind (Porth and Rochester, NY Hughes, 2000). Figure 17, Repeat Firesetting, Rochester Data.

37 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention Repeat firesetting can be stopped by involving a variety of community agencies that can supply refer- rals, assessment and intervention to prevent use of fire as a cry for help. This is further described in Chapters 13 and 14, on community coalitions.

When Fire Involvement Means More Summary of Key Points

About one in three children who start fires do so for reasons other than natural fascination with and sense of control over fire.

Characteristics of children who set fires for other reasons may include:

• Anger and aggression

• Poor social skills and social isolation

• Conduct disorders, including some behavior categorized as delinquency

• Attention Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder

• In rare cases, other psychological issues including mental illness.

Family factors related to firesetting include:

• Marital separation or divorce

• Neglect, physical or sexual abuse

• Parent psychopathology

• Parental drug abuse or criminal activity

Children who set fires in response to family stress are more likely to engage in repeat firesetting.

38 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention Section 2: The Fire Service Role

When a child has been involved in fire- play or firesetting (see ‘A Note About Language’ on our use of these terms), the fire service plays a key role in deter- mining the facts, providing educational intervention, and if necessary making referrals to other agencies that can help the child and family. In the next three chapters we will go into the details of the fire service role and how to maximize the value of that role for prevention and intervention in juvenile firesetting.

Fire investigators and police officers receive specific training for their job, which we will not attempt to duplicate here. Rather, we will concentrate on what fire service can do to support pre- vention and intervention, and offer a systematic approach.

39 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention CHAPTER Effective Informational Gathering

KEY CONCEPTS IN THIS CHAPTER 5 • The role of the fire service • Key information to gather from interviews and other sources

Fire service personnel determine the facts of anan inci-inci- are assigned according to the seriousness of the fire dent, which includes gathering facts about the child and extent of damage. But appropriate investigation and family. They should not attempt to assess the child’s of and educational intervention following a small mental or emotional state, or make diagnoses. That fire that did little damage may prevent future fire- role belongs to the mental health professional, and play resulting in loss of a home or of lives. The size will be discussed in detail in Section 4. of the fire is not a good indication of a child’s need for intervention. The role of the fire service is to: 1. Document the reported incident If you are an interventionist or fire safety educator, a child who has been involved in fireplay or fireset- 2. Interview the child, family, and sometimes ting may come to your attention during the investi- neighbors gation of a fire responded to by the fire department. Or you may receive a request or referral from: 3. Provide fire safety education (discussed in detail in Chapter 9) • A concerned parent or caregiver;

4. Partner with the community’s network of • A mental health professional; resources to assist in determining a course of action. • School officials; • Juvenile justice, if a firesetting incident comes For each of these steps, a consistent approach is essen- to the attention of family court while dealing tial regardlessregardless of the ageage of the childchild or childrenchildren with the family’s other issues; involved, or the size of the fire. Too often fire ser- • Law enforcement, if a specific crime involving vice resources, including interventions and referrals, fire has been committed.

40 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention In these referral situations, the fire service role may What happened? be educational intervention only rather than inves- tigation, but it will still be important to interview In the case of a reported fire, knowing exactly what the child and family. If you are an interventionist or happened is critical. The investigator’s documenting educator, part of your role is to be as informed as of the sequence of events provides crucial informa- possible. If you are providing an intervention fol- tion to help a mental health professional understand lowing a reported fire incident, talk with the investi- the child’s motives and need for services. gator if possible. Review documentation to become familiar with the facts. The investigator will begin gathering information as soon as a fire is reported. At this stage, try to A fire investigator has the authority to interview determine if a child was involved in starting the fire, witnesses. The fire service has a mandate, and and who that child might be. Characteristics that unique opportunity, to gather key information may indicate that a child or children were involved about a fire incident, and about the child and family include (see Chapter 1 for details): involved. The fire service has authority not ordinar- • The presence of children in the house at the ily available to other community agencies, includ- time of the fire. ing access to the scene of a fire, and to neighbors and witnesses. No other agency can collect as much • Location of the fire. Child-started fires fre- information. Caseworkers and mental health profes- quently start in bedrooms. sionals can gain critical insights from the facts gath- ered by fire service, which makes it essential to be • Ignition source. Matches and lighters are the detailed and descriptive. primary ignition sources of child-started resi- dential fires.

As an investigator, to make your interview and • Items burned. The items most often ignited observations as useful as possible to all agencies first in child-started fires are bedding or mat- which may ultimately need to be involved, informa- tresses, upholstered furniture, and clothing. tion should be organized into the following areas: • Time of day. Most child-started fires occur dur- 1. What happened? ing the day or in the early evening.

2. What did the child do? The investigator can gain helpful information from: 3. What is the family like? • Firefighters on the scene;

4. What is their home environment like? • Occupants of the fire structure;

5. Are other agencies involved, with the child • The person who reported the incident; and/or the family? • The child and parents;

• Neighbors, whether or not they witnessed the fire. Neighbors who have observed the child and his family and will relate concerns or reassur- ance about the child’s behavior and about the family;

• School records.

41 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention Remember, you are collecting the facts, not interpret- If a child shows remorse, he may have learned a les- ing them. It can be tempting to go beyond your role son about the potential damage fireplay can cause. because you want to solve a problem. But leave men- The absence of guilt or remorse suggests that the tal health assessment and diagnosis to the profes- child saw no negative consequences to his actions, sionals who are trained to do these things. You may and he might well repeat them. But some children even jeopardize your department if you step outside may feel excessive guilt, especially if there has been the boundaries of the fire service’s responsibilities. serious damage or injury. Such children should be referred to a mental health professional. Concentrate on finding out the circumstances of the fire. This includes the fire’s source, location, timing, R. Crandall: loss, who was present, and who was the responsible I remember an incident with an 11-year-old girl adult. This information will help guide your inter- who unintentionally started a kitchen fire while views and let you know if the child’s reports are cooking. The fire damaged the kitchen extensively truthful. Be sure to consider: and the family had to move out for a while. The • Was an adult present? The absence of a respon- fire was listed as accidental and no referrals were sible adult might indicate a lack of supervision. made. Two weeks after the fire, however, the school called me saying the young girl was severely • Were other children present? If so, the child depressed over the disruption she caused. She was might have been coerced or seeking attention. showing signs of self-destruction and felt that she had failed in her responsibility. Apparently her • What was burned? This information may be mother was quite upset and not very supportive. useful to a mental health professional in deter- This girl had been given responsibility for the care mining the child’s motive and state of mind. of two younger siblings as well as cooking chores. This was a case of premature assignment of respon- What did the child do? sibility. I immediately set up family crisis counseling and follow-up. This actually involves two parts: Your report may include: 1. What the child and others report of the child’s • The child’s history of fireplay or firesetting. actions before the fire and then after the fire. Be sure to note how the child responded to the • The child’s activity level, and ability to concen- incident. Did he simply watch? Did he hide? If trate and pay attention. so, where? Did he just ignore the fire or walk away? Positive answers to any of these questions • Do others report that the child gets along with might suggest a gross misunderstanding of the others? Is aggressive? Does he have friends? potential danger. Did he run and get help, or • What do others report about the child’s mood, try to put out the fire? Did he apologize for the and whether he is generally depressed or angry? damage?

2. Your direct observations of what the child says These characteristics may reflect problems that indi- and does when talking to you. Remember, don’t cate counseling might be appropriate. try to interpret these behaviors. Your job is care- ful reporting. Use terms that are descriptive, e.g.e.g. “the child refused to sit down when asked.” You should not use termsterms that areare diagnostic, e.g.e.g. “hyperactive.”

42 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention What is the family like? the landlord was cited for property deterioration. When the family was settled in their new location, First, try to get a general sense of the family: we met with them again to provide education.

• Are the parents appropriately concerned about While abuse or neglect indicates a particular urgen- the behavior and safety of their children? cy in referring the family for services, you shouldn’t • Are they cooperative and willing to work with rule out a referral even if you don’t see such seri- and learn from you? ous situations as the one described above. You are more likely to see less dramatic situations, in which parents are struggling with the typical challenges of Don’t try to analyze the family situation. It’s more child rearing. But as with the situation above, con- effective to observe, and make a referral to the sistent follow-up is always important. appropriate agency if you see or hear something that concerns you and that you feel needs follow-up. Ideally, parents are good at setting clear rules, have reasonable expectations for the children, discipline You must notify the appropriate agency if you notice appropriately and effectively, and provide adequate physical symptoms of abuse or hear of abuse from a and age-appropriate monitoring. But that’s often not child. We recommend that anyone who deals with the case. children in their work take the training offered in your state concerning mandated reporting, which Listen for signs of frustration, such as the parent covers how to recognize serious family problems or who laments that her son is out of control, never abuse. listens or is “impossible,” or that she herself is at the end of her rope. Neglect is considerably more common than actual abuse. Neglect includes things such as exceptionally You may also hear about chores or caregiving poor hygiene and nutrition, an unsafe environment, arrangements that concern you, such as: inadequate supervision, and a lack of appropriate medical care. • Pre-school children being left alone • Children younger than 11 being left alone for R. Crandall: extended periods of time, such as when a parent Instances of incest or molestation are not the norm. works or goes out for the evening What is the norm is the overwhelmed parent. One January, after a fire that started on a stove, I con- • Children younger than 11 cooking unsupervised ducted an investigation. I found three small chil- dren in a cold house wearing dirty clothes and no • Children younger than 11 being responsible for shoes or socks. The apartment smelled terrible. Dirty younger siblings. National programs, such as the dishes were everywhere. Broken windows were Babysitting Training Courses sanctioned by the stuffed with rags to keep out the cold air. Sewage American Red Cross and the National Safety from the upstairs apartment was dripping into Council, are designed for 11-to-15-year-olds. a pail. The toilet was broken and the family was using the bathtub instead. These were obvious signs Of even greater concern is poor judgment, such as of neglect. I called the juvenile police officer, the locking young children in the house so they don’t child protective officer, and the fire marshal’s office wander off. It is the job of fire service to refer any for code enforcement. The fire marshal closed the family whose childcare practices make you uncom- building, the grandmother took in the family, and fortable.

43 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention As we will discuss later, not every referral goes to • Are exits and pathways blocked by clutter on the department of child welfare or protective servic- which someone could trip if they had to get out es. Many more go to community service and mental fast, such as when the smoke alarm sounds? health agencies that can provide parents with appro- • Do children still have easy access to matches, priate support for coping with serious stress and also lighters, or other ignition materials? offer parental guidance.

R. Crandall Ideally, matches and lighters should be kept in a I have found many instances where a single parent locked cabinet or drawer. At the very least, they is caring for several children. Money is tight and should be out of sight and out of reach. Families the stress is enormous. Additional problems come with pre-school children should also use child-resis- up, such as a child caught stealing or setting a fire, tant lighters instead of matches, though these too which the parent can’t handle. They may overreact, should be kept out of sight and reach. or just throw up their hands. These incidents are windows of opportunity for a community to inter- Are other agencies involved? vene and help a family that might not have other- wise come to the attention of any agency. As described in Chapter 4, children who engage in firesetting sometimes have a broader spectrum of problem behaviors. This may have led to community agencies being involved with the child and family. Information about other agencies involved will be very important in coordinating a course of action.

This summarizes the major questions your informa- tion gathering should be able to answer. There are a number of tools available to assist in this process, such as the Fire Involvement Interview created by MacKay et al (1991), for The Arson Prevention Program for Children (TAPP-C). Such tools can be helpful, but you do not need them to do your job. As a member of fire service, you have already been What is their home trained to observe. Concentrate on that job, and you environment like? will provide the facts needed for others to do their jobs. In many ways, the family’s home is indicative of the In the next chapter, we will take a look at the inter- parents’ ability to provide adequate shelter and safety view process step by step. for their children. As you look around, ask yourself:

• Are there obvious safety code violations that suggest fire and electrical hazards?

• Is there adequate heat, water and sanitation?

• Are there smoke alarms?

44 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention Effective Information Gathering Summary of Key Points

• The role of fire service is determining the facts:

- What happened?

- What did the child do, before and after the incident?

- What is the family like?

- What is their home environment like?

- Are other agencies involved?

• Fire service should not attempt to assess the child’s mental or emotional state, or make diag- noses, but instead make appropriate referrals.

45 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention CHAPTER Interviewing: A Step by Step Guide

KEY CONCEPTS IN THIS CHAPTER 6 • How to prepare for an interview • Suggested interview sequence • What to do after the interview

In this chapter we will go over the interview pro- Preparation cess, including a suggested interview sequence and follow-up. With every interview, whatever the size It’s important to prepare for the interview and have or circumstances of the fire, be consistent and sys- a goal each time you talk to a child or his parents. tematic. By approaching every case in the same way, Don’t just sit down, start to talk and see what hap- and taking each case seriously, you will preserve all pens. Good preparation is the best way to get the options including legal ones. It can be tempting to most out of an interview. take a look and think “this is an easy one.” But it is easier in the long run to adhere to a careful and Review the facts thorough interview process for each case. This also When preparing for an interview, gather as much helps ensure that serious problems are identified information as possible. Knowing the facts helps even if the fire is small. you control the interview and helps you judge the truthfulness of what you hear. A checklist or quick reference guide can help you keep a consistent approach with each interview. • Talk to fire investigators, firefighters, and com- Some sample interview questions are provided at pany officers. the end of this chapter. But remember, your atten- tion should be on the person you’re talking with, not on • Review the incident report and other pertinent a checklist. reports and records. Some of the reports avail- able to you may include: - Cause and origin report - Investigator’s notes - Department records - Police records - School records

46 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention If you are an interventionist rather than an investi- Children are likely to be more comfortable at home gator, who will need consent to talk to other agen- and more willing to talk. This also gives you the cies about a child. A simple release form signed by opportunity to see the house. You can inspect the the parent or guardian is usually all that’s needed. scene of the fire and develop a better perspective of As discussed in later chapters, it is helpful to have the incident and the family’s reaction to it. You can legal counsel as part of your juvenile firesetting com- also check how easy it is for children to obtain igni- munity coalition to help you in creating appropriate tion materials. release forms. Explain to parents or guardians that their signing this release makes it possible for you to Observing the home gives you opportunities for make referrals to others who can help their child. building rapport. Noticing and commenting on items that reflect interests and hobbies–a baseball Review legal considerations glove, pictures, a toy train set--give you a way to break the ice. • Age of child (the age of culpability varies from state to state). Conducting interviews in your office has advan- • Potential legal charges. You should know when tages as well. Although it is more formal and can be you conduct your interview whether there is intimidating, it gives you maximum control. For a likely to be a criminal prosecution, but some- family that does not feel the incident was very seri- times a spontaneous utterance can change the ous, a visit to your office can command attention picture. Be prepared to stop the interview if and respect. You also have more control over various a juvenile says something that could be self- distractions and interruptions. incriminating. If you are not a fire investigator who is a member of law enforcement, stop and You can manage your time more effectively by hav- pass the information to the appropriate people. ing the family come to you. You have the opportu- nity to do other work while waiting for the family • Victim’s rights in your community. The right of to come to your office. Even if you have to make a person whose property was damaged to bring the arrangements to get the family there, it may be charges varies from state to state. worth it.

Select a location We discourage interviewing at the firehouse. Firehouse interviews send a double message. While Some interviewing may be done at the scene of a a trip to the firehouse can be intimidating, it is most fire. The spontaneous statements made by families often considered a treat for a child. Your follow-up right after a fire make this a good place to gather of the incident should not be misconstrued as a information. But right after a fire, the family is often reward. Interviewing at the firehouse is also difficult in crisis, trying to cope with fear, loss of possessions, because you have little control over distractions. possible displacement, and sometimes injury. This may not be a good time to make an educational If a fire happened at a school, you may be conduct- intervention. ing an interview there. If an effort has been made to contact the parents but they cannot be located, Soon after the incident, select an appropriate place in most communities you can talk to the child with to conduct the interview. If possible, and assuming it a school representative present. A good, ongoing is a safe environment, the family’s home is the opti- relationship between schools and their local fire mal location. Sometimes, of course, time constraints department is essential for effective safety education, or other circumstances make this impractical. But fire prevention, and intervention. See Chapter 10 these are the advantages: for specific suggestions for developing a relationship between fire service and neighborhood schools.

47 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention Fire investigators may choose to conduct interviews Step 2: Introduce yourself to all members of the of juveniles in an “approved facility.” These areas are household who are present. usually designated in advance as approved by family This step is essential to “getting off on the right courts. The major criteria is that they be reasonably foot.” Introducing yourself to everyone, including comfortable and non-intimidating. grandparents and other adults living in the house A Suggested Interview Sequence and other children, is respectful and helps build rapport. Explain who you are and what you will be Having a structure in mind will assist you in main- doing. taining control, and articulating your expectations to parents can be helpful in breaking down barriers. Ask if they have any questions, and then say you’d like to “start with Mom and Dad.” Step 1: Schedule the interview. Step 3: Interview the parents without the child. The initial interview with the family should be soon after the incident. This is when the family is Put the parents at ease before you begin to ask dif- most open and least defensive. While it may not be ficult questions about family history. Tell them what appropriate to conduct an interview immediately you are interested in learning and what you will do following the fire (as described above), do not wait during that visit. Both parents and children will too long. The sooner the interview, the less time a be more willing to share this information with you family has to rationalize or make up “acceptable” once they are comfortable with you. stories of what happened, as well as forget signifi- cant details. During this interview: • Gather information about the child, such as Explain the purpose of the interview, and what how things are at home and school, what his they should expect. Discuss who should be present, grades are like, and if he is usually cooperative. including the child or children who may have been involved. Select a convenient time when neither • Ask about the child’s history of firesetting as you nor the family will be rushed. Allow plenty of well as the current incident. Is there a pattern or time to get to know the family and put them at progression of firesetting? ease. Avoid appointments at dinnertime or near the • For a number of reasons, family members may child’s bedtime. summarize rather than provide specifics when asked questions about what happened. They If you are meeting with the family in their home, may assume you know certain facts. When you remember to allow enough time to talk to other ask family members to describe an incident, children in the household. Even if they were not encourage them to tell it step-by-step. Use apparently involved in a fire incident, this is an phrases such as, “Tell me about the last time opportunity for education that could help prevent a that happened. When did it happen? Where did future incident. it happen?”

• Ask about the parents’ reaction to each fireset- ting incident and try to develop a sense of how they respond.

48 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention • Note the general family environment, includ- Explain why you want to have a separate conversa- ing the parents’ level of concern, their ability to tion that the child thinks of as just between you manage the child, and whether there are fam- and him. The parents can be in the next room and ily problems that may have contributed to the within earshot of your conversation. In fact, you child’s firesetting behaviors. want parents to hear what you’re saying so they understand better what they need to do, such as • Find out if the parents consider the child’s fire- having clear rules and putting ignition materials well setting a serious issue. How have they addressed out of reach. the problem to prevent it from happening again? Parents may prefer to stay in the same room with the child while you are interviewing him. If so, just You will cross-check this information later during suggest which chairs you’d like to have the child the child interview. and parents use. You want to have the child looking straight at you, with the parents out of his direct line of view. This helps to ensure that you will have his full attention.

During the interview, ask about:

• Interests and talents

• Specific circumstances of the current incident

• Previous firesetting

• Attitudes and knowledge about fire

• Grades

• Child behavior or other problems

• How the child gets along with siblings, at school, and with friends

Step 4: With permission, interview the child in a separate area. Occasionally you will run across a child who will tell you of additional incidents of fireplay (see ‘A Note Consider moving to another room after you inter- About Language’ on our use of this term) unknown view the parents. A child can focus better without to his parents. This means that you have done a distractions, and it will be easier for him to confide good job of building rapport with the child. in you if his parents aren’t present. Consider con- ducting the initial parent interview in the living See Chapter 9 for details on educational interven- room and then talk with the child in the kitchen or tion with children and their parents. family room.

49 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention Step 5: Meet again with the parents. Step 7: Bring together all available family members and review the main points of the intervention. After talking to the child, meet alone again with the parents. If possible, other children in the household should also get a review of the key messages—matches • Share what you learned from the child. Include and lighters are adult tools, go tell a grown-up, etc. any fireplay incidents the parents may not know – even if they weren’t involved in the fire incident. about. Other adults who live in the household, such as • Offer your initial impressions about the serious- grandparents, also need to know not to leave out ness of the child’s behavior and the need for a ignition materials and about the importance of referral. Sometimes you will tell them you are smoke alarms and exit plans. making a referral. Other times you will recom- mend they call an agency. Stress the importance Having the whole family together is a nice way to of their following through on this. end the intervention. Discuss how the family can work together to make sure it doesn’t happen again. • Offer advice to the parents about the steps they can take to ensure family safety. This will Step 8: Write about the interview as soon as you leave. include limiting access to ignition materials and insuring adequate supervision. Suggest that the It is generally not a good idea to take notes dur- parents, especially parents of young children, ing the interview, because this can be distracting establish a simple rule: “Go tell a grown-up” if or inhibiting to the person you’re interviewing. But they find matches or lighters. Remind parents it is important to capture the essence of the inter- to check the batteries in smoke alarms every view soon afterward. Include quotes while you still month, and develop and practice an exit plan. remember them. This will help you immensely dur- Make other recommendations based on your ing later meetings. observations of the family and the home. Stopping the Interview • If appropriate, suggest other community agen- cies that can help. Include a specific person’s There are several situations in which it’s appropriate name and telephone number. Parents are more for you to back out of an interview: likely to call if they can ask for a person you recommend. • You learn that the people are not involved. Thank them for their cooperation and explain • Encourage the family to follow through, and that you are obligated to interview since they tell them that you will call to see what has hap- were named. pened. • A spontaneous utterance brings information to light which you are not prepared or qualified to deal with, and another agency should become Step 6: Meet with the parents and child together. involved. This is a good time to help the child tell his parents • You are not getting cooperation, e.g. a child is any information he shared with you that his parents not responding at all to questions. don’t know. Ask the child to tell his parents what he has learned, and about his agreement with you not to play with matches and lighters. Repeating this expectation in the presence of the parents reinforces commitment.

50 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention After the Interview Voluntary referrals

Educational interventions A voluntary referral to a mental health or other community support group or agency is appropriate Every child involved in fireplay or firesetting should when all of these conditions are present: receive an individualized educational intervention as • The child and family are cooperative. described in Chapter 9. • No one is in imminent danger. In some cases, you may conclude that the fire was • You don’t suspect abuse or neglect. child-started, but not be able to identify the child. This is particularly true when several children were Some families feel they are doing the best they can, present but you cannot determine which child set but they don’t realize how serious the problem is. the fire. In this case, educational intervention as Such families should be strongly encouraged to fol- described in Chapter 9 is still appropriate for the low through. family. Other families feel overwhelmed, frustrated, and Referrals don’t know where to turn for help. In such instances, your referral will come as welcome support. This How referrals are handled varies from one commu- may be the case in families that experience rapid- nity to another. In Toronto, for example, all families fire crises such as unemployment, death of a fam- in which a child has set a fire are referred. The vast ily member, divorce, or a move in a short period of majority are referred not for mental health services, time. but for parenting and supervision issues. These should not be minimized. If a child has set a fire, it’s Required referrals and mandated reporting serious. You must report your findings to child protective When deciding on a referral for a child or family, services if you: some things might particularly concern you: • Suspect physical or sexual abuse. • Does your interview reveal signs of premedi- • Notice a pattern of neglect that puts the child’s tated firesetting? This indicates an urgent need health or safety at risk. for immediate referral. In most states, you are obligated to report this infor- • Is this child’s health or safety in imminent dan- mation to child protective or child welfare services. ger because of serious family problems? Many states mandate that anyone who works pro- fessionally with children is required to report even • Does this child show a pattern of dangerous or suspected abuse or neglect. destructive behavior that puts him or others in danger? This referral process can be frustrating. But it is • Are the parents unable to manage this child’s important. Not only is it your legal and moral behavior? responsibility, but the child welfare agencies can insist that the family receive services. Agencies may • As a concerned adult, is there something hap- also pay for those services if necessary. If all else pening in this family that you feel is not right fails, they can remove the children from the family. and should be looked into? Learning to work with local agencies, using the If the answer to any of these questions is yes, you strategies listed in Chapter 14, will help you know must make a referral. when and where to refer.

51 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention Legal action Following up is the only way to measure the suc- Legal action against the child and/or parents is an cess of your intervention. You can wait and see if option when: the child starts another fire, but that will be too late. • The family or child is uncooperative. Even if he doesn’t start additional fires, the circum- • The child remains in danger. stances at home might not have changed and you will have missed a valuable opportunity to help the • A crime has been committed. child. In many districts, the fire investigator and fire safety Sometimes you may miss things at the initial inter- educator cannot do this alone and must work with view. The family might appear to be much more the police. cooperative, concerned and organized than they really are. Mistakes are not fatal to the program if If there is evidence that a crime has been commit- you follow up. When you take a second look, you ted, a child may be arrested. While the notion of get a second chance. arresting a 10-year-old might seem extreme, in some cases it is the only way to ensure compliance with Even if your recommendations are perfect, the fam- your recommendations and have services paid for. ily might not follow through. Once the immediate crisis is over, motivation often wanes. Parents mis- Court-ordered interventions for families unable to judged the risk before, and they may do so again. pay for them are provided by the state. While the Routine follow-up lets them know you are watching legal process roughly follows the arrest procedure, and will insist on their cooperation. young children are unlikely to spend time in jail. Most are placed on probation and ordered to par- ticipate in needed interventions. Of course, an unre- 30-day follow-up morseful adolescent with a history of delinquency may face detention. At this point, don’t expect much in the way of sig- nificant family changes. The family may still be In summary, the fire department should always take overwhelmed by the fire and its aftermath. They action in situations involving children. In many may not yet have an appointment at the agency cases, a one-on-one educational intervention is all to which you referred them. But there are several that is needed. Other cases may require referral for things you can do: an intervention that addresses ongoing child or fam- ily problems. • Clear up misconceptions from your last visit. Did the family understand you and your sugges- Follow-up tions? Did you understand them? • See if the family followed your recommenda- Your job is not quite finished. A timely follow-up is tions and check that they are still appropriate. essential. Have they solved problems such as access to ignition materials, a lack of smoke alarms or of While recognizing that the ideal number of follow- batteries in the alarms, or improved childcare up contacts may not always be possible, we strongly arrangements? Has adequate child supervision suggest three: one at 30 days, 60 days, and 90 days been addressed? after your initial meeting. Two of the contacts can be over the telephone; at least one needs to be in person.

52 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention • If you made a voluntary referral to a community Interviewing Step by Step agency, see if the parents have scheduled an Summary of Key Points appointment. If not, why not? Are the parents simply unmotivated? If so, your follow-up might motivate them. Does the family need transpor- Prepare for the interview tation, insurance or flexible hours? Simple prob- • Review the facts lem-solving can go a long way. • Review legal considerations • Select a location At the 30-day follow-up, the family will see that your concern was serious and you are watching to make certain they act. Seeing how the family Suggested interview sequence responds to your suggestions might cause you to Step 1: Schedule the interview modify your judgment about your initial disposition. Ask yourself: Step 2: Introduce yourself to all members of the • Was an educational intervention all that was household who are present needed? Step 3: Interview the parents without the child • Was a voluntary referral sufficient? Step 4: Interview the child separately

Step 5: Meet again with the parents Be aware of new problems or issues you missed the first time around. This is your chance to rethink and Step 6: Meet with the parents and child together correct your initial plan. before leaving 60- and 90-day follow-up Step 7: Bring together all family members Step 8: Write down your notes on the interview At subsequent visits, look for the same things as at the 30-day follow-up. At these visits, you should expect more of the families. After the interview • Educational interventions Within 60 days, new childcare arrangements should • Referrals be in place. If a referral was made, some visits should - Voluntary referrals have taken place. - Required referrals and mandated reporting • Legal action

Follow-up • 30-day follow-up • 60-day and 90-day follow-ups

53 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention Sample Child and Parent These questions are designed to put parents at ease and Interviews show that you are really interested in getting to know their child. These questions also give you an opening when you talk to the child - you can ask about his hob- Knowing the information to gather isn’t enough to bies or his favorite sport. guarantee a good interview. To make the job a little easier, we’ve included a list of questions we usually How are things going at home? ask. • Is he cooperative at home? Does he usually do what you ask of him? Use these questions as a guideline only. The exact wording isn’t critical. Listen to what is being said • Has he gotten into trouble at home recently? and ask appropriate follow-up questions, even if Tell me about it. they change the order of the outline. Since personal • How does he get along with his brothers and questions, such as questions about problem behav- sisters? iors, might be difficult for the family, save them for later in the interview. • Has he ever been brought home or questioned by the police? Arrested? Have you ever asked Each section of our interview starts with a general for help in dealing with him? From whom? question followed by more specific questions. If the • Are you working with any community agencies? family likes to talk and gives you all the information you need, you can skip the detailed questions. The detailed questions are useful when the family offers Disciplinary problems at home are key indicators that little information and you need to keep the conver- the child and/or parents might need help. A referral sation going. may be appropriate even if the problems are not serious but the parents are frustrated and report a lack of coop- R. Crandall: eration. Conflict and aggression or perhaps very high One of my fears when I was a new investigator levels of activity are also signs that the fireplay (see ‘A was that I might miss something important. What Note About Language’ on our use of this term) might be I discovered was that, in addition to my formal related to something more than simple experimentation. training, if I communicated a sincere concern and Finding out if the parents have requested help is one a willingness to help, the children and their parents way to discover if the family is already receiving some opened up to me and gave me everything I needed form of counseling or intervention. to know. How did the fire start? PARENT INTERVIEW How did he react to the fire?

Tell me about (child’s name). What does he • Did he try to put it out? Did he call for help? like to do? • Does he play any sports? Which ones? • Did he try to hide what he had done?

• Does he have any hobbies? What are they? • Does he now show remorse?

• Does he like to watch TV? What are his favor- • How did you find out about it (if appropriate)? ite programs? • What did you say to him? What did you do?

54 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention Has he ever played with or set fires in the past? The parents’ reactions are also revealing. First, they should be concerned. They also should have made some • What did he do? attempt to restrict access to ignition materials, improve • How much damage was there? supervision, and teach the child about fire safety. Third, they should discipline this child in a responsible way • What was his reaction to these fires? - making restitution is very good if age appropriate. A lack of concern, the absence of any constructive response • What was your response? or harsh punishment are all signs that should be of con- cern to you. If no constructive actions are taken, then How is he doing in school? what will motivate the child not to do the same thing again? Harsh discipline is often the sign of a parent • What are his grades? with very poor judgment who has little control or one • How does he get along with his teachers? who might be abusive. Both are serious risks for repeat firesetting. • How does he get along with the other kids? Have there been any recent changes in the family • Has he gotten into trouble recently? that might help me understand? Tell me about it. • Have you moved recently?

These are objective indicators of a child’s overall adjust- • Have their been any serious illnesses or deaths? ment. Poor grades, conflict with teachers, social isolation, fighting or other disciplinary trouble are signs of adjust- • Recent separations, divorces or remarriages? ment or behavior problems and possibly family problems • Any changes in jobs? Has anyone lost a job? that might indicate that fireplay is more than typical interest in and lack of understanding of the dangers of • Are you working with a counselor or commu- fire. Often a lack of effort in school indicates problems nity agency? and possibly a lack of parent support.

Family stress is a key predictor of serious and repeat It is not always necessary to ask specifically about dis- firesetting. It is disruptive to the child and these losses ciplinary trouble. If the parents feel comfortable with often lead to anger or depression. These same feelings in you, they will probably volunteer this information. Then the parents, and the demands of dealing with the prob- you need only follow up by asking, “Are there any other lems of illness, death, job loss, divorce, and so on, make problems?” them less available to their children. Supervision suffers and the children may be asked to carry more responsibil- If the child tried to put out the fire or ran to get help ity. Such stresses are often more than even well-func- and now shows remorse, then you have some evidence tioning families can handle and frequently require an that he understands the potential danger and did not intervention. intend to cause any real damage. If he didn’t call for help or try to extinguish the fire, then there is some These questions are just examples. Often, things will indication that either he did not understand the poten- come up in conversation about which you will want to tial danger or he wanted to cause damage. If he is not ask more questions. remorseful, then once again, he was likely motivated by something other than curiosity and might start another fire.

55 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention CHILD INTERVIEW You will learn several things talking to the child about the fire. First, with your knowledge of the incident, you Tell the child a little about yourself. can judge whether he is telling you the truth. Second, from knowing what happened, what the child was • Talk about your job. doing, and how he responded after the fire, you can • Talk about your interests and hobbies. learn a great deal about his likely intentions. Was he really just playing with matches? Just lighting papers • Talk about your family. and things got out of hand? Or was he trying to scare someone, respond to a dare, or get revenge? You can also learn his real intent by finding out if he tried to put out Emphasize the things that you believe will be most the fire, get help, and if he now feels remorse or has tried interesting to the child. Start by saying something like, to make restitution. “Hi, Billy. How about if I tell you some things about me and then you can tell me some things about you?” Self- If there was no fire actually started, you might start disclosure is a very powerful technique to build rapport. instead with “Your mom and dad gave me a call. Tell me what happened.” What do you like to do?

• Do you play any sports? Which ones? Have you played with matches or lighters before?

• Do you have a favorite TV program? • Tell me about the first time you did this. Which one? • Have you started any other fires? • Do you have any hobbies? What are they? • How often and when?

• Tell me about them. The beginning of the child interview will be guided by what you learned from the parents and from what you observe of the child and his home. To get the child If the child repeatedly played with matches and no harm engaged, open with questions about what the child likes came of it, he may have thought that there was no dan- to do or is interested in. ger. However, a history of fireplay raises questions about the quality of supervision. Should the parents have Let’s talk about what happened. noticed before this? • What was going on that day/that afternoon Repeat incidents that caused damage are a sign of seri- (pick a logical point in the events to start, so ous concern. If the child persists even after seeing the that you sound informed but not closed to new injury and damage he caused, he either wants to inflict information). harm or he is deliberately trying to call attention to • Tell me about the fire. Where did it start? himself-in a very inarticulate and dangerous manner. How did you come to be there? Don’t try to diagnose this—make a referral to a mental health professional. • How did it start? Were you using matches? A lighter?

• What started to burn first?

• What did you do once it started?

56 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention Let’s talk about school for a minute.

• What grade are you in?

• What subjects do you like best? Which ones don’t you like?

• How are your grades?

• How do you get along with your teachers?

• Have you been in any trouble this year? What happened?

You want to determine how he is handling school. Start first with simple fact and opinion questions and then move into those that will give you more details. If the parents have already told you about problems in school, then his answers to these questions give you some idea of his readiness to talk. He may also give you information that his parents do not know.

Tell me about your friends.

• How do you get along with them? Do they like to do the things you like to do?

• Do you argue or fight with them often?

• Have any of them been in trouble? In trouble with the police?

• Have you been in trouble with the police? What happened?

The child should be able to name at least a few friends with whom he gets along and who like to do some of the things he likes to do. Having no friends, or having only friends he hangs out with so he doesn’t have to be alone, may be signs of problems. So is frequent fighting and friends who are often in trouble.

57 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention CHAPTER Essentials of Interviewing

KEY CONCEPTS IN THIS CHAPTER 7 • Interviewing techniques • Building rapport • Encouraging others to talk • Establishing the truth

The interviewer’s characteristics, skills and attitude Showing respect is even more important when are important to solid information gathering and the family is not being cooperative. A defensive or effective intervention. Good interviewers have good aggressive family is expecting you to be aggressive relationship skills, genuinely like kids, and are good as well. Being polite and respectful makes it harder role models. for them to maintain their own aggression.

The following general principles of good communi- Dress appropriately cation apply whether you are investigating a fire or Appropriateness will depend on your sense of the doing an educational intervention. family’s attitude toward the incident and to you. Dress less formally if your goal is to facilitate rap- Interviewing techniques port. Not wearing a uniform creates a more relaxed situation. On the other hand, dress more formally An effective interviewer will: if you feel you will need to enhance your authority with the family. The response to a uniform is often Be polite and respectful respect and attention. This starts with your first phone call to set up the appointment. Greet the family members by name. Be aware of tone of voice Explain who you are and what to expect. People Your voice conveys a great deal more than just the fear the unknown. Understanding what’s going to words you use. When you speak, use a well-modu- happen helps to reduce that anxiety. Most families lated voice – not too loud, not too soft, and not too are concerned about a child’s involvement with fire fast. A deep booming voice is frightening. A soft and will cooperate. They deserve your respectful voice can suggest you are unsure of yourself. Talking attention. When responding to calls from concerned too fast may make you seem anxious. parents, your goal is to listen and to make helpful suggestions, not to judge.

58 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention Take control of the setting and the course If you have done a good job of building rapport of the interview with the family, they will share information with you Share your agenda with the family. After the initial that otherwise might not surface. Don’t be surprised introductions, ask the child to excuse himself from at what you hear, or at least don’t show it if you are. the conversation. Let him know you will talk with Take it all in stride. Don’t openly evaluate what is him in a few minutes. being said. If you show shock or surprise, they may withhold additional details. You want to let them When you talk to the child, sit where there are no know that while this incident is serious, other fami- distractions and nothing to interrupt the flow of lies have faced it. conversation. Ask that the TV be turned off. Suggest how to arrange the chairs, and who sits where. You On occasion, you may hear something that is unex- want the focus to be between you and the child. pected or overwhelming, such as physical or sexual abuse. In such instances stop the interview, write Be patient but persistent down what you learned to that point, and contact the suitable community agency. Be prepared to spend the necessary time. Whether you’re wearing a uniform or not, consider taking off Be observant your jacket and loosen your tie. This is a subtle way of sending the message that you feel comfortable The parent’s or child’s body language, tone of voice, with the family. Even more importantly, it tells the and how readily they answer questions can tell you family that you are not in a hurry; you will stay for as much as their actual words (see “Judging truthful- as long as it takes to get the job done. ness” below). Observe the environment as well, from the moment you approach the street where the fam- If the parents or the child avoid a topic by giving ily lives. vague answers, ask more specific questions. If they ramble, offer unimportant details, or tell irrelevant Be aware of cultural differences stories, listen politely for a while and then direct the If you are interviewing someone from a different interview by saying, “That’s interesting, but I’d like cultural group than your own, you need to be aware to ask you again...” If they repeat the same irrelevant of differences in what is considered appropriate. In story, try saying, “Yes, we’ve covered that. What I some cultures, for example, it is not respectful to would like to know is...” look someone in the eye. While beyond the scope of this book, information and training about the variety Take everything in stride of cultures found in your community can be found When parents or children want to share sensitive through local social and service agencies. Including information, they may be unsure of what your reac- a variety of such agencies is important to successful tion will be. If you sense hesitation, say something community coalitions, which are described in later like, “I’ve been working with kids and families for a chapters. long time, and there’s nothing you can tell me that I haven’t heard before.” To the child who is hesitant, try saying, “A lot of kids your age have made this same mistake. It’s important to learn from it. I’ll help you talk about it with your mom and dad.” Be careful never to make judgmental statements like, “How could you do something like that?”

59 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention Building rapport • Avoid touching. While it can be powerful to put an arm around someone to show sincere com- Building rapport is central to the success of any passion, it can raise concerns about inappropri- interview. Everything we’ve reviewed in these chap- ate touching. ters on interviewing contributes to building rapport. Being confident in the steps you’re going to take will Appropriate body language shows that you are help put the family at ease and make them feel com- interested and attentive. fortable talking with you. Show interest When we have rapport with a family, they will often Acknowledge statements by saying “Yes, okay” or say, “What a nice person. So easy to talk to. Such a “I understand.” Try repeating or summarizing the good listener.” Being a good listener is more than child’s story in your own words, such as: “So you simply not interrupting. A good listener communi- found the matches on the counter.” The child will cates genuine interest in what another person has to think, “Hey, this guy is really listening to me!” say. Unless the interview becomes unfocused, don’t inter- Start with informal conversation. Find some com- rupt. Interruptions send a strong message that you monalities or stories to tell that will put people at are not interested in this part of their story or that ease, such as sports or family interests. Take your you’re in a hurry. time. It’s appropriate to let the conversation drift a bit if that’s necessary to establish better rapport. Remember that your overall goal is to get parents and children to open up to you. If you have to listen Before a family will accept help or advice, they need to a few stories you’ve already heard or more detail to know you are interested and concerned and that than you need, it’s probably worth it. you understand them. Sometimes, this only takes a minute. Other times it will take longer. Give the Clarify examples and summarize child or his parents time to tell their story. Building rapport will take longer with children who distrust It can be difficult to share a scary or embarrassing adults, or those who have been pushed around, experience. Families may underplay certain events, ignored or betrayed. But it all begins the same way. leave out certain facts, and get the order of things confused. Repeating parts of the story lets the family Be aware of your body language hear what you are hearing. Often they will correct you. Repeating what a family member says helps Body language is an important tool in putting peo- ensure you get an accurate account. It also demon- ple at ease. Here are some suggestions: strates you are truly listening. • Sit down, especially when talking to children. You are much bigger than they are and having You also show interest by asking children to give to look up at you is intimidating. examples of what they did or what they are trying to describe. In effect, you are saying “I want to hear • Lean forward. Don’t fold your arms across your more. I want to know what really happened.” chest or lean back and look over your glasses at them. If appropriate, have the child show you what led • Look directly (but don’t stare) at the person who up to the incident, including how and where they is speaking. Don’t spend too much time looking got the ignition materials. The intent here is not to around the room, watching background activity, relive the experience, which could be too traumatic, or checking the clock. but to get a clear picture of what happened. Having

60 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention the child show you exactly what happened makes it These open-ended questions encourage children to easier for them to put the sequence of events into share their experience. Questions that require only a words. It’s easier for kids to show than tell. “yes” or “no” will likely get only that.

If you talk to the child where the fire occurred, he ...But don’t ask “why” can show you where he got the ignition materi- “Why?” doesn’t encourage people to talk, and chil- als and how he started the fire. This will often tell dren don’t know how to answer. When asked why you how far this child will go to search out ignition they did something, most children just shrug and materials. If it’s not appropriate to return to the answer, “I don’t know.” scene of the incident, have the child roleplay to help him remember and put together the pieces. You’ll Children learn that most adults don’t really expect find this technique especially useful when you ask an answer when they ask, “Why did you do that?” the child where he obtained the ignition materials. Asking “Why?” is often an adult’s way of criticizing Often, even after a fire incident, a child will take them – of saying, “What are you, stupid?” Children you to where he got the match or lighter (often a only fall into that trap so many times before they kitchen drawer or a tabletop) and it’s still there. shut down and stop communicating altogether. Encouraging others to talk

Invite the child to talk by commenting about some- thing you see in the house or by using information provided by the parents.

Be specific, such as: “I saw a model train on the table. Is that one of your hobbies?” or “Your mom told me you missed some classes at school. Is there a problem at school?” Noticing and mentioning spe- cifics lets the child know that you are well informed. He can’t really avoid a subject by not mentioning it. More general questions like, “How’s school?” usually lead to vague answers such as: “Okay.”

Ask open-ended questions: Who? What? When? Where?

Use simple, direct, questions that require more than Share stories just a yes or no answer. Many children, especially If parents or children are reluctant to talk, try telling when they are anxious, want to answer with as few stories about yourself. For example, start out with a words as possible. Don’t give them that choice. Ask: child by saying, “How about if I tell you something • Who did what? about me, then you can tell me something about • What happened? you?” Children may not have any trouble talking until it’s time to talk about the fire. You may find it • When did it happen? helpful to share something about fire from one of • Where did it happen? your own experiences. When talking with parents, • Where were you when it happened? stories are an especially good way to approach the • How did it happen? subject of appropriate supervision.

61 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention Sharing stories lets children and their parents know Know when to leave when dealing with an uncoop- that you are not passing judgment; you’re just there erative suspect. Have an “exit plan” to leave grace- to help. They begin to feel that they’re not alone – fully if a person is hostile or belligerent. Maintain a other people have made this mistake and everything professional demeanor at all times. turned out all right. Establishing the truth Offer support The best way to get at the truth is to arm yourself Offer support to help the child through the more with the facts before the interview. Learn as much difficult parts of his story. Encourage him with com- as you can about the family, the child, and the cir- ments such as, “ I know this is hard to talk about. cumstances of the incident. I’ll help you explain it to your mom and dad when we’re done,” or “You’re not the only kid who’s gotten In the interview, ask family members a series of into trouble with fire. The important thing is that questions to which you already know the answers. you and your family are okay. Everything else can be Then watch how they react and respond. Obviously, replaced.” if they contradict your facts or relate an impossible scenario, you will know they are not telling the Avoid sarcasm truth. Sarcasm and personal attacks have no place in your interview. Your goal is to build rapport and encour- Sometimes the child will continue to deny having age children to talk. started a fire, even though you have enough facts to be certain he did. Children are naturally reluc- If you attack, children will retreat. Sarcasm is a tool tant to admit they did something wrong, especially that many adults use, thinking that it’s a way to be if it was destructive or disruptive. You can help funny or communicate something unpleasant with young children admit the truth by gently forcing a less sting than a direct statement of disapproval. It response. For example, try saying “Some people set doesn’t work that way. Sarcasm communicates dis- fires because they’re mean and want to hurt people. belief, displeasure, or hostility, even if you add, “Just Other people are just fooling around and something kidding!” goes wrong. What happened here?” Choosing the less serious option is an easy way for the child to What If I Encounter Resistance? acknowledge his involvement. If he still won’t admit Proceeding systematically helps to put the family to it, there may be something else going on, and you at ease and stay on track. If you encounter resis- need to make a referral. tance, redouble your efforts at building rapport. Emphasize that you want to make sure this doesn’t Remember this technique should be used only when happen again, that the family will stay safe. you are certain the child did in fact set a fire – based on the evidence which you have carefully observed In some cases you may need to emphasize your expe- and gathered, not on a “gut instinct.” rience and authority. Explain to them the informa- tion you already have about the case. Try offering a variety of options. The better ones are often associ- ated with cooperation. “We can deal with this here, or we can go to the office.”

62 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention Judging truthfulness R. Crandall: I remember being called to the scene of a small fire The easiest way to judge truthfulness is to pin down in the home of a family with five children. The fire factual errors and inconsistencies. Identifying evasive investigator said he was certain that one of the chil- actions by children is also very effective. What kind dren had caused the fire, but he didn’t know which of clues can you look for? one. As he was telling me this, all five children were sitting side by side on the living room sofa, listen- • Hesitation. Truthful children are usually quick ing. I looked over and saw four sets of big round to respond (although hesitation may indicate eyes looking back at me. Only one child avoided shyness). making eye contact. There on the end of the sofa, the • Loss of eye contact, a downcast head, and look- littlest guy sat with his head down, his chin nearly ing at the floor are all indicators that a child in his lap. Sure enough, that’s who caused the fire. may be hiding something. Leading questions • A suddenly quiet tone, when previous responses have been emphatic, may suggest a false answer. Children can be misled if your questions are too leading or suggest the answer you want. Examples of • Evasiveness. Truthful people are unequivocal. leading questions include: “You were there, weren’t • Fidgeting and nervousness. But first, try to you?” or “You used a match, didn’t you?” Be careful establish a baseline for the child’s behavior. not to direct the child’s story to where you think Some children are naturally shy or fidgety. They it should go. It’s better to say, “Were you there?” or tap their fingers or squirm in their seats even “Do you know if matches were used?” when they are telling the truth. R. Cole: • Excessive politeness. An overly polite child may In one study, when children were asked a straight be giving you what he thinks you want to hear question about a non-existent cabinet, “Is there a to head off further questions. cabinet in the room?” 6% falsely said yes. When they were asked a slightly more leading question, Truthful responses are consistent and immediate. If “Isn’t there a cabinet in the room?” 25% said yes. a child is telling the truth, there is only one set of But when they were asked a deliberately misleading facts and he knows it. It’s quite likely that he has question, “Is the door open in the cabinet?” 56% said told the story before. If the child is inventing a new yes! (Lipmann, O., & Wendriner, 1906). story or altering the facts, he must stop to think about the question, invent an answer, recall what was In a number of studies that looked at the influence said before, and decide whether what is said now is of suggestive techniques on children, it was found consistent and makes sense. All this takes time, and that “children fabricated whole events that never he will answer slowly. Chances are he will also look occurred. At times they were led to confuse sugges- away while he thinks. tions with actual events to the point that they later insisted that the suggested events actually occurred.” (Bruck and Hembrooke, 1998).

63 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention The suggestibility of children • Gently challenge the child’s story, even if it is consistent with your beliefs. You must be sure It’s not easy to get a straight account from a child, that what you are hearing is the actual story and especially a young child. Like adults, they feel guilt, not the child’s attempt to satisfy you. shame, and fear. Several things influence the accura- cy of a child’s report, including the type of questions • Be supportive of the child and encourage him to asked, the bias of the interviewer, and the length of talk. Praise and thank him for his cooperation time between the fire incident and the interview. – but not for a particular story line. • Don’t nod your head, smile, and use encourag- One of the ways a child protects himself is to lie or ing words to reinforce only what you want to leave out important details that might implicate him. hear. Interestingly, he may also confess to a fire he didn’t start or agree with a false scenario that puts him in a • Try not to lead the child, especially a very young bad light, just to end the interview or because he is child, into confirming facts you present. too afraid to disagree. • Try to get the child to tell his story, but chal- lenge facts that are inconsistent with your evi- There is a growing body of research about the sug- dence. gestibility of children—most of it arising from a concern about the accuracy of child testimony. False • Avoid making assumptions and then using the confessions are not uncommon among both children child to confirm your guesses. Act on the objec- and adults (Loftus, 1994 and 2001). tive evidence. Biased interviewers

Biased interviewers come into an interview “know- ing” what happened and gather only the evidence that confirms their beliefs. They are not interested in the child’s version of events or in information that might test or support other scenarios. Biased inter- viewers “know” the story and just want the child to admit it.

How can you avoid interviewer bias? By using many of the techniques already discussed:

• Ask open-ended questions like, “Tell me what happened?” or “What did you do next?”

• Avoid leading questions.

• Ask about events that might not support your initial understanding of the incident. This helps you check that you have not made assumptions.

64 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention Essentials of Interviewing Judging truthfulness Summary of Key Points • Hesitation

• Loss of eye contact

Interviewer techniques • Quiet tone • Be polite and respectful • Evasiveness • Dress appropriately • Fidgeting and nervousness • Be aware of tone of voice • Excessive politeness • Take control of the interview • Avoid leading questions • Be patient and persistent

• Take everything in stride Suggestibility of children • Keep an open mind • Be observant • Avoid interviewer bias • Be aware of cultural differences

Building rapport • Be aware of your body language

• Show interest

• Clarify and summarize

• Ask for examples

• Have the child show you

Encouraging others to talk • Comment on the child’s interests

• Ask open-ended questions

• Don’t ask “Why?”

• Share stories

• Offer support

• Avoid sarcasm

65 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention Section 3: Education

Education is the key both to preventing a first fire and to providing intervention with any child who has played with or set a fire. In this section we will look at the challenges of community-wide educa- tion, specific techniques for individual interventions with children and their parents, and how to bring fire safety education into schools, including sample lesson plans.

66 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention CHAPTER Community Education

KEY CONCEPTS IN THIS CHAPTER 8 • Challenges of community safety • Roles various organizations and professional groups can play • Strategies for working together

Fire safety and the prevention of child-started fires study concluded that “Parents think safety is boring; is not just the job of the fire service. The entire furthermore, they believe they already know how community is needed to provide the resources nec- to prevent childhood injuries.” (Eichelberger et al, essary to reach every child and family. The more you 1990). interact with various organizations in your commu- nity, the more they are apt to understand and deliver These beliefs arise from the way parents view fire safety and injury prevention messages, greatly themselves. Parents justify their approach to parent- multiplying the opportunities for these messages to ing and safety by pointing out that their children reach the entire community. haven’t had a serious injury yet. This kind of logic makes prevention very difficult. Parents who think The challenges of this way won’t make changes until after someone is community safety hurt.

A major challenge is getting parents to acknowledge The difficulty in voluntarily changing safety behav- that safety is an issue they should be concerned ior is demonstrated by early campaigns to increase about. Many parents “hold the mistaken belief seat belt use. After widespread education efforts that being careful will protect their children from in the 1970s, seat belt use remained between 25% injury.” (Eichelberger et al, 1990). Parents frequently and 35%. People started regularly using seat belts believe that pre-school children are too young to be only after state legislation required use and imposed confronted by much danger and that older children fines (Garbino, 1988). know better. Parents underestimate risks, are will- ing to leave young children at home unsupervised, and are not very good at anticipating injuries. One

67 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention Characteristics of successful Applying the Integrated Model to programs Juvenile Fire Prevention Only behavior change will actually reduce Several models exist for successful safety education injuries. One useful model developed in part by the programs. The Health Belief (HBM; Janz & Becker, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – 1984) and Integrated Models (IM; Gielen & Sleet, the Integrated Model (Gielen and Sleet, 2003) 2003) provide a useful, comprehensive framework. - outlines specific factors that must be addressed in The HBM addresses the perception of risk (sus- order to actually change behavior. To implement a ceptibility to fire and likely severity), the benefits preventive behavior people must: and costs of specific preventive measures (perceived benefits and barriers), the need for timely reminders 1. Believe that they, or their children, are (cues to action) and the confidence in one’s ability susceptible to the illness or injury. Too many to act successfully (self-efficacy). The IM addresses parents feel that only mentally ill children or the importance of the concordance of program children with poorly functioning parents play goals with the recipient’s self-image and emotional with matches and lighters. Others feel their response and the role of normative pressure. These children are either too young to be interested or are vital considerations. Providing information and able to light a match, or old enough to know technology is insufficient to ensure the long term better. maintenance of the technology and preparedness of the family. 2. Believe that consequences of illness or injury will be serious. Sometimes parents think chil- Successful programs share several characteristics: dren cannot start serious fires, in the mistaken belief that one match or lighter can’t do any • They’re often backed by legislation that imposes real damage, or that it would take too long to fines for failure to follow through. spread and they would be able to put the fire • They teach, verbally praise, and reward specific out. safety behaviors. 3. Believe there are actions they can take to sub- • They offer demonstrations of appropriate stantially reduce their risk. Some families feel behaviors and provide opportunities for practice there is really nothing they can do – or need to and feedback. do. They feel their children are too young to get into serious trouble or old enough to know bet- • They take advantage of “teachable moments” ter. Or they don’t know what to say. – those times when parents are particularly open to change. These include times of crisis like 4. Perceive that barriers to action are not too those following a fire or injury, and life transi- great. What are the perceived barriers to such tions like the birth of a baby. simple education? Perhaps parents feel their children wouldn’t understand or that mention- • They take advantage of the potential influence ing matches and lighters will raise the children’s of community members, including daycare pro- interest and create a problem that would not viders, teachers, clergy, and physicians. already exist. In fact, fire is all around chil- dren, they are quite aware of it and are devel- oping their own views. If we avoid education we simply leave them on their own.

68 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention 5. Feel suff iciently self-conf ident to perform the What can be done to improve action. Some parents do not feel confident in fire safety their ability to talk to their children or to teach them important skills. They would prefer to In most communities, many of the tools are in place leave these tasks to teachers or firefighters. to make fire prevention truly effective. Some legis- lation is already on the books. Disposable lighters 6. Have positive feelings about performing must have a child-resistant mechanism. Multiple the act. Some parents feel anxious or puzzled, family dwellings must have smoke alarms; some and so simply avoid talking about such difficult must have sprinkler systems. Comprehensive educa- topics. tion programs for children are also available and are 7. Feel supported by the community at large. being used in many schools and daycare facilities. Other parents believe that parents like them in But more must be done, as described in the three the community simply do not have such talks. goals listed below. They do not want to see themselves as overly cautious or overly concerned. Whether they feel Goal #1: Raise public awareness they would be ridiculed for their concerns, or We need to raise public awareness of: simply take refuge in the idea that other parents • The frequency and seriousness of fire, and of don’t do this so why should they, this perception children’s fireplay (see ‘A Note About Language’ reduces the chance they will talk. concerning our use of this term). 8. Be reminded periodically to act. • The risk of injury, to children and their parents.

— Excerpt from Taking “Curiosity Fires” Seriously: • Children’s misconceptions about and limited The Critical Value of Prevention, prepared by understanding of fire. Fireproof Children/Prevention First for the National Emergency Training Center • Fire safety practices such as having and prac- ticing an exit plan and maintaining a working A model for community programming has been sug- smoke alarm. gested by The World Health Organization’s Safe Communities accreditation process. It uses six indi- Goal #2: Motivate parents cators: partnerships and collaborations, long-term sustainable programs, targeting vulnerable and high- We must encourage parents to: risk groups, documenting the frequency and causes • Teach their children that matches and lighters of injuries, evaluation, and ongoing participation in are adult tools. national and international Safe Communities net- works. • Keep matches and lighters out of sight and out of reach. There are a number of examples of comprehensive • Treat fire with respect and model appropriate programs that do work. Communities have finally behavior. been successful in increasing seat belt usage and child car seat usage with a combination of legislation, • Monitor their children appropriately. community-wide education, education targeted spe- cifically at new parents, and free car seat loaner pro- • Refrain from assigning fire-related responsibili- grams (Christoperson, 1989). Other programs have ties (cooking, burning trash) to children until increased car seat use by offering small rewards each they are developmentally ready for such respon- time a parent arrived at daycare with their children sibilities, usually no younger than 11 years old. properly restrained.

69 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention • Teach fire safety skills like Stop! Drop! and Community Education Roll! and Crawl Low Under Smoke. Summary of Key Points • Create and practice an exit plan.

• Make their homes safe and maintain smoke Successful prevention programs: alarms. • Often are backed by legislation; • Respond immediately and appropriately when • Teach and reward specific safety behaviors; the smoke alarm activates. • Provide opportunities for practicing appropriate behaviors; Goal #3: Educate children We must help children: • Take advantage of teachable moments;

• Understand, respect and appreciate the dangers • Partner with key community members. of fire.

• Recognize the importance of fire safety. Goals for community education include:

• Tell a grown-up if they find matches or lighters • Raise public awareness of the seriousness of or discover unsafe situations. children’s fireplay and of specific safety prac- tices; • Learn and practice life safety skills like Stop! Drop! and Roll! and Crawl Low Under Smoke. • Motivate parents to keep matches and lighters out of sight and reach, monitor children appro- • Learn to exit in an emergency and go to their priately, and avoid assignment of fire responsi- meeting place. bilities to young children;

• Educate children to tell a grown-up if they find matches or lighters, and learn specific skills such as Stop! Drop! and Roll! and Crawl Low Under Smoke.

70 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention CHAPTER Individual Educational Interventions: What parents and children need to know

KEY CONCEPTS IN THIS CHAPTER 9 • Educational goals for parents and children • What to tell parents • What to tell children

This chapter describes educational interventions You want parents to: that should take place with a child and his fam- • Restrict access to matches and lighters; ily after a fire incident. As described in previous chapters, most children who start a fire do not need • Develop and enforce clear rules about fire; intensive behavioral intervention. What is needed is education—for the child, and his parents or guard- • Provide appropriate supervision; ians. The ultimate goal of education intervention is • Practice fire and life safety skills. to prevent future fire incidents. Educational goals for parents Educational goals for children

You want parents to understand that: You want children to:

• Fireplay (see ‘A Note About Language’ on our • Understand that fire is an adult tool only; use of this term) is very common among chil- • Agree not to play with fire; dren. As described in Chapter 1, more than half of children have played with fire by the time • Practice fire and life safety skills, such as “go they are out of elementary school; and tell a grown-up” if they find matches or lighters. • It is usually the result of typical interest in fire and a lack of understanding of the risks and consequences;

• Fires set by children, even with no intent to do harm, can be very serious.

71 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention Overall educational goals Approaching parents and for families their children

Every contact with a family is an opportunity to Putting the family at ease is your first goal. The make that family safer. family must be comfortable with you in order to hear what you have to say. They also need to trust • Take the time to do a brief home safety check you enough to share their concerns. You want them to help the family identify and correct hazards. to like you and respect you enough to commit to • Check for a working smoke alarm. and follow through with your recommendations. As described in Chapter 7, developing rapport is vital.

When to conduct an Let’s review how you can build rapport: educational intervention • Treat the family with respect.

As discussed in Chapter 6, in general it’s not a good • Show that you empathize with them idea to conduct an educational intervention imme- about their loss. diately after a fire. You don’t want to meet the family • Express your understanding of the in the midst of crisis. They can only listen to you if disruption the fire has caused. they know how they are going to manage after the The impact of a fire is devastating for any family. fire. If you intervene too soon, basic survival instincts Even if they have insurance, they can’t easily replace will overshadow your attempts at an educational their belongings, mementos and personal items. intervention. They may find it difficult to deal with their loss, set aside their anger, and support their children. If you are a member of fire service responsible for investigation and interviewing for fact-gathering, You will often need to support the parents before complete these tasks and then make an appointment you can begin your educational intervention. Don’t to return to the home or visit the family in their immediately point out what they did wrong. If new location for an educational interview. Try to see appropriate, remind them that they are unhurt and the family within a week of the fire so that it’s still their children are safe. fresh in their minds. If you wait too long, chances are everything will have been cleaned or repaired, Remember that the child is suffering too. He sees and the family will want to put the incident behind the destruction and pain he has caused, and he them. knows he is responsible. With so many juvenile fires started in bedrooms, chances are the child lost many R. Crandall: of his own things. Parents may need to be reminded I would call the family to schedule a good time to that their children need love and reassurance. A hug meet with them, usually in the evening after din- from Mom or Dad works wonders for both children ner but well before the child’s bedtime. I scheduled and parents. no more than one educational intervention a night. The first reason for only doing one a night is that it It helps to acknowledge the challenge of working takes time. I never wanted to project being rushed. I and raising a family. A simple, “Yes, I understand wanted them to know that I considered this impor- how difficult this can be,” will go a long way toward tant and would take whatever time was needed. The building rapport. Sympathy and empathy are very second reason for scheduling only one a night is that effective. As described in Chapter 7, listen to what it takes a lot of concentration and mental energy. they say, ask questions, and show that you under- You are “on” the whole time. You need to put every- stand. thing else aside and concentrate on this family.

72 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention What to tell parents risk until a child comes into the kitchen. (Gärling and Gärling, 1995). Similarly, matches left out on What should you tell parents during an interven- the counter are not seen as a danger until a child tion? The sections that follow provide a few sugges- approaches them. In addition, parents may assume tions. they are properly supervising their children simply by being in the home with them. But unless closely 1. Fires started by children are a frequent and monitored, a child may find and experiment with serious problem. Offer a few numbers: local matches long before a parent notices that the child statistics if you have them, or national statistics is no longer watching TV. as described in Chapter 1. Explain the num- bers in ways parents will understand. Recall Many parents will restrict one- and two-year-olds that injuries are the leading cause of death of using gates and will put hazardous materials in children and that burns are one of the most fre- locked cabinets. But by the time children are three, quent types of injury. parents begin to give up such restrictions and rely on safety rules that they trust their children to obey. 2. Most children see fire as familiar, fun, and easy This trust is premature. Children from three to five to control. Fireplay is not typically a sign of an years of age cannot be depended on to keep them- emotional problem. Most young children just selves out of such trouble. don’t understand the consequences of playing with fire. When it comes to fire, parents must The only solution is to keep matches and lighters educate, monitor, and restrict access to ignition out of sight and out of reach. Out of sight is easy. materials. Many families keep matches and lighters in a draw- 3. Parent must keep lighters and matches out of er. But all too often, it’s the drawer that’s easiest to sight and reach. Parents are typically too casual get at – for both parents and children – such as the in their handling of matches and lighters. These silverware drawer. Reinforce that matches and light- ignition materials are routinely left out on a ers should be kept in a locked cupboard or cabinet, countertop or table. or at least out of sight and reach.

Many parents can’t imagine their children ever play- 4. Parents must develop clear rules. Parents must ing with matches or lighters. They assume that their clearly state to children that matches and light- children are as fearful of fire as they are, or are too ers are tools for adults only. If children find a young to get into trouble with matches and lighters. match or a lighter, they should tell a grown-up. They also assume that older children know better. It’s not a good idea to tell children to take the If parents use child-resistant lighters, they may matches to their parents or put them away. Since assume they don’t need to be as diligent about fire matches are dangerous, just leave them alone. safety. Although child-resistant lighters are help- Parents wouldn’t want their child to pick up a ful, they only provide a temporary margin of safety. gun and walk upstairs to hand it to Mom. They Given enough time, many children find ways to shouldn’t allow them to carry matches either. light them. Lighters of any sort should never be left out. Sometimes parental rules are confusing. This is fre- quently true of safety behavior. It can be confusing Another problem is that few parents recognize a for children to sort out what they may do with adult potential hazard until the child and the hazard supervision and what they may do alone. Many par- are in the same room at the same time. Parents ents assume that children understand the difference, might see a hot pot on the stove, but not see it as a but they don’t. They think, “If I can do something, then I can do it whether or not Mom or Dad are

73 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention there.” This is especially true if they have performed For example, studies of “Scared Straight”-type a skill or chore dozens of times without an accident. prison programs (exposing juvenile delinquents Many cooking fires start this way. or pre-delinquents to prison life and interactions with prisoners) found that this type of intervention 5. Parents must enforce their rules. The best way doesn’t change long-term behavior and in some cases to enforce rules is to praise children when they seemed to actually increase the likelihood of delin- follow them. quency.

Some parents don’t think it’s necessary to praise This “blowback” effect happens in many situa- children for following their rules—after all, that’s tions where a “fear appeal” is used to try to change what they should always do. While there is some behavior. Scare tactics designed to get people to stop truth in this, without praise, what motivates children smoking or to take steps to protect themselves from to comply? Fear of punishment? Perhaps, but that skin cancer, for instance, are often resisted because makes discipline a game where the goal for the child people feel that someone is trying to manipulate is to see what he can get away with without getting or threaten them. They react by becoming defiant “caught.” It doesn’t teach safety. (“You can’t tell me what to do”) avoiding the mes- sage (“I don’t want to hear about it”), or indulging What about instilling fear of fire? This is not effec- in wishful thinking (“That won’t happen to me”). tive either. Too much fear, and the child focuses on the fear, not on the message. --Excerpted from “Child’s Play,” Fire Chief, September 2004 If you work in the fire service, you’ve seen the dread- ful consequences of fire, the destruction and terrible 6. Parents should supervise children appropri- injuries. To impress a child with the seriousness of ately. It’s very difficult to establish guidelines fireplay, you might be inclined to describe some for appropriate supervision. What you can do in of the horrors you’ve witnessed. Surely if the child an educational intervention is make certain the could see what you have seen, he would no longer parents are operating within reasonable limits. play with fire. The temptation to do this is strong, Fire service can explain this issue to parents and but it is most often counter-productive. caregivers by describing quality of monitoring as a major contributing factor in fire safety, much The problem with stories of danger is judging the like availability of materials. level of threat. If you frighten children and cause • Pre-school children should be constantly them anxiety, they won’t listen to what you say. monitored. Parents should know what they They will be too busy trying to convince themselves, are doing at all times. Leaving pre-school “That won’t really happen to me.” This is especially children alone at home is never acceptable. true if the child has played with matches and not Locking them inside while the parents go caused a fire. out is worse than unacceptable.

Why Scare Tactics Don’t Work • Elementary school-age children should not It’s natural to wish for an easy, one-time “inocula- be left alone at home. They cannot respond tion” against future firesetting. And it’s tempting to appropriately in an emergency. They also think that “scare tactics” will do the trick. do not fully appreciate the consequences of But for kids whose social or family issues lead to fireplay. firesetting behavior, the “scare” approach may stim- ulate the very behavior you’re trying to prevent.

74 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention • Older children can be left alone at home for What to tell children brief periods only, but they should not be in charge of younger children if they them- Now let’s discuss what you should tell children dur- selves are younger than 11 or 12 years old. ing an educational intervention. Before this age, they may have an apprecia- tion of the danger of fire, but still do not 1. Fire is an adult tool. have the skills to handle an emergency, Children must understand and accept that fire is an especially if they are supervising younger adult tool. Remember to speak in words that chil- children. dren, especially grade school and pre-school chil- dren, will understand. 7. Families need to practice fire and life safety skills. These seem obvious, but are all too often One way to bring this message home is through overlooked (see “What families can do to stay analogy and storytelling. A couple of stories will safe” in Chapter 3 for more details): help illustrate how useful this can be: • All homes should have adequate, working smoke alarms. R. Crandall: In order to connect with a child, I want to mention • Families should check their smoke alarm a place he is familiar with. What better place than batteries monthly. Replace batteries every a national toy store? So I begin by asking “Do you six months or as soon as the alarm “chirps,” know what ‘Toys R Us’ is? Do you like going there? or install an alarm with a 10-year battery Tell me what kinds of things are sold there.” After (which should still be checked regularly). listening to him recite a long list of his favorite toys, I counter with, “Can you buy matches or lighters at • All families should develop and practice ‘Toys R Us’? Why not? Because matches and light- escape routes in the event of a fire, includ- ers are not toys. They are not for children.” ing at least two routes from each room of the house, and have a meeting place outside. Another approach is to use an adult item the chil- dren know about but are not allowed to use. A car is R. Crandall: a good example. Practice is so important. Firefighters train every day to prepare themselves to act appropriately in Children are familiar with cars and recognize the a fire, and it is still a challenge to remember what good things cars can do for them: taking them to you’ve learned amid the noise and darkness of a the store, to the movies, to their friend’s house, real fire. Families need to not only think about and on vacation. Children pretty much know how cars talk about how they will respond when the alarm work. They know where the keys go and how to put sounds, but actually practice it. gas in the tank. They know the steering wheel turns the car one way or another. During an educational intervention in the home, you can check the smoke alarms, help the family J. Bills: think through their escape plan, and reinforce the On occasion, I would toss my car keys to a child. importance of practicing their plan. Then I’d ask, “Can you move my car for me?” A look of amazement usually came over the child’s face before he said, “I can’t do that.” When I asked why not, I almost always heard something like, “Because I don’t know how to drive! I could get hurt or run over something.”

75 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention Children know that although cars are useful, fun, Timmy was home one day, but there was nobody to and familiar, they can also be dangerous. Like cars, play with. It was raining, and he was bored. His matches and lighters are adult tools and should only mom was down in the basement washing clothes. be used by adults. Of course, children don’t always Timmy didn’t want to watch TV; too many repeats, respond as you expect: you know how that is.

J. Bills: Well, guess what he found on the kitchen counter? To my surprise, one time, a boy grabbed my car keys, A book of matches. And even though he knew he jumped up and said, “Okay!” wasn’t supposed to touch them, he thought, “What the heck. No one is looking and I’ll be careful.” Another approach is to use extended storytelling. An example of this technique follows, although So he took the matches to his bedroom. He didn’t you’ll find your own stories just as effective. want his mom to see him, so he went into the closet. That first match lit up real good. Swoosh! Timmy As you tell a long story, keep in mind a few blew it out right away. “Gee, this is easy,” he recommendations: thought. “I can start and stop any time I want.” So he lit another match, and he held it a little longer • Adjust the circumstances of the story to than he’d held the first one before blowing it out. describe what the child you’re speaking to did. “No big deal!” he thought. This makes it easy for the child to relate to the story and see himself as the child you are Then Timmy lit another match and held it even describing. This helps him understand what can longer. But this time, when he raised it to his lips to happen if he plays with matches—that a little blow it out, one of the shirts hanging in the closet flame can turn into a big fire. caught fire. In just a single second, the whole shirt • If your story involves personal injury such as a was burning! You know clothes can burn, don’t burn, be careful not to scare the child so that he you? This really scared Timmy. He jumped up real shuts down and stops listening. You only want fast, and before he knew it, the shirt he was wear- him to understand the consequences of playing ing caught on fire. He burst out of the closet, but he with fire. was smart enough to Stop! Drop! and Roll! He put out the fire, but his arm was burned, and it really • Use a low-key tone of voice to keep the child’s stung! attention without causing him fear. Did you ever get burned accidentally? It hurts a lot, R. Crandall: doesn’t it? Well, Timmy was relieved that his shirt I like to get to know the child a bit before I begin a wasn’t on fire, but when he looked up, he saw that long story. It’s easy to make a transition into a long his whole closet was full of flames. They were com- story by saying something like, “You know, I know ing right into his bedroom! The next thing he knew, someone just like you. In one of the fires I investi- the smoke alarm was going off and his mom was gated there was a boy named Timmy. Timmy was pushing him out of the house. They ran outside to a about your age. How old are you? Seven? Yep, I neighbor’s house and called 911. think Timmy was seven.” Then you can continue with the rest of the story. Here’s one I have used The firefighters were able to put the fire out, but with success. not before it burned up a whole lot of Timmy’s house. Timmy’s clothes were burned, his bed was burned, and he lost a lot of his toys. Even the rug in

76 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention the hall was burned. Timmy’s family had to move Positive reinforcement means giving children some- out of his house until it was fixed up. But the worst thing they can do (i.e. “go tell a grown-up”), not part was that Timmy had to go to the hospital. His just something they can’t. It gives you and parents burns kept him from going swimming on his sum- a chance to acknowledge and reward the children’s mer vacation. And you know what? Timmy wasn’t efforts. You want children to accept their responsi- able to play ball that summer, either. All because he bility in fire safety, to commit to it, and if appropri- got burned playing with matches. ate to let you know how they are doing.

At this point, I give the child a moment to reflect on This is a far cry from threats and warnings. Dire the story. Then I might reinforce the message of the warnings lose their effectiveness if the child starts story by saying, “Guess what? You were doing the to play with fire again and nothing terrible happens. same thing Timmy was doing! Aren’t you lucky that The child will then believe his own experience, and didn’t happen to you?” This last question can really ignore your serious warnings. Educational and par- hit home. I find it effective to look the child right in enting research demonstrates that positive reinforce- the eye and ask, “How can we make sure that never ment and praise work much better than negative happens to you?” In every instance, the child has reinforcement, threats, and punishment. looked up and said with great feeling: “I’m never going to play with fire again!” 3. Think ahead.

In an educational intervention, help the child think The message “fire is an adult tool only” is appropri- ahead. He must know and practice what he will do ate for both very young and elementary school age the next time he faces temptation or peer pressure. children. As discussed earlier, children younger than What will he do when he finds a match or lighter, 11 should not be given fire-related responsibilities or if a friend is tossing lit matches in the air to such as cooking or burning trash. impress someone? What if a friend suggests they go behind the garage and light some leaves? For older children, safety messages will be about making good choices, and understanding the respon- After your initial fact-finding interview, you should sibilities involved in using fire. Several good pro- know where parents keep matches and where they grams are available for working with older children: may be when someone forgets to put them away. You may also know which of the child’s friends are • RiskWatch® , an injury prevention program involved in fireplay, where they are when they play, from the National Fire Protection Association, what they do, and what they say to encourage oth- offers lessons through 8th grade. ers to join them. If you don’t know these important • Learn Not to Burn®, also from NFPA, is orga- facts, ask. nized into three levels including one for stu- dents in grades six to eight. Then recreate the scene and have the child antici- pate the action. You can use this approach with any fire hazard, such as finding matches or being pres- 2. Practice f ire safety. sured by another child. By setting a realistic scene, Try to recruit children to help keep their families the child can think about and practice what he will safe. Emphasize that everyone in the family, even the say, first with you and then with his peers. He must youngest one, has a job to do. Children can watch understand that it’s acceptable to say no and go tell for things that threaten the safety of the family such a grown-up. as matches or lighters being left out.

77 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention R. Crandall: Individual Educational I’ve used this approach many times. I might say, Interventions “So the next time Alex shows up with his dad’s Summary of Key Points lighter and says, ‘Let’s go behind the garage and light some leaves,’ what will you do? What will you say to him?” If his reply is not realistic or effective, Whenever we have contact with a family we need I will challenge it by asking something like, “Well to make every effort to ensure that the family is safe you could say that, but what do you think Alex will from fire. say?” or “What do you think Alex might do then?” I try to help the child think about what his response Tell parents: might be. At this point I might ask, “Okay, but what if Alex says you’re a chicken? What could you • Fires started by children are common, say then?” and serious.

• Most child-started fires result from typical Here’s another scenario you could use. interest in fire and a lack of understanding of the risks and consequences. R. Cole: I use this one to help teach children what to do • They must keep matches and lighters out of when they find matches or lighters. I might begin, sight and out of reach. “So you come home from school, and your mom has left her lighter out on the counter again. What will • They must develop clear rules and enforce you do?” I also like to talk about what the child them. might be thinking and how he might be tempted to • They must monitor children appropriately. play just one more time. • They should practice fire and life safety skills. The temptation to play with fire is very real. That’s why it’s so important to reward a child who behaves Tell children: appropriately. In each scenario, make sure the child knows the correct response, whether it’s to say no to • Fire is an adult tool. a friend who pressures them, leave the lighter alone, or tell a grown-up to put away matches. • Practice fire safety. • Think ahead. Once the child has a reasonably good idea of what to say and how to combat pressure, help him prac- • Practice various scenarios. tice. Let the child roleplay and, when appropriate, you roleplay another child. Have the child respond out loud and then “shake on it.”

Practice a couple of times until the child feels com- fortable and confident. Then have him practice with his parents and agree to report back to you after he has used his new skills for real.

78 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention CHAPTER Classroom and Firehouse Education

KEY CONCEPTS IN THIS CHAPTER10 • Selecting and using classroom materials • Classroom goals • Special tips for fire service

Everyone, especially children and parents, needs • Do the activities teach a worthwhile lesson? Do preventive education to help reduce juvenile fire- they teach a specific skill/behavior, or simply setting. One of the best ways to reach parents is promote awareness? through their children, and one of the best places • Are the materials effective? Has anyone mea- to reach children is through their school or daycare sured their effectiveness? Is there a before and center. after comparison? Has anyone measured what the children learned or what new skills they Teachers and daycare providers are busy people could perform? charged with a great deal of responsibility. They may be concerned about fire prevention and safety, • Do the lesson plans come with appropriate but like most of us, have limited time and resources. background materials? Asking teachers to add another lesson to their schedule can seem like one thing too many. Easy- • Do they try to teach too much at one time? to-use classroom materials requiring minimal prepa- One lesson per week is as much as children can ration time are essential. really absorb. Selecting classroom materials • Does the program supply complete and ready- to-use activities?

Whether you are a teacher, or a member of the fire • Are there activities children can do on their service or other community agency seeking to bring own? This gives the teacher time to work with a fire prevention program into the classroom, ask individual students. yourself these questions when assessing an educa- tional program: • For what age group is the program intended? Are the materials appropriate to that age? • Are the lesson objectives clearly stated?

79 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention Examine the materials to see if they are appropri- Chapter 3 side bar: What Can Young Children Learn? ate. Look for materials that are clear and interest- for an evaluation of this program). It is exceptionally ing, but not overwhelming. Primary school children easy to use. Appendix D, Internet Resources, pro- shouldn’t have to remember too much or make deci- vides web sites to learn more about these programs. sions. In our materials, we teach one skill related to a specific situation. For example, if in a room with Using classroom educational smoke, they should get down and crawl low under materials the smoke. If they find matches or lighters, they are to “go tell a grown-up.” It’s imperative to teach fire safety more than once a year. It’s reasonable to assume that children, like Look for programs that include a variety of activi- adults, will forget key details over time. ties. Variety not only helps maintain a child’s inter- est, but it also helps meet the needs of children with Linking fire safety to specific seasons or special different skills and learning styles. The best materi- holidays can make it more timely and reinforce les- als include games, puzzles, and stories that require sons. While fire safety is a year-round responsibility, active participation and provide hands-on experi- addressing candle safety during the winter holiday ence. When children are actively engaged, they are season and fireworks safety before July 4th provides forced to think about what they’re doing. If all they an opportunity to review other key fire safety mes- do is watch and listen, you won’t know if they’re sages. thinking about the message or daydreaming. When teaching such important life safety lessons, Videos and DVDs, if done well, can be effective it’s tempting to try to cover as much material as tools that are fun, engaging, colorful, and informa- possible in the brief time you have in the classroom. tive. They offer live action, animation, and music Remember, it is easy to overwhelm and confuse the to capture a child’s interest. More importantly, they children. enable children to see and hear the skills you want them to learn. Each time they are played, children Think about what can happen if you teach children see the skills you want them to learn done correctly. too much, too quickly: Unlike humans, a video or DVD will always dem- onstrate the skill correctly. • They may mix up the basic skills. • They may freeze trying to remember exactly Several classroom programs are available nation- what they’re supposed to be doing. wide. Two noteworthy programs are the National Fire Protection Association’s RiskWatch® injury prevention program and BIC Corporation’s play Take time to assess if the children understand the safe! be safe!® multi-media fire safety classroom lessons and can perform the skills. When you work kit. RiskWatch provides five age-graded modules with teachers, ask them to introduce only one new covering eight injury risks including fire, with les- lesson or objective each week. If you provide a vari- son plans for each unit. Evaluation of the program ety of activities that address each objective, make has demonstrated significant improvements in sure there’s enough material to hold the children’s knowledge for all modules (National Fire Protection interest. If activities are fun, children will ask to Association, 2001). repeat them.

The play safe! be safe! kit, developeddeveloped forfor childrenchildren ages 3-5, is available in English, Spanish and French and includes a video or DVD, activity boards, Keep Away!/Aléjate card game, and teacher’s manual (see

80 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention In the event of a fire, children and their parents should know:

• To go outside as quickly as possible.

• Not to hide.

• Not to look for special toys, clothes, or pets.

• To go to a pre-arranged meeting place.

With pre-school children, concentrate on how important it is to get outside and go to their meet- ing place.

Elementary school children can be taught more complex skills. They should learn not only two ways out, but how to check the door before opening it. At this age, children can understand that a hot door may be holding back fire and smoke and should not be opened. Instead, if they are on the first floor, encourage them to crawl out a window.

Children and their parents often ask what to do Classroom goals if they are trapped in a room on an upper floor. Suggest that they close the door, seal it with towels While the level of detail will vary depending on the or clothing, and then go to the window and get the children’s age, the key points that all children should attention of firefighters. understand are the same. As described in detail in Chapter 3 children of any age can understand key The designated meeting place is extremely impor- preventive behaviors: tant. Ask children to talk with everyone in their • Matches and lighters are adult tools only. family about where the meeting place might be, and then practice getting out of the house and gathering • “Go tell a grown-up” if they find matches or there. lighters left out. You should also emphasize the importance of having two ways out. We encourage children to talk with And they can understand and practice specific safety their families about where a fire might start and skills such as: how to get out in case the major exits are blocked. • Go to the Firefighter School open houses and parent meetings provide an • Crawl Low Under Smoke opportunity to bring these messages to parents as • Stop! Drop! and Roll! well as children. See Chapter 3, for details of what families can do to stay safe, such as maintaining smoke alarms and making and practicing an exit plan.

81 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention Special tips for f ire service and concerned about them. As a friend, they’ll be more likely to listen to you, follow your suggestions, Fire service can play an especially strong role in and come to you with issues they might not bring preventive education. The natural interest most chil- up in a more structured atmosphere. dren have in firefighters and fire trucks provides an opportunity to keep their attention, gain their trust, Once you are at ease with the children, answer- and get your message across. ing questions about firefighting is easy to do and requires no special presentation. Expect to be bom- Classroom visits give children a real-life sense of barded with questions. Fire and the work of the ser- how important it is to learn fire safety skills. Your vice fascinates children and adults alike. Be prepared presence is far more effective than asking children to for questions such as, “Is firefighting fun? What do learn fire safety from books or videos, although they you do when you aren’t fighting fires?” Firefighters have their place too. who go into the classroom need to be comfortable talking to children. Sample lesson plans for specific age groups are pro- vided at the end of this chapter. As an added benefit, building an ongoing relation- Building partnerships ship with a school lets you get to know the school, how it works, what it needs, and how you can best meet those needs. All of this makes scheduling and Partnerships with adults who work with children are conducting classroom presentations easier, but best the key to keeping fire safety messages alive beyond of all, it means your fire safety and prevention mes- Fire Prevention Week. A once-a-year presentation sages will be reinforced even when you’re not there. doesn’t have the impact of a friendly and familiar Such a relationship allows you to take advantage of face working with the children month after month. “teachable moments” rather than relying on formal presentations. Many fire departments have an Adopt-A-School program. Such year-round programs allow you to Building rapport get to know the children, teachers, and administra- tors in your school district, and let them get to know In any presentation, you want to get and hold the you. The more successful you are in making them children’s attention. A great way to do this is to get trusted friends, the easier your job will be. Teachers them interested in your gear, and then move on to and school administrators appreciate caring adults your fire safety and prevention messages. who can work with children. This chapter describes various techniques you can Being a regular visitor to the classroom needn’t be use to educate children about fire safety. Where and complicated or formal. Simply reading aloud to the how you use them is up to you, but at the start of children can help you build rapport and introduce any presentation, be sure to introduce yourself and key safety lessons. Being read to helps children explain the details of your job. academically, and books or stories about fire safety are another way to promote your message (see We recommend that you not be wearing your gear Appendix C for one example, Mikey Makes a Mess). when you enter the classroom. Your appearance, without any preparation for the children, can be Even if all you do is eat lunch with the children, frightening and disruptive. Instead, come in and sit you have a great opportunity to gain their attention down with the children first. Introduce yourself, and and their trust. When children get to know you, the get to know them a little. Give them a chance to ask human being in the firefighter uniform, they learn questions. that firefighters are friends who are interested in

82 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention Put on your gear After teaching young children a basic fire safety skill such as Crawl Low Under Smoke and Stop! Drop! Your first goal is to make the children comfortable and Roll!, ask the teacher or daycare provider to with you and your gear. Try using these techniques: help the children practice while you are still there. • Describe your gear and show it to the children This is also the time to answer questions. one piece at a time. You will find that one session is never enough to • Explain why you have to wear so much protec- effectively teach a fire safety skill to a classroom full tive gear. Depending on the age of the group, of children. They must use this skill automatically you can explain how each piece is made and if they find themselves in a fire. To achieve an auto- what it does. matic response, children must practice over and over • Last, put on all your gear and demonstrate how again. Practicing with their teacher can help make a completely outfitted firefighter looks and this happen. sounds. Children who have experienced a fire may be unable to practice a fire safety skill because it is too upset- Alternatively, you may want to put the gear on the ting. Even if they do practice, their fear in an actual teacher. Because their teacher is familiar to them, fire might cause them to revert to a response like children are better able to remember that it’s still hiding. Before you go into the classroom, be sure him or her underneath all that gear. to ask the teacher whether he or she knows of any children who have experienced a fire. Being comfortable with how a firefighter looks in full turn-out gear is important for children. In a fire, With a child such as this, encourage the teacher you want children to go to the firefighter, not run to work with his parents to help calm and reassure away and hide. Serious fires cause a lot of smoke, him. Professional counseling may be needed if the noise and commotion. This is frightening enough to child is too afraid to talk about how to handle an children without the firefighter adding to the chaos, emergency or he is too upset to practice safety skills. clunking around and sounding like a space alien. See Although this type of disabling fear is uncommon, Chapter 3 for more about teaching children to “Go do not ignore it or brush it aside. to the Firefighter”. The firehouse tour Even for older children who aren’t afraid of the appearance of a firefighter in full turn-out gear, The firehouse tour is a wonderful time for firefight- seeing the gear up close teaches them how much ers to interact with the community. You can arrange protective clothing firefighters need to allow them tours for individual families or classes from schools. to enter burning buildings. This reinforces the fact Although field trips are most common, consider that in a fire they need to get out quickly and not hosting a career day for high school students. go back inside, because they don’t have anything like this kind of protection. Tours are usually scheduled, but when people stop by, try to take advantage of the opportunity. Ideally, you will make several visits to the classroom Firehouse tours should not automatically be del- and use one visit to review with the children each egated to the youngest firefighter; the entire crew of the basic skills and safety lessons described in should play a role. Chapter 3: Crawl Low Under Smoke, Stop, Drop and Roll!, Matches and lighters are adult tools, and Go to the Firefighter.

83 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention Include the following activities in your tour: Classroom and Firehouse Education • Introduce each member of the crew. Summary of Key Points • Briefly tour the firehouse.

• Point out a few of the more interesting tools on Selecting and evaluating classroom materials the rigs and let your visitors touch things like a hose with a firefighting nozzle. • Are lesson objectives clear? • Do the materials teach a worthwhile lesson? • Gather in a meeting area and have one of the crew demonstrate putting on turn-out gear and • Have the materials been evaluated for effective- Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA). ness? Show and explain each piece of the equipment, • Does the program provide ready-to-use materi- especially the facemask since it may be scary to als? children. Let children touch the facemask and • Are the materials easy to use and age appropri- other items if they choose to. ate? • Reiterate basic fire safety lessons such as that • Does the program include activities children can matches and lighters are adult tools and Stop! do on their own? Drop! and Roll!

• Remind families to plan at least two escape Examples of available classroom programs: routes, practice their escape routes, and maintain • RiskWatch® smoke alarms. • play safe! be safe!®

Many people consider the firehouse tour as enter- tainment, like a trip to the museum. For them it is a Classroom goals chance to look firsthand at the “last American hero.” Children of any age can understand: Be prepared to give them what they have come for, • Matches and lighters are adult tools only. and include some important life safety messages as well. Keep these messages simple. Because the envi- • “Go tell a grown-up” if they find matches ronment is highly exciting and stimulating for kids, or lighters left out. they may not retain everything you would like them They can practice specific safety skills: to know. But every contact, including a firehouse • Go to the Firefighter visit, is an opportunity to educate. • Crawl Low Under Smoke Teenagers and adults may be interested in what • Stop! Drop! and Roll! it takes to become a member of your department. Others may stop by with questions about fire safety, In the event of a fire, children and their parents hazards, or code requirements. To satisfy the wide should know: variety of people who may visit the firehouse, keep it • To go outside as quickly as possible. stocked with a range of informational brochures. • Not to hide.

Regardless of the reason for the visit, the full hos- • Not to look for special toys, clothes, or pets. pitality of your department should come shining • To go to a pre-arranged meeting place. through. Use this as a chance to be a real hero by giving them usable information to stop a fire before it begins.

84 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention Special tips for fire service Sample Lesson for Pre-school • Build a partnership with neighborhood schools.

• Make several regular classroom visits. What the Firefighter Wears

The firehouse tour 1. Introduce yourself and your crew. Tell them a little about yourself, and about your firehouse. • Introduce the crew and briefly tour the fire- house. 2. Ask if the fire department has ever visited their • Demonstrate putting on turn-out gear and house, or if they have ever visited the firehouse. breathing apparatus. 3. Explain why you are there, e.g. “I visit class- • Reiterate basic fire safety such as “matches and rooms and talk to children about what they can lighters are adult tools only.” do to keep themselves and their family safe.”

• Remind families to plan escape routes and 4. Explain that today, you want to talk about what maintain smoke alarms. firefighters wear when fighting a fire.

Sample Lesson Plans 5. Show the first segment of the play safe! be safe!® video.

Plan your fire safety lesson to fit with the classroom 6. Ask the children if they would like to see the teacher’s schedule. The lesson typically should not firefighter’s gear. Demonstrate the gear by put- be more than 20 minutes and should focus on one ting it on, slowly, in front of the children. Before or two fire safety skills or messages. Too much putting on the mask and breathing apparatus, information will just overwhelm them, and much of talk to the children for a minute or two. Ask it won’t be remembered. It is often a good idea to one or two to come up and shake your hand. start with a personal story about you or your family, such as why you joined the fire service, so they can 7. Cover your face with the mask and uncover it a see beyond the uniform. few times to help the children understand it is still you. Put on the breathing apparatus.

8. Take off the gear. Ask the children if they have questions.

9. Remind the children they are to go to the fire- fighter if theythey areare everever calledcalled byby thethe firefighterfirefighter when there is a fire in their home.

85 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention Sample Lessons for Grades 4-6 Lesson 2: Keeping Your Family Safe From Fire (can be adapted for middle school) 1. After introducing yourself as above, explain Lesson 1: What To Do In A Fire that your purpose today is to help them protect themselves and their families from fire. 1. Introduce yourself and your crew; tell a little bit 2. Ask the class what they think poses fire risks about your firehouse and your role in the com- in their homes, school or community, e.g. play- munity, as well as about you personally. This ing with matches or lighters; candles; cooking; will help children to relate to you as a ‘person’, gasoline or other flammable liquids; smoking in as well as a professional firefighter or emergency bed. responder. 3. List the fire risks on the board as they are given 2. Explain that the purpose of your visit is to be by the students. certain they know what to do if there is a fire in their home. Give an example of fires you have 4. Now ask students to work in groups of 3 or 4 worked on where people did not know what to to come up with some safety practices that will do, what they did, and what happened. Some prevent these fires. examples: tried to put the fire out; went back in 5. List the practices as each group reports out, to get their pet; had removed the alarm batter- reinforce their suggestions, and enhance them if ies; didn’t know how to escape. necessary. 3. Ask if any of them have had a fire in their 6. Develop an exit plan with one student for his home, or know someone who has experienced a home to demonstrate how it is done. fire. Ask them to describe what happened and how they responded. End by asking them to help keep their own homes 4. Ask the class if they know what to do in case of and families safe by sharing information with their a fire: get out; go to the meeting place; call 911 families, implementing some of the safety practices, at a neighbor’s house; wait for the fire service. and developing an exit plan with their family. Write down what they say. Reinforce the accu- rate responses, and provide fire safety informa- tion that will correct or improve responses.

86 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention Section 4: The Mental Health Professional’s Role

Fire departments cannot address the problem of juvenile firesetting single- handedly. In this section we will review the role of the mental health profes- sional in assessment and in providing cognitive/ behavioral interventions for children whose fire involvement requires more than educational intervention.

87 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention CHAPTER Assessment Approaches and Tools3

KEY CONCEPTS IN THIS CHAPTER11 • Firesetting as part of a comprehensive assessment • Working with fire service • Assessment approaches and assessment areas • Assessment tools

This chapter is designed to familiarize human ser- Firesetting as part of a vice and mental health professionals with tools and comprehensive assessment processes to empower them to work with children involved in firesetting. Such professionals should It is not uncommon for even experienced clini- be an integral part of the community team that cians to report feelings of anxiety upon learning provides identification, assessment and treatment that youth entrusted to their care have a history of of juvenile firesetting (see Chapters 13 and 14 on involvement with fire. Practitioners often assume Community Coalition Building). that effective intervention with such children requires highly specialized skills. Working with Note to fire service: As discussed earlier, one important children who set fires is not a great mystery. The role of the fire service is gathering information. While approach discussed below combines traditional you may find the following material interesting, read- treatment approaches with sound research on chil- ing it will not make anyone qualified to make a psycho- dren and fire. logical assessment. This chapter is for professionals to use in conjunction with their mental health training. Most clinicians have already cared for and helped a considerable number of children with fireplay/set- ting histories, even if they do not know of these histories. You can be confident that your overall experience and skills as a mental health professional will assist you in making an assessment, and provid- ing appropriate intervention.

Remember that firesetting can be only one behav- ior, and should be examined in the context of a full

3Adapted from “Evidence-Based Multidisciplinary Strategies for assessment. Firesetting may be one manifestation Working with Children Who Set Fires,” D.L. Sharp and S. Blaakman, of acting out behavior, and can be addressed with University of Rochester School of Nursing.

88 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention sound assessment and intervention strategies, rather The fire service is an important source of collateral than a unique behavior requiring highly specialized data when assessing children involved with fireset- clinical skills. It may be a simple combination of a ting. Fire investigators are trained observers who child’s typical interest in fire and inadequate super- record detailed descriptions of the child’s behavior vision. around juvenile fire incidents, and provide as com- plete a picture as possible of both the incident and Experts in juvenile firesetting have identified the youth involved. They often conduct interviews several areas considered essential to a comprehensive with the child, parents, teachers, neighbors and wit- assessment (Kolko, 2002 and MacKay, 2004). nesses. Comparing and contrasting clinical assess- These include: ment data with information provided by the fire and/or police departments can greatly enrich your • a detailed exploration of the child’s history with understanding of the child, the family, and the fac- and knowledge of fire; tors that contributed to the incident. • overall behavioral functioning; Close collaboration with fire investigators not only • cognitive functioning and information-process- enhances assessment, but can help develop a timely, ing style; sound, individualized educational and/or treatment plan (Cognitive interventions will be discussed in • social and emotional functioning; more detail in Chapter 12). Given the potential • family functioning. dangers inherent in firesetting, moving quickly but accurately through the assessment process is a clinical priority. With the exception of fire history and knowledge, these areas are generally included in any comprehen- Assessment approaches sive assessment of children and youth regardless of presenting clinical symptoms. Given the pervasive The overall goal is to gain an understanding about nature of fireplay in our culture (as described in ear- the child, his parent’s perspective, and the child’s lier chapters), even when firesetting behavior is not a environment by using your interviewing and obser- child’s presenting symptom, it is prudent to incorpo- vation skills and incorporating information from the rate fire history and knowledge, at least briefly, dur- fire service and other agencies. ing any comprehensive clinical assessment. The clinician should employ skillful interviewing Working with fire service methods such as remaining nonjudgmental, staying curious and striving to understand the child’s per- Mental health practitioners who work with chil- spective of their experience, being mindful of one’s dren and adolescents typically gather data from assumptions, and avoiding premature conclusions several sources in an effort to develop as complete about the child’s motives or intent. an assessment as possible. These include the youth him/herself, family members, and other collateral sources such as school personnel. All of these are integral to assessing and working with youth who play with and/or set fires.

89 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention Assessment areas The target of the fires set by the child or adolescent with underlying issues tends to have special mean- A comprehensive assessment of every child referred ing, because the fire itself is usually emotionally is essential to have a complete picture and determine significant for the youth. For example, a child who the seriousness of the incident. There are four pri- is angry with his father for neglecting him might mary areas of assessment: the incident; the child, intentionally set his father’s car on fire as a means of including history of fire involvement; the family; keeping his father at home and as a way of drawing and parental understanding of and approach to attention to his poorly functioning family. fire safety. • The child’s immediate response and appearance THE INCIDENT of remorse. Fire service reports about the incident and inter- views at the scene of the fire provide important Once the fire is set, children struggling with chal- information to help you evaluate the seriousness lenging emotional issues may not admit they set of the incident and determine the best method of the fire. They often will not make attempts to intervention and treatment. These reports include: extinguish the fire but rather may run away to a safe position where they will watch the fire burn. • Circumstances of the incident, including the This behavior in an older child differs from similar location and timing, specific items burned and behavior in a pre-schooler, who may not understand whether an accelerant was used, and the ignition the possible consequences of the fire and simply source. wants to avoid “getting in trouble.”

Examine information that will help determine if It must be emphasized that these factors are intended the child was playing, or whether he or she set a fire only as guidelines for assessment. As with most symp- deliberately. Fireplaying children and adolescents tomatic behavior, there is considerable variability are more inclined to start fires on the spur-of-the- among children who play with and set fires (Gaynor, moment, in unplanned ways, using whatever ignition 1991). sources are available to them at the time of the inci- dent. More troubled youth may search out and use THE CHILD aids to spread the fires they set such as flammable Assessing the child’s attention, focus, general behav- and combustible materials. ior and mood will help your evaluation.

• Child’s intent and target • What is the child’s behavioral functioning? Aside from the fire involvement, are there other A 2003 review of research literature (Putnam and concerns about the child’s behavior? Kirkpatrick, 2005) confirmed earlier research by Fireproof Children Company and others: the • Does he have impulse control? Communication motives underlying fireplay by youth struggling with skills to communicate distress? Is the child fre- more complex underlying issues are likely to be quently angry? more intentional and instrumental (the fire was set • What is his mood, and how well does he man- to achieve a particular goal) rather than experimen- age his emotions? tal. When complex psychodynamic issues underlie firesetting behavior, youth may work diligently to • What are his peer relationships and social locate and acquire ignition sources such as matches functioning? Have others complained about his and lighters, and may conceal them until they are behavior? needed.

90 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention History of f ire involvement PARENT’S APPROACH TO FIRE SAFETY

The history and frequency of incidents is one of The parent’s own history of fire involvement, includ- several factors (along with method, motive, ignition, ing stories they may tell in front of their children, target, and behavior) to consider when gathering may model or connote tacit approval of inappropri- data to assist in distinguishing unsupervised fire play ate behavior. from firesetting behavior that may point to more complex underlying issues (Kolko, 2002; Gaynor, What was the family’s reaction to the fire incident? 1991). Did they have any insight into their child’s reasons for fire involvement? Similar to suicide assessment, in which greater risk is associated with a pattern of detailed suicide plan- How have parents addressed fire safety? Were igni- ning via highly lethal means (Stuart, 2005b), it is tion materials easily available? As discussed in likely that juveniles who pose greater risk for act- Chapter 3, limiting access to ignition materials and ing out behavior involving fire establish a recurrent providing appropriate supervision are key points pattern of purposively planned, multiple firestarts for parents. Responsible modeling of fire use, and over an extended time period as opposed to engag- refraining from assigning responsibility for fire use ing in more unplanned, sporadic episodes of fireplay until the child is developmentally ready (no earlier (Gaynor and Hatcher, 1987). than 11 or 12 years old) is also very important.

THE FAMILY ASSESSMENT TOOLS

As described in Chapter 3, parental and family Several structured interview guides are available to behavior is closely related to children’s fireplay and assist your work with juveniles who set fires. Two of firesetting. These behaviors can range from ineffec- the most widely used evidence-based guides are: tive parenting and poor supervision to more complex family issues. Consider: TAPP-C Fire Involvement Interview

• What is the parent’s history of fire involvement? The Arson Prevention Program for Children inter- view tool was developed by MacKay et al (1991) for • What is the parent’s attitude toward the child’s use with youth referred to their program in Canada. firesetting? The instrument can usually be completed in less than 2 hours. It is comprised of a structured format • Is parental supervision consistent? Effective? that includes questions designed to gather informa- Lacking? tion about details of the presenting fire incident, • Do parents have and communicate rules, backed the child’s fire history, and parental fire histories. up by appropriate discipline? (In Fireproof More information is available from the Centre for Children’s survey of schoolchildren in the Addiction and Mental Health, listed in Appendix D, Rochester City School District, when asked Internet Resources. what their parents would do if they knew about the child’s firesetting, many children replied: “Nothing.”) (Grolnick et al, 1990).

• What is the parent’s mental and emotional state? Is there depression, or hostility? Is there a history of firesetting? A criminal history?

91 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention The Children’s Firesetting Interview (CFI) and More information can be found at Dr. Kolko’s Web Firesetting Risk Interview (FRI) site, included in Appendix D, Internet Resources.

These tools were developed by Kolko and Kazdin Other guides (1989a and 1989b), to guide interviews with chil- dren and their parents. CFI is designed to elicit The FEMA Risk Survey is widelywidely usedused byby firefire ser-ser- information from children, whereas the Firesetting vice. It can be a helpful guide for structuring an Risk Interview (FRI) was developed to measure par- interview, but should be used by fire service only ents’ risk perceptions of their children’s potential to within their appropriate role of information gather- play with and/or set fires. ing, and should not be regarded as empowering fire service to make a diagnosis. The FIRE Protocol The Children’s Firesetting Interview is comprised of (Pinsonneault & Richardson, 1992), widely used in 6 subscales including: curiosity about fire; involve- Massachusetts, is most appropriate for children and ment in fire-related activities; knowledge about youth whose behavior is particularly challenging and what burns; fire competence; exposure to adult role who have some history of delinquent and/or antiso- models and to ignition materials; and supervision cial behavior. or discipline in general. The instrument has good internal consistency and test-retest reliability (Kolko If you choose to use a specific assessment tool, make & Kazdin, 1989a), and has been used to distinguish sure you understand why you are using that tool. children who set fires from those who do not. In Consider how it was developed and for what pur- particular, children who set fires acknowledged pose. When using any assessment tool, keep in mind more attraction to fire; past fireplay; family interest that they are simply guides to assist with your inter- in fire; exposure to friends or family who smoke; viewing. They should not be considered prescriptive. and knowledge of things that burn, but less fire competence (demonstrated via role play) than chil- INTERVENTIONS dren who did not set fires (Kolko & Kazdin, 1992; All children who have been involved with a fire Kolko, 2002). incident should receive an educational interven- tion, which is described in detail in Chapter 9. The Firesetting Risk Interview is comprised of 86 Educational interventions teach specific skills and items (15 subscales) of items that cover both fire- behavior related to safety, for both children and their specific and general behavior domains. When the parents. instrument was administered to parents of both children who set fires and children who did not, the Cognitive/behavioral interventions are undertaken tool distinguished children who set fires by their by mental health professionals to deal with under- parents scoring them significantly higher on mea- lying issues that have led to firesetting. These are sures of firesetting contact (e.g. curiosity about fire; designed to help the child recognize the urge to involvement in fire-related acts; exposure to peers/ start a fire, interrupt the behavior before it starts, family members modeling of fire use), general child/ and substitute socially appropriate behaviors. These parent behavior (e.g. negative punishment), and are discussed in detail in the next chapter. family environment (use of harsh punishment; less effective mild punishment; Kolko & Kazdin, 1992; Kolko, 2002). The instrument can be administered either as a self-report tool or by interview. Internal consistency of each of the subscales has been dem- onstrated (Kolko & Kazdin, 1989).

92 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention Assessment Approaches Assessment tools and Tools • Interview tools should be checked for validity. Summary of Key Points • They are only guides to interviewing, not diag- nostic. Mental health professionals should be an integral • Some widely used assessment tools include: part of the community team addressing juvenile firesetting. - TAPP-C Fire Involvement Interview - Children’s Firesetting Interview (CFI) and • Firesetting is not a mystery. It can be addressed Firesetting Risk Interview (FRI) with sound assessment and intervention strate- gies. - FEMA Risk Survey (used by fire service)

• Firesetting should be examined in the context of a full assessment.

Working with fire service

• Fire investigators are trained observers, and can provide important collateral data.

• Collaboration with fire service enhances both assessment and a timely treatment plan.

Assessment approaches and areas

• When interviewing, stay curious and mindful of your own assumptions.

• Consider: - the incident - the child’s intent and target - the child’s attention, focus, and behavior - history of fire involvement - family issues - the parent’s approach to fire safety

93 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention CHAPTER Cognitive/Behavioral Interventions (For Mental Health Professionals Only)4

KEY CONCEPTS IN THIS CHAPTER12 • Evaluated interventions • Other interventions • Family work • Ineffective intervention strategies

As described in Chapter 9, all children and families Cognitive behavioral involved in fireplay can potentially benefit from therapy (CBT) educational intervention. In this chapter we will discuss more intensive interventions that may be One of the most highly developed treatment necessary when fireplay and/or firesetting behavior approaches for a myriad of mental health issues is occurs frequently or in a pattern, is not responsive cognitive behavioral therapy. CBT has also been to educational interventions, and/or has affected the shown to be effective in addressing the issue of child’s social, emotional, family or school function- juvenile firesetting (Kolko, 2001). Through the ing. The following intervention techniques should be therapeutic relationship, the child and family must undertaken only by a trained therapist. be able to recognize that firesetting has a purpose for the child either to express his/her emotions, to Evaluated interventions gain attention, to communicate and/or to problem- solve, albeit in an indirect and potentially dangerous When you have completed a comprehensive assess- fashion. The goals of cognitive behavioral therapy ment, how do you plan a treatment strategy? The (CBT) are to help the child recognize the urge to goal of effective treatment strategies is to stop the start a fire, interrupt that firesetting behavior before firesetting behavior and sustain significant changes it starts, and substitute socially appropriate behav- in the underlying issues that drive the behavior. iors as a means of self-expression. Clinical evaluations of the following interventions suggest they may be effective in eliminating fire- CBT potentially provides a framework for the setting behavior, at least in the short term. More clinician and child to begin to explore the child’s research is needed to determine if they produce sus- experience, while avoiding an approach that is judg- tained change to the underlying issues. mental, blaming, or threatening. The child is able to focus on the firesetting incident itself, describing 4Adapted from “Evidence-Based Multidisciplinary Strategies for the actual events. The skilled clinician is able to Working with Children who Set Fires,” D.L. Sharp and S. Blaakman, University of Rochester School of Nursing.

94 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention probe the child as needed, and to utilize any collat- Graphing Events and Feelings eral data gathered, particularly from the fire investi- One strategy for employing CBT in treatment gation, to fill in any gaps relevant to the incident. is called graphing (Kolko, 2001 and Bumpass, Fagelman and Brix, 1983). A graph is constructed Initial and on-going assessments of the child’s verbal in full view of the child as he describes a particular and non-verbal communication are important, as is event such as a firestart See Figure 18, Graphing the clinician’s open and curious attitude to promote Events and Feelings. The child is asked to recount dialogue and rapport. As the child is able to tell in detail the events that preceded and followed the his/her story of the incident, the clinician can begin most recent firesetting behavior in chronological to help the child identify and label feelings related order. After the events are plotted, the child is asked to the events, the stressors that may have provoked to describe any feelings he experienced over that the feelings, and the resultant responses which led to expanse of time, which are then graphed in cor- the firesetting. The child begins to develop insight relation to the intensity of each emotion. Once the into the problems/frustrations that result in the fire graphing is clear, the child can begin to recognize a outcomes. From this insight, the clinician can then pattern, and learn to choose alternative behaviors. assist the child in building an alternate coping tool- box from which he/she can choose behaviors other The technique of graphing is described in detail in than firesetting to meet his/her emotional needs. the literature and found to be useful when applied to the behavior of juvenile firesetting. Bumpass et The clinician must be able to facilitate the child to al (1983) found that in a small, case study of 29 choose socially appropriate and emotionally effective children with firesetting histories, only 3, of the 26 behaviors to which the child may not have been pre- available for follow-up, had repeat firesetting after viously exposed. Development of safe play (that does a period ranging from six months to 8 years. not include firesetting) and safe behaviors (such as telling an adult if fire materials are found, or Social skills training checking smoke alarms), which are then positively reinforced by the clinician and family, are successful Many juveniles use firesetting to express emotions strategies. they are unable to recognize and/or describe. For many, these skills do not occur naturally, and if they have not been modeled, must be taught. The clini- cian also has the opportunity to assist the child to Graphing Events and Feelings adopt the social skills necessary to navigate through life effectively. In a safe environment, the clinician

12 Loneliness can use the model of show, try, discuss, practice to 10 Anger Excitement 8 Fear roleplay with the child ways he can communicate 6 and problem solve without resorting to firesetting as 4 2 Intensity of Emotion a means of expression. 0

Sets Fire This type of interpersonal skills training was first Watches TV Buys Snack Runs AwayWatches TV Eats Dinner Calls Friends Comes Home Goes to Store Parents Arrive shown to be effective with incarcerated youth in Picks upEnters Matches Vacant Lot reducing re-arrest rates (Goldstein, 1988). The Prepare Curriculum developed by Goldstein Figure 18, Graphing Events and Feelings includes such interpersonal skills as: asking for help; friendship making; problem solving; responding to failure; answering complaints; expressing affection; and negotiating. The social skills training described by Goldstein is similar to problem solving and skills

95 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention building interventions that have been tested in sev- that the clinician work closely with caregivers to eral studies of catalysts for positive behavior change assess the caregivers’ understanding of their child’s (Fiore et al, 2000). needs, strengths, challenges, concerns, and stage of development. Other interventions As described earlier, many risk factors related to Several intervention strategies have not been sys- juvenile firesetting are linked to familial stressors tematically evaluated but clinicians have reported and issues. Caregivers, for many reasons, may not success employing them with children who set fires. have the ability to provide the support, structure, These include (1) providing a monetary reward for or supervision their child needs. The clinician must fire materials found and presented to a grown-up assess and address any significant family issues (Holland, 1969; Nishi-Strattner, 1996); (2) one-way that may require additional resources or referral for mirror observation of a child who can choose to play help. Adults may tend to trivialize the complex- with either toys or matches whereby the therapist ity of a child’s world. They may also overestimate intervenes to explore the child’s emotional state if a child’s developmental capacity (Schwebel and matches are chosen (Gaynor, 1991); and (3) behav- Bounds, 2003). Children are often given too much ior modeling in which the therapist helps a child responsibility for tasks, for themselves, for others, learn and tell a story depicting appropriate behaviors and for decision-making situations for which they for which the child is rewarded when the actions are simply are not ready. Grolnick and colleagues (1990) described correctly (Gaynor, 1991). One such action reported a significant positive relationship between as described in the study is having the child present the assignment of responsibility for chores that ignition materials he finds left out to an adult. This involved fire (such as cooking) and fireplay. is suggested for a clinician to use as a technique in a specific intervention. As described in Chapter 3, for By working with caregivers in the same manner as general fire safety education, we do not recommend with the child, the clinician can play a vital role in having children touch such materials, but rather to improving problem solving, communication, emo- leave them where they are and “go tell a grown-up.” tional-behavioral regulation, and overall functioning of the family unit. Family psychoeducation, well The Amnesty Day Procedure, developed by Linda established as an evidence-based practice in working Nishi-Strattner, Ph.D, is one aid to assessing prior with families of those challenged by mental illness, fire involvement. It is used at the beginning of treat- is likely to be useful in working with the families ment to reinforce the child for remembering and of children who set fires. Such family interven- talking about his prior firesetting experience. Parents tions should capitalize on the family’s resilience and are asked to explain to the child that he may now strengths, and should include educating parents tell about any prior firesetting incidents, without about their child’s growth and development, includ- fear of punishment. This technique should not be ing appropriate use of limits and assignment of used in isolation, but works best as part of an overall responsibilities. program of psychotherapy and treatment of issues that come to light during the Amnesty Day process In addition to having concrete skills that can be (Nishi-Strattner, 1996). practiced with and evaluated by the clinician, it is also helpful for the caregivers to develop empa- Family work thy for the child’s experience. Group exercises for caregivers offer one avenue for achieving this goal. Of course, children rely on their environmental One method is to divide the caregivers present into context and the significant people and relationships subgroups to explore issues that may be respective within that context for cues to guide their emotional concerns for children and adults (see Box: Empathy and behavioral responses. Hence, it is paramount Exercise).

96 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention Participants are able to discover that regardless of Ineffective intervention strategies age, people have struggles that are very similar in nature and have meaning to the individual. Parents Finally, there are interventions that may be ineffec- are helped to see how the concerns of their children tive or in fact, damaging to the outcomes desired for are every bit as important and potentially trou- the child who is firesetting. Satiation, the practice bling as the various concerns challenging adults. of repetitively lighting and extinguishing fire, was Supportive care environments in which parents once thought to be a deterrent to firesetting based strive to understand their child’s perspectives, on the notion that one who is curious about fire will provide them with choices, and help them prob- tire of the exposure and cease in its activity. There lem solve while minimizing pressure and control is no evidence in the current literature to support have been linked with greater self-regulation and this belief. There is evidence that the more practice less acting out behavior in children (Grolnick & a child has with fire, the more competent and falsely Apostoleris, 2002). “in control” the child may feel, which may increase the behavior rather than extinguish it (Grolnick et al, 1990).

Empathy Exercise Lectures, threats, fear, and harsh punishments are not successful strategies either. It is possible to see This is a group activity to enhance parent’s short-term compliance based on these interven- empathy toward their children. It has been tions. The underlying issues, however, have not found to be very helpful in redefining the been addressed. Such situational compliance can relationship between child and family. fool adults into thinking that the problem is solved, when in fact the child may only become better at 1. Parents are divided into 3 groups and hiding the behavior (Cole et al, 2005). Sustained asked to role model one age group: behavioral change occurs over time when commit- Elementary, Adolescent, or Adult. ment and motivation is internalized and replace- 2. They are asked to list all the issues with ment behaviors are learned (Cole, 2005; Grolnick et which they, as members of that age al, 1997). group, may be dealing. Ignoring the firesetting until the child “outgrows” it 3. The groups come together and share is equally unwise. It communicates disinterest in the their lists as part of a group discussion. child’s well-being and experiences, which is likely to escalate dysfunctional behavior patterns (Grolnick 4. Participants realize that adults and chil- and Apostolerois, 2002). dren of all ages are struggling with simi- lar things. As with many health issues that demand compre- hensive treatment approaches, the best clinical out- This process helps to reshape parents’ rela- comes are achieved when the professionals involved tionship with their children—supportive, in caring for youth and their families collaborate guiding, teaching, sharing, and listening skillfully. Successful community interventions are rather than trivializing their feelings, ‘issues’ discussed in detail in Chapters 13 and 14. and emotions.

97 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention Cognitive/Behavioral Interventions Summary of Key Points

Evaluated intervention techniques include:

• Cognitive behavioral therapy

• Social skills training

Other strategies not systematically evaluated:

• Monetary reward for fire materials found

• Observation of play and intervention if ignition materials are chosen

• Appropriate behavior modeling

Family work should address:

• Family issues that may require additional resources or referrals

• Empathy for child’s experience

• Inappropriate assignment of fire-related respon- sibilities to children

Ineffective intervention strategies to avoid:

• Satiation can lead to “empowerment” that could increase fireplay.

• Threats and fear can give a false sense of having “solved the problem,” but not lead to sustained behavior change.

• Ignoring firesetting is likely to escalate dysfunc- tional patterns.

98 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention Section 5: Juvenile Firesetting and the Community

Community coalitions, involving a vari- ety of agencies with a range of resources, can be a highly effective way of address- ing community-wide problems such as juvenile firesetting. The final chapters of this book will help you start and main- tain such a coalition, including specific tips, materials and techniques used by successful coalitions.

99 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention CHAPTER Involving the Community

KEY CONCEPTS IN THIS CHAPTER • No single agency has the skills and resources to13 solve the problems of juvenile firesetting and fireplay on its own (see ‘A Note About Language’ concerning our use of the word ‘fireplay’) • A broad variety of professional and community organizations can help improve fire safety in the community

In this chapter we will review the groups that Teachers and daycare providers have a direct line to should be considered in building a coalition to children’s parents. Daycare providers typically see address juvenile firesetting in your community. children’s parents every day. They can provide par- ents with fire safety materials, reinforce safe behav- Teachers and daycare providers ior at home, and help parents teach and reward children’s efforts. These childcare specialists know how to work with children. They understand child development, what Youth programs children at different ages will understand, how chil- dren make decisions, and how much responsibility Adults who supervise organized youth groups also they can accept. In addition, childcare specialists have the desire and skill to work with children. A understand how to explain things to children. child’s commitment to the program can make him more accepting of the goals endorsed by his group. Teachers and daycare providers also have regular, If his group is concerned about safety, then safety ongoing access to children. These professionals can becomes acceptable. repeat key messages over and over and help chil- dren practice their new skills. Holidays and activi- Youth programs that meet regularly give children ties associated with each season (grilling, holiday the chance to learn and practice new skills, measure candles) also provide an opportunity for reviewing their success, and be recognized and rewarded for a fire safety lessons. job well done.

They can also take advantage of teachable moments. If a fire has occurred in the community, a teacher can help children deal with the fear that might arise, teach them, and help them practice fire safety skills that can protect them in future incidents.

100 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention Parent groups Libraries and librarians

Parent groups, such as Parent Teacher Associations Many librarians are skilled with children and pro- and parent support groups sponsored by community vide a variety of educational programs. In many agencies, do for adults what youth programs do for communities, librarians purchase fire safety materials children: and conduct fire safety programs for children. This • They make safety an important issue. can be especially helpful if the materials are too expensive for parents to purchase individually. • They teach, model and reinforce safe behavior. In addition, a simple library display can go a long • They teach, model and reward appropriate way to increasing awareness of fire safety, fire pre- supervision. vention, and fire risk. • They provide information and assistance regarding fire safety. Health care providers

• They can instruct parents in the importance and Nurses and physicians have a unique opportunity to use of smoke alarms. work with parents, particularly new parents. They are respected sources of information and advice, and parents with young children are typically accepting Parent groups are also a good way to reach large of their suggestions. gatherings of adults. You can teach these adults potential fire risks and what they can do to reduce Most health care providers are concerned about these risks. Groups such as these can urge schools safety and supervision, but may give only general and daycare centers to teach fire prevention and advice. They can strongly influence new parents if fire safety and practice safety skills regularly. Just as provided with specific fire safety and fire prevention importantly, such groups can influence legislators recommendations, such as proper storage of matches and directors of community agencies to address fire and lighters, use of smoke alarms, and the creation prevention and fire safety by adopting appropriate of escape plans. During routine well child visits they legislation and allocating the necessary resources. can review key safety information. They can advise Church groups, civic groups, and parents about discipline, behavior management, neighborhood associations supervision strategies and appropriate assignment of responsibilities.

Like parenting groups, church and civic groups pro- With awareness training, health care providers can vide access to interested adults. More importantly, identify children within their case loads who might endorsement of fire safe behavior by highly respect- be engaged in fireplay or firesetting, facilitating ed church and community leaders raises awareness, referral for further evaluation and intervention. They commands attention, and helps motivate families are also “mandated reporters” who can identify and to act. These groups can also take advantage of report signs of abuse and neglect or other serious teachable moments to promote safety, because they family dysfunction related to repeat firesetting. help families in their neighborhood after a fire has occurred and often help family members deal with Nurse home visitation has proven to be a valuable family issues including parenting and supervision. addition to office-based care. Visiting nurses are able to see firsthand the home environment and can Church and civic groups can also effectively lobby tailor suggestions to individual family circumstances. legislators, government officials, and agency direc- Evaluations of carefully designed nurse home visita- tors to support fire prevention and fire safety. tion programs have shown reductions in intentional

101 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention injuries, unintentional injuries during the first four your community’s fire safety efforts. The free use of years of life, and adolescent criminal and antiso- meeting rooms and catering services can help con- cial behaviors (Olds et al, 1997; Olds et al, 1998; tain the costs of educational workshops and training Kitzman et al, 1997). programs.

The media Merchants are often willing to underwrite pub- lic service announcements by including fire safety Television, newspapers and radio stations inform, reminders in mailings and by mounting posters in educate and influence public opinion. They reach their stores. Certain merchants, such as hardware large numbers of families and can command atten- stores and drug stores, can also support tie-in cam- tion, especially when they report the aftermath of a paigns with the sale of selected merchandise. Get serious fire. these merchants to work with you to restrict access to matches and lighters and other hazardous materi- The media frequently take advantage of teachable als. Suggest that they: moments. You will often see or hear a report follow- ing an incident involving children and fire. Fire is a • Feature items that are child-resistant. dramatic occurrence, and the presence of children • Refuse to sell matches and lighters to children. only heightens the drama.

Your community can develop a mutually beneficial Such restrictions will help parents remember that relationship with local media concerning fire safety. asking their children to buy matches, lighters, or Providing the public with useful information, par- other hazardous materials is inappropriate. ticularly information that can save lives, is part of the media’s mission. Stories about fires, disasters and Legislators and other other emergencies should be supplemented with government officials stories that address prevention and education. Legislators can have a powerful impact on safety Although a recent fire incident will get the atten- efforts. It is their job to enact legislation that tion of the media, you can and should also contact requires various segments of the community to join the media to promote fire safety and fire preven- in your efforts. They should be informed about the tion messages when there is no fire. This kind of safety challenges facing their constituents, and of the reinforcement rewards successful fire safety and fire solutions and services available to them. prevention initiatives that might otherwise go unno- ticed. It can also motivate people to take fire preven- Consider some of the actions they could take, and tion seriously and change their behavior before a fire which have been undertaken in some jurisdictions: occurs. Like parent and civic groups, the media can • Making it unlawful to sell matches and lighters also influence legislators to help shape legislation to children. and funding. • Requiring schools to teach fire safety on a regu- Local merchants lar basis.

Local business can provide financial support and • Clarifying languages in privacy and confiden- in-kind support for fire prevention efforts. Even tiality legislation to allow agencies to work a few small donations can add up to give you the together more effectively to provide services and financial resources to purchase educational materials promote safety. and programs. In-kind support, such as donations of smoke alarms or batteries, contributes directly to

102 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention • Lobby for access to services. Finally, they have the power to arrest. Sometimes the parents might also be subject to arrest due to • Creating special programs that provide services their actions or lack thereof (endangering the wel- to selected groups of families and children. fare of their children). The police can act quickly to • Funding all of these initiatives. reduce or eliminate the risk of imminent danger.

Successful models exist for partnerships between law Mental health agencies enforcement and community agencies to deal with issues related to specific child- and family-related As described in previous chapters, mental health issues. As one example, the Child Development- professionals can work with children and families Community Policing (CD-CP) program in New to assess juvenile firesetting behavior and provide Haven, Connecticut brings together police and behavioral interventions when necessary. In addition mental health professionals to address the impact of to direct services, they can also provide information chronic exposure to community violence on children and training to help fire service and others better and families (Marans and Berkman, 1997). understand the motives of children involved in fire- play. The courts

For cooperative families, a simple referral to a men- If a criminal act has been committed, the courts tal health agency might give the support and insight have the final word over what happens. The court they need to make meaningful changes on their system, including probation, can divert a case from own. For less cooperative families, such services can prosecution and mandate services for the child and/ be mandated by the courts. or his family. It can place the child on probation and insist that if changes aren’t made, more severe Human service agencies actions will result. Probation also means that an officer of the court will monitor the child’s behavior Child Protective Services, Child Welfare Services, and progress. and other similar agencies are responsible for the safety and welfare of the children in their com- munities. Such agencies can provide family support and preventive care at low or no cost, and if abuse or neglect have been confirmed they can insist that families participate. Law enforcement

Law enforcement agencies are important partners when investigating fires started by children. They know the law, have the power to investigate, and understand what they can and cannot do in an investigation. They know which rights are protected and how to maintain the integrity of an investiga- tion so that evidence is admissible in court.

103 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention Involving the Community Summary of Key Points

Community organizations that can help:

• Teachers and daycare providers

• Youth programs

• Parent groups

• Church groups, civic groups, and neighborhood associations

• Libraries

• Health care providers

• The media

• Local merchants

• Legislators and government officials

• Mental health agencies

• Human service agencies

• Law enforcement

• The courts

104 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention CHAPTER Building Effective Community Coalitions

KEY CONCEPTS IN THIS CHAPTER • How coalitions can help communities address14 juvenile firesetting and other hazards • Getting a coalition started • Principles for a successful coalition • Factors that sustain a coalition • Barriers to cooperation and how to overcome them

The most comprehensive and successful approach Coalitions are an effective way to deal with not only to addressing the issue of juvenile firesetting in our fire, but other hazards in your community. As one communities is to build a team of people represent- example, Safe Kids Worldwide helps communities ing a variety of disciplines—a coalition. build grassroots coalitions to prevent a variety of unintentional injuries.

A coalition’s overall goal is to develop a system of continuous services to children and families. It typi- cally includes representatives from the disciplines of mental health, fire service, law enforcement, juvenile justice, educators and other disciplines that will be helpful in addressing juvenile firesetting.

Every coalition is different, and coalitions in a state or region are generally in different stages of devel- opment, from new to very seasoned. Your coalition will change as your team becomes more experi- enced. While some long-standing coalitions are very sophisticated, a coalition can be quite simple and still be effective.

Remember that coalition building is an ongoing, dynamic process. Coalition building is really about networking and building relationships.

105 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention An effective community coalition provides a balance Marion Doctor, The Children’s Hospital of Denver: of prevention and intervention. The primary preven- Collecting local data is important both to start a tion goal is to eliminate first time firesetting, and coalition and to sustain it. On the front end, you the primary intervention (or secondary prevention) need to be able to show that juvenile firesetting is goal is to stop firesetting once it has been identi- a problem that needs resources and services. As you fied. While it is critically important to maintain continue, you need a data collection system that an effective intervention program, the number of shows your coalition’s effectiveness. child-started fires can be significantly reduced only through prevention of the first fire. As noted in After gathering data on the juvenile firesetting Chapter 2, nine out of ten children who start a fire problem, coalition leaders should then brainstorm reported to the fire department never set another the wide variety of community agencies that will one, yet such fires can be serious and even deadly contribute to the coalition effort. (Kourofsky, Crandall and Cole, 2001). Tony Cortese, Northeast Parent and Getting started Child Society (Schenectady, NY): Think globally. Look at all stakeholders in your Coalition leaders should review local or regional area and include as many as you can, including fire data about juvenile firesetting, or national data if service, mental health, law enforcement, medical, local data are not available, to develop a picture district attorney’s office, and schools. of the local problem to help justify other agency involvement. Many, if not most, participants will have a very lim- ited understanding of the mandates and operational To facilitate local data collection, the National procedures of the community agencies with which Association of State Fire Marshals has created an they have not worked. Identifying and understand- easy-to-use incident report that is being used in ing these resources are important early steps in many communities. To minimize the burden on coalition building. local communities and simplify data gathering, the form is limited in scope. It therefore omits some Getting to know each other questions that individual communities might like to have. A sample of this NASFM Juvenile Firesetting A one-on-one meeting can be as simple as public Intervention Project Data Collection Form can be safety educators or fire investigators visiting other found at the end of this chapter. agencies. The main purpose of one-on-one meetings is to learn how the agency works and what they can SOS Fires also makes available a data system, Youth provide. They are beneficial in several ways: Firesetting Information Recording System, identi- • Build personal relationships when you meet all cal to the NASFM data set, which is downloadable members of the agency staff. free from their web site to the user’s computer (see Internet Resources). • You can be more direct with one another in small group or one-to-one meetings than you Whatever form you use, collecting accurate local can in a public forum. data is critical. In the absence of solid data, all too often time and resources may be allocated based on • They help break down cultural barriers. anecdotal information and assumptions that do not • They enhance understanding and communica- correctly identify or address the real problems. tion, and provide an opportunity for discussion.

106 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention Developing an action plan At the end of this chapter is a Stakeholder Analysis form to help you identify appropriate representatives When it’s time to develop a plan of action for either from all disciplines. Also at the end of this chapter a prevention or intervention initiative, the key play- is a Community Coalition Building Worksheet you ers need to meet at the same time. This is when sev- may find helpful for setting your goals. A planning eral agencies will gather in one room. exercise used by the Kansas State Fire Marshal’s Office can also be found in Appendix I. Consider holding a community workshop. Each participant feels part of something important when Overall principles for a successful all the relevant agencies are assembled in one place. coalition In this way, fireplay and firesetting become impor- tant community priorities. Coalition mission statement and operating principles A typical agenda for a community workshop might include: A mission statement succinctly explains what the coalition stands for, why it exists and how it plans to • An overview of the problem, including both address the issue of juvenile firesetting. The mission national and local statistics. statement can serve as a publicity tool to advertise the existence and aims of the coalition, and a tool to • An overview of current local efforts. attract community involvement. • A review of programs that other communities have successfully implemented. The mission statement is an indication of solidar- ity and lends further credibility to the coalition. To function as a unified whole, members must be com- Encourage an open discussion to review the mitted to the coalition’s mission. strengths and weaknesses of the ongoing efforts and suggestions for change. Allow time for brainstorm- Operating principles describe how the coalition will ing and anticipating new problems that might arise. do its work, i.e., decision-making process, and roles Reviewing actual or hypothetical case studies and of each team member/organization, meeting sched- how to address them as a team will help you learn to ule, and coordinator. Clarifying these details helps work together. ensure good communication and prevents misunder- standing that can undermine a coalition. It is important for coalition participants to create both short-term and long-term goals. The group is Lisa Garvich, Fire Stoppers of likely to identify certain needs that can be addressed King County, Washington: relatively quickly, while others will take more time It’s easy to get sidetracked. You need to come back to and resources. your mission statement annually, and review your goals at least every six months. Are you doing what To keep efforts toward these goals on track, you meant to do? You never develop a program each goal should have a specific timeframe and and have it stay exactly the same. About every six a designated person responsible for achieving it. months we look at our goals list for the year and Contingency plans should be considered in case usually have to readjust. But when you have a solid unexpected obstacles emerge. foundation, it doesn’t get shaken.

107 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention Leadership J. Parks: Email is a great way to maintain ongoing con- A coalition needs leadership, but not domination. tact but it only works with some ground rules. Invite full and real participation of all members. Try to send regular, organized emails to members Having a co-leader helps keep things moving during rather than many impulsive emails to the group. vacations or especially busy periods and avoids put- Individuals or subcommittees might send more fre- ting too much burden on one person. quent emails as they work on a task but the leader will lose attention after a few meaningless emails. Deborah Johnson, Texas State Fire All members should reply to emails with a “got it” so Marshal’s Office: that a roll call of sorts is ongoing. It can be helpful to have the leadership of the coali- tion rotate among its members, with a term limit. Commitment This limitation can make it easier for someone to make the commitment to lead. It also helps keep Each organization must be committed to the prob- other members from falling into the habit of defer- lem. ring the work of the coalition to one person. Each organization must be committed to working Jimmy Parks, Arkansas Children’s together to solve the problem. Hospital Burn Center: The leader’s job is to make everyone feel like a part Each organization must be committed to the belief of the team. In this time of “virtual” coalitions, the that every other organization has a vital role to play leader’s personal charisma is not as important as the to fully address the problem. leader’s ability to use other communication skills to make each team member feel like they are a valu- Each organization must be committed to open com- able player. munication.

Personal contact J. Parks: A coalition is an alliance of like minded groups. It It takes a great deal of personal contact to build a would be hard to recruit coalition members, then coalition. Face-to-face or direct telephone contact convince them the goals are worthy. Seek out people helps develop a shared understanding of goals and who already have determined that issues addressed strategy. Personal contact helps develop the rela- by the coalition are important to them. Earn their tionships that build trust and fun among coalition commitment to the coalition by demonstrating its members. effectiveness.

D. Johnson: Cheryl Poage, Parker Fire Protection Although our coalition provided quarterly writ- District, Colorado: ten reports, we found there is a better exchange of Right from the beginning, you need to think about information when you meet face to face than if you how the coalition will be maintained. It takes a lot rely only on written reports. In person you get input of effort to get a coalition going. To keep it going, from many members of a coalition, not just one juvenile firesetting needs to be on the agenda of person filling out a report. You’ll have the chance to those who have jurisdiction, such as the district really discuss issues. attorney’s office as well as the fire department. Your coalition needs to be set up to encompass the juvenile justice district in whatever way it is structured.

108 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention A written agreement can help clarify commitment To address this issue in our community we, as and responsibilities. A sample of a program agree- a hospital-based treatment team, offer training ment can be found in Appendix E. A model inter- opportunities through professional course work at agency agreement is also part of the US Department universities, inservice education for mental health of Justice’s Juvenile Accountability Block Grants agencies and organizations, and juvenile firesetting Best Practices Series (Slayton, 2000). conferences. A secondary benefit is expanding the referral base for our Juvenile Firesetter Assessment Factors that sustain a coalition and Group Treatment Program. Publicity Community involvement A well-managed publicity strategy can help to Active community involvement and support is vital establish the coalition as a legitimate voice of the to a coalition’s success. Communities that feel more community. connected to the coalition will be more supportive.

A publicity message should clearly: To develop long-lasting bonds, the larger com- munity must be able to identify with the coalition • Articulate the coalition’s mission. and its goals. The diversity of a coalition should, to the extent possible, mirror the diversity of the com- • Outline its vision to address the needs of the munity. Share important information with the com- community it serves. munity and invite them to participate in coalition • Provide details of notable accomplishments. activities. • Offer opportunities and information for others Greg Buelow, Cedar Rapids Fire Department: to get involved. We provide fire safety curriculum five times Publicity pieces can include: throughout the year in every third grade classroom in our 30 public and parochial schools. When there • Simple coalition brochures; is an ongoing relationship with the fire service, schools are more likely to call us if there’s a fire inci- • Brief press releases; dent. Rather than cover up an incident at a school, • Announcements and interviews on public tele- guided by the established relationship, administra- vision and radio stations; tors and educators know we can provide education and referrals to help children. • Media kits, which are sets of documents and materials to provide media contacts with infor- M. Doctor: mation about the coalition. Be sure you’re including all appropriate community groups, not just the obvious ones such as fire service Access to the Internet presents the coalition with and law enforcement. An essential but often over- more opportunities to promote its goals: looked group is mental health professionals. In many instances you will find mental health clinicians are • Send out mass electronic e-mail notices. not familiar with the dynamics, levels of lethality or treatment of juvenile firesetting. Educational • Publish electronic newsletters. training opportunities are essential in establishing • Design an eye-catching informative web site. treatment resources in your community.

109 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention L. Garvich: D. Johnson: Partnerships are key to getting the message out to the Regularly scheduled meetings are important, but community. For example, we work with the Washington don’t have one just to have a meeting. If you plan Insurance Council, which often promotes information to meet every month but there’s nothing specific to about arson. They send out a lot of press releases, and discuss, cancel the meeting. Otherwise interest drops whenever it’s appropriate they include something about off. Similarly, the person handling administra- the youth firesetting issues. Also, when a youth-set fire tion of the coalition should confirm attendance as occurs, we immediately send to the public information the meeting date approaches. If very few people are officer of the local fire department a press release that planning to come, cancel or reschedule it rather than can be easily customized. This way the incident can also waste time for those who do attend. be an opportunity to educate the community. Organization Regular, effective meetings For long-term sustainability, it is very useful to Effective meetings are those in which people’s time establish the leadership of a coalition within an is well used and which make them feel they want to agency that will have active involvement in the long continue to participate. term, so it is a permanent part of that agency. In this way its continuation is not dependent on one or Provide coalition members with opportunities to two people but part of an organization’s mandate. It socialize and bond, reflect on achievements and should also have open and reliable reporting mecha- challenges, update each other on current projects, nisms to keep members informed. propose new ideas and initiatives, and decide on next steps. Creating a directory of contacts at each participating agency, updated regularly, helps make communica- Effective meetings require: tion easy. An example of a simple data form used by the Kansas State Fire Marshal’s Office to capture • A clear agenda, which is shared with members contact information and program characteristics can ahead of time; be found in Appendix F. • Good facilitation skills; D. Johnson: • Starting on time and ending on time; Encourage coalition agencies to bring in other mem- bers of their department and expand the number of • Identifying members who will take responsibil- people participating. This helps in two ways. The ity to follow up on items discussed; workload is easier when shared, and it helps build • Preparing an official summary of the meeting; continuity with an entire department or agency, not just one individual. Every year someone is going to • Food and drinks. move or retire, and it’s hard to keep starting over.

G. Buelow: Funding Having a meeting without a clear agenda is like Applying for funding demands serious attention. getting into the car and taking off without know- Grant proposals should provide potential funders ing where you want to go. You could make a wrong with the most persuasive and accurate information turn as soon as you pull out of the driveway, and available and meet all the guidelines requested by you’ll waste gas wandering around. People’s time is the funder. The likelihood of funding increases if at least as valuable as the price of gas, so you need to your coalition represents a diverse group of agen- know where you’re going!

110 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention cies in your community, as this shows a funder there Cultural differences are manageable, but they’re is widespread interest in juvenile firesetting and its likely to cause misunderstanding and tension. A prevention. key cultural difference is how an agency defines and responds to an emergency. Rich Barlette, New York State Fire Marshal’s Office: R. Cole: Your funding budget needs to cover not only materi- In most locales, there’s a big difference in the way als such as pamphlets, posters, videos and manu- the fire service and child protective services respond als, but most importantly in-service training and to an emergency. The fire service is trained to react annual professional development seminars. immediately to an emergency. Something is on fire! Someone may be in danger and minutes count. C. Poage: Firefighters run to their trucks and race through the Grants do more than provide funds. It’s important streets to reach the fire. Their clear and immediate for a coalition to have some kind of contract by goal is to extinguish the fire. which everyone involved agrees to their roles and commitment to the project. A grant-related contract But what if the firefighter finds signs of neglect is the most effective kind, because it binds the process when he investigates the fire? What if very young and product to the funding. children are unsupervised? The firefighter, having identified a new emergency, wants to fix it now. Child protective services may respond by scheduling Barriers to cooperation an investigator to visit the family within a day or two, rather than within the hour. Both agencies are The community is a powerful force in reducing the responding to the situation, working in different risk of fire and teaching families about fire safety. ways to reach a solution. But when community agencies don’t work together, much of that power is lost. Let’s look at a few of the Another cultural difference is in an agency’s goals barriers that may be encountered. and plan of action:

Agency culture • Firefighters want to minimize the risk to the child and the community. It’s vital to act quickly Each agency has its own mandate and jurisdiction, and decisively. but they are typically not set up to work together. This can result in poor communication and misun- • The mission of most child welfare agencies is derstanding. Agencies often don’t understand the family preservation. Removing children from “culture” of other agencies. Agency mandates help the home is a last resort. Family support is create the culture, but a culture includes a number of needed, and may take some time. things that aren’t written down. Culture includes not only the values that help define the agency’s ideas, In situations such as these, it’s important to recog- beliefs and priorities, but also how it operates. In nize that each agency is trying to help in its own understanding an agency, it is important to know: way. Firefighters have specific steps to take to put • Whom they serve. out a fire. Welfare agencies have their own methods of ensuring success. • What they are permitted to do (their mandate).

• Their resources.

• Their decision makers.

111 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention Structure and operation Funding

Agencies differ in the way they work, and they Lack of funding for basic prevention and interven- may not understand how other agencies work. tion activities such as materials, training and for Sometimes a simple lack of information undermines mental health care, are frequently perceived to be cooperation. major impediments to building a successful coali- tion. Brainstorming among agencies involved in the J. Bills: juvenile firesetting problem can produce a list of In our city, fire investigators start the evening shift potential sources of government and private founda- at 3:30p.m. while protective service workers begin tion grant support, as well as in-kind donations (e.g. at 4:00p.m. When fire investigators arrive at work, local merchants as described in Chapter 13). they want to get started and might call child protec- tive services right away. It is all too common that Appendix G includes a list of potential funders to they encounter a tired worker about to go home and consider. not enthusiastic about starting a new case. Although the solution seems obvious, it took quite a while to Fred Rion, Monroe County (New York) discover the source of this conflict. Fire Bureau: Pursue every funding angle you can think of. Then Another source of conflict can arise from not under- think of ten more that seem out of the realm of pos- standing the information an intake worker needs to sibility, and go after them. begin working on a case. When someone calls in a fire, the required information is straightforward: Is Confidentiality there a fire? What is the address? But when human Confidentiality protects the privacy of the families services or a mental health agency is called, they with which each agency works. Protecting a family’s need detailed information that can be much harder privacy is a high priority for all agencies, especially to obtain. when working with children, and is often mandated by law. Several steps are taken: By reviewing the intake forms of each agency and getting a little training, members of fire service can • The names of minors are not printed in the gather the necessary information before placing a newspaper. call, saving needless aggravation. The intake worker will have the information needed to make a deter- • The progress of child protective service cases is mination about the case, and fire service will build a confidential. reputation for being well prepared. • What happens between a client and a therapist is confidential. When counseling and evaluation Knowing what to say and how to say it is also are the result of a court order, however, then this important. Fire dispatchers don’t want the citizen is not the case. reporting a fire to tell them which equipment to send out. Similarly, mental health professionals don’t want a fire investigator diagnosing mental illness. The already complex set of regulations pertaining The role of firefighter is to completely and accurate- to confidentiality was further complicated by imple- ly describe what you learned from your observations mentation of the Health Insurance Portability and and interviews (as described in detail in Chapter 5). Accountability Act (HIPAA), regulating the release of medical information. It should be remembered that most regulations contain exception clauses pertaining to the safety (or imminent danger) of

112 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention their clients. Many agencies routinely obtain record Building Effective release forms permitting the sharing of information Community Coalitions to appropriate third parties. Summary of Key Points

Human service and law enforcement agencies can cooperate without violating a family’s right to pri- Building an effective coalition vacy. Law enforcement agencies have a tradition of cooperation. It is important to know what can be • Review local data on the juvenile firesetting shared, how to share it, and to remain committed to problem. a common goal. • Be committed to coordinating community resources to solve the problem. M. Doctor: • Get to know the various agencies, and the As a short-term treatment provider, release of infor- strengths and weaknesses of current efforts to mation forms are essential for safety and efficient, address juvenile firesetting. effective intervention. Collaboration with school • Develop a mission statement, action plan, and principals and counselors, probation office, the juve- operating principles. nile diversions program of the district attorney’s office, past and present therapists, protective services workers and medical care providers enables us to Overall principles for a successful coalition provide a coordinated intervention that has the best • Coalition mission statement potential for change. • Operating principles Legal issues • Personal contact

Many agencies involved with addressing juvenile • Leadership firesetting are very concerned about overstepping • Commitment their expertise and subjecting themselves to liability. Because both local jurisdictions and coalitions differ so much from one community to another, specific Factors that sustain a coalition guidance concerning legal issues is beyond the scope • Community involvement of this book. We recommend that you seek local • Publicity counsel to address legal issues in your own commu- • Regular, effective meetings nity. It is helpful to have an attorney as a member of your coalition, or available for advice related to con- • Organization fidentiality and legal issues. • Funding

One specific situation that frequently triggers con- cern is installing smoke alarms. In our coalition Barriers to cooperation workshops throughout the country we have found • Agency culture – mandates and priorities that most communities address this problem with • The structure and operation of various agencies written waivers, adapted for local use. A sample of one such waiver is provided in Appendix H. • Lack of funding • Confidentiality and legal issues

113 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention NASFM JUVENILE FIRESETTING INTERVENTION PROJECT Data Collection Form

AGENCY INFORMATION

State FDID# Incident Date / /

CHILD INFORMATION (One form per incident; place answer in appropriate box)

Child 1 Child 2 Child 3 Child 4

Age of child at time of incident

Gender M (Male) F (Female)

Grade in school P (Pre-school) K-12 (Enter Grade Level) HS (Home School) SE (Special Education) NS (Not in School)

Language spoken at home E (English) S (Spanish) O (Other) Specify

Previous fireplay or misuse of fire Y (Yes) N (No)

Previous reported fire/ fire department response Y (Yes) N (No)

Other agency working with family M (Mental Health) SS (Social Services) JJ ( Juvenile Justice) O (Other) Specify

114 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention NASFM JUVENILE FIRESETTING INTERVENTION PROJECT Data Collection Form

INCIDENT INFORMATION (One form per incident)

Number of people displaced Number of fatalities as a result of this incident: resulting from this incident: Dollar loss estimate Number of injuries (as per report only) $ resulting from this incident:

Who was involved with this incident? ❏ Child acted alone ❏ Other unknown children involved

Original ignition source? (select one) ❏ Match ❏ Heating ❏ Appliance ❏ Candles ❏ Lighter ❏ Stove ❏ Other (specify)

Item first ignited by ignition source? (Select one) ❏ Paper/Cardboard/Tissue ❏ Clothing Furniture ❏ Grass/Leaves/Branches ❏ Flammable/Combustible Liquid ❏ Fireworks ❏ Bedding ❏ Toys ❏ Trash/Garbage ❏ Animal/Person ❏ Aerosol sprays ❏ Explosive device ❏ Other (specify)

Action taken in response to fire? (Check all that apply) ❏ Nothing ❏ Referred to Youth Firesetting Intervention/Education ❏ Referred to Legal Authority (Police/Fire Investigator) ❏ Other (specify)

Referral to program initiated by? (Select one) ❏ Fire report ❏ Parent/Caregiver ❏ School ❏ Mental Health ❏ Law Enforcement ❏ Other (specify)

Ignition source obtained from? (Select one) ❏ Own home ❏ Other person/location ❏ Found outdoors ❏ Other (specify)

Fire incident result? (select one) ❏ Intentional result (intended to ignite/burn all objects that did burn) ❏ Non-intentional result (fireplay, other fire use that got out of control)

Caregiver at time of incident? (select one) ❏ Parent/Caregiver ❏ School ❏ No one ❏ Sitter (approximate age) ❏ Other (specify)

Where did the incident occur? (select one) ❏ Inside family home (single family home) ❏ Inside family home (apartment/multi-family) ❏ Other structure at home (shed, garage, etc.) ❏ Yard at home ❏ Park/Field/Vacant Lot ❏ School ❏ Vehicle (at home or away) ❏ Other (specify)

115 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention Stakeholder Analysis

Goal: Identify and recruit appropriate representatives from organizations including: education, social work, law enforcement, fire service and mental health.

Considerations: Do we have the right mix of people and agencies? Which agencies and organizations do we need to add? Who do we currently work with that will help us identify and recruit new mem- bers? What is our timeline for identifying and recruiting coalition members? What strategy will get them on board?

Discipline Agency/Organization Person(s) & Title(s) Recruitment Strategy Recruiter

116 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention Community Coalition Building Worksheet

(Developed by Fireproof Children/Prevention First for the NASFM Juvenile Firesetting Intervention Community Coalition Building Workshops)

SHORT TERM GOALS

GOAL I Your initial goal is to identify what disciplines are currently represented, and what disciplines are needed to complete your team.

GOAL II Identify and recruit individuals representing the disciplines that are not currently on your team. Once you identify who or what organization(s) you want to recruit, plan a strategy for how this will be done.

GOAL III How well do we know each other? It’s important that your team spends time getting to know one another, and that you build in some fun time together.

GOAL IV Learn how you each function in the community and what your responsibilities include. This will help you plan your prevention and intervention strategies.

GOAL V Develop a team mission statement that succinctly describes your purpose. Most successful coali- tions have a mission statement. This helps focus activities and promote the coalition.

GOAL VI Locate and share national and local resources. Share data and information you currently have about why juveniles misuse fire and its prevalence in your community. This is very important as you build an awareness campaign. Resources for local data might include incident reports, fire chief reports, arrest statistics, etc.

GOAL VII How will your team work together? Several disciplines working together is very powerful and effective. It is also motivational. You’re not alone; everyone is involved in this problem and can make a significant contribution.

Plan how you will function as a team. Include the necessary operational roles such as meeting times, agenda, and co-ordination. This is very important. Also discuss how, together, you will address the issue.

GOAL VIII How does each discipline deal with children/juveniles involved in firesetting and what gets in the way? Identifying barriers and challenges will be important to setting goals to overcome them.

GOAL IX How will you work as a team to make each team member/organization part of a system to address juvenile firesetting? Understanding self-interests is crucial to the team. Coalition goals incorporate the self-interests of members plus something larger than those self-interests.

117 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention Community Coalition Building Worksheet

(Developed by Fireproof Children/Prevention First for the NASFM Juvenile Firesetting Intervention Community Coalition Building Workshops)

PREVENTION GOALS

GOAL I Determine your prevention goals regarding awareness and fire safety education. What are you dealing with? Use your local data. Local data will drive your prevention goals.

GOAL II Identify resources that can be helpful to you in your community.

GOAL III Decide how you will reach your prevention goals. - current resources - who will seek out additional resources - do we need funding / how can we get it?

GOAL IV Develop a plan for implementing awareness and fire safety education. - target audiences for each - how each will be used - role of team members related to fire safety education and awareness

INTERVENTION GOALS

GOAL I Do you have a process that your team follows when a juvenile needs a more intensive interven- tion beyond fire safety education? Identify current challenges your team members have around this issue.

GOAL II Review the characteristics of an effective, comprehensive community intervention program.

GOAL III Plan how you will build your intervention system from the point a referral is made, to your coali- tion, to follow-up and evaluation of the intervention.

Your plan must include the following:

Creating a continuous process - Set specific goals for providing a continuum of care. The con- tinuum of care will include:

• Identification / Referral. • Assessment - A comprehensive assessment should result in a formulation of the problem(s) and the development of an intervention plan, that includes goals and strategies for reaching these goals. • Clearly define the roles of each discipline.

118 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention • Assessment also helps determine where one discipline (fire service, for example) stops, and another (mental health, for example)picks up. Your teams’ goal will be to clarify how and what factors indicate referrals beyond education and training. • Different members of your team may conduct assessments. Your goal may be to determine how your assessments will interface and be utilized.

Your plans for intervention will also include: • Safety education. • Intervention and support (child and family). • Comprehensive community training. • Community. • Coordination of community services. • Home safety check.

Follow – Up: How do we ensure that our intervention(s) are continuing and effective in stopping the firesetting?

Evaluation: • Goals include evaluating outcomes of your intervention and prevention goals and strategies; refinement of strategies as needed to enhance goal attainment, recognizing and applauding your successes. • Deciding on next steps.

GOAL IV Document your cases, to build a picture of juvenile firesetting in your community. This will become your most important awareness product. It’s real, it’s data driven, and it paints a clear picture of the issues.

• Set time frames for accomplishing your goals • This is a dynamic, ongoing process • Seek help from experienced coalitions • Review overall principles of coalition building • Review how to sustain a coalition

119 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention APPENDIX About Our Statistics A Where do we get our Although NFIRS is a very large database, it does national statistics? not include every reported fire in the United States. Currently, about 18,000 of the roughly 33,000 fire Our major sources for national statistics on unin- departments in the U.S. participate in NFIRS. tentional injuries and fire are: Therefore, about half of the fires to which fire departments respond are included in the NFIRS • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention database. (CDC)

• United States Fire Administration (USFA) To provide national estimates, the National Fire Protection Association (www.nfpa.org) surveys • National Fire Information Council (NFIC) 3000 fire departments across the country. It then • National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) uses the NFIRS data in combination with its survey data to estimate the number of fires and fire loss in • National Fire Incident Reporting System the nation. A detailed explanation of the differences (NFIRS) between NFIRS and NFPA reporting can be found in the USFA publication Fire in the United States The CDC (www.cdc.gov) compiles statistical infor- 1992-2001 (see Appendix B). mation including data from birth and death records, medical records, interview surveys, and through Hence, what seems to be exact numbers are really direct physical exams and laboratory testing. The TM only estimates. Their usefulness is in providing a CDC’s WISQARS (Web-based Injury Statistics general picture of fire incidents and trends. Query and Reporting System) is an interactive database system that provides customized reports Child profiles of injury-related data, including leading causes of death nationally and by state. Because of variability in reporting of fires involving children, reliable national data is hard to come by. Many metropolitan fire departments and state agen- A detailed discussion of the issues raised by differ- cies report fire incidents to USFA (www.usfa.fema. ent terminology, coding changes, and competing gov) who, along with the National Fire Information choices in a data element is included in the NFPA Council (www.nfic.org), manages NFIRS. report Children Playing With Fire (2005).

120 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention Therefore, the most accurate method of investigat- ing children’s involvement with fire is a review of thoughtfully collected community-based data. Data and surveys specifically cited in this handbook include:

• Data collected by the Rochester (NY) Fire Department from 1985 to 1993, and again from 2001 to 2003, involving more than 3,000 children.

• A survey in Rochester, New York of 770 six-to- fourteen-year-olds on their attitudes toward and experiences with fire.

• The annual report produced by Portland (Oregon) Fire and Rescue on the juvenile fire- setting problem, which includes accumulated data from the past 12 years and almost 5,000 program participants.

• A survey by the City of Greater Sudbury (Northeastern Ontario) Fire Services based on a sample of 3,031 students from grade 3 through 13, in both English and French.

• A study by the Surrey (British Columbia) Fire Service and the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University College of the Fraser Valley involving 1,200 children in grades K-12.

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Kolko, D. J., Kazdin, A.E., & Meyer, E.C., Aggression Loftus, E. (2001). Imagining the past, Psychologist, 14, and psychopathology in childhood firesetters: parent and 584-587 reports, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 53, 1985, 377-385. Macht, L.B., and Mack, J.E., The firesetter syndrome, Psychiatry, 31, 1968, 277-288. Kolko, D. (2001). Efficacy of cognitive-behavioral treat- ment and fire safety education for children who set fires: MacKay, S. Hanson, M., Dickens, S., Henderson, J. initial and follow-up outcomes, Journal of Child Psychology (1991). Fire involvement interview (FII). TAPP-C. and Psychiatry and Allied Discipline. Vol. 42, No. 3, 359- Toronto, Canada: The Arson Prevention Program for 369. Children.

Kolko, D. (2002) Handbook on firesetting in children and MacKay, S., Henderson, J. , Root, C., Warling, D., youth. San Diego CA: Academic Press. Gilbert, K. & Johnstone, J. (2004). Clinician’s manual for preventing and treating juvenile involvement. Toronto, Kolko, D. J., & Kazdin, A.E. (1989a). The children’s fire- Canada: Center for Addiction and Mental Health and setting interview with psychiatrically referred and nonre- Office of the Fire Marshal of Ontario. ferred children, Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 17, 609-624. Marans, S., Berkman, M. (1997). Child Development- Community Policing: Partnership in a Climate of Kolko, D. J., & Kazdin, A.E. (1989b). Assessment of Violence. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency dimensions of childhood firesetting among patients Prevention. (Online), Available: http://www.ncjrs.org/ and nonpatients: the firesetting risk interview, Journal of txtfiles/164380.txt. Abnormal Child Psychology, 17, 157-176. Matheny, A.P., Psychological characteristics of childhood Kolko, D.J., & Kazdin, A.E. Matchplay-firesetting in accidents, Journal of Social Issues, 43, 1987, 45-60. children: relationships to parent marital and family dys- function, Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 19, 1990, Moore, J.M. Jr., Thompson-Pope, S.K., & Whited, R.M., 229-238. MMPI-A. Profiles of adolescent boys with a history of firesetting, Journal of Personality Assessment 67, 1996, 116- Kolko, D. J., & Kazdin, A.E. Motives of childhood fire- 126. setters: firesetting characteristics and psychological corre- lates, Journal of Child Psychology, 32, 1991, 535-550. Mori, L., Peterson, K., Knowledge of safety of high and low active-impulsive boys: implications for child injury Kolko, D. & Kazdin, A. (1992). The emergence and prevention, Journal of Clinical Child Psychology 1995, 24, recurrence of child firesetting: a one-year prospective 370-376. study, Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 20, 17-37. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Kourofsky, C., Cole, R.E., and Crandall, R. (2001). You Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2002 data can prevent a child’s first fire, Firehouse Magazine, 60-62. from National Center for Health Statistics, National Vital Statistics System. Available from Centers for Kourofsky, C., Cole, R.E., and Crandall, R. (2004). Disease Control and Prevention Web site, http://www. Child’s play, Fire Chief, September 2004, 34-36. cdc.gov

124 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention National Fire Protection Association. Americans underesti- Porth, D. (2003). The Portland Report 02: A Report on the mate their risk of fire. News release October 3, 2004. Juvenile Firesetting Problem. Portland, OR: Portland Fire and Rescue. National Safety Council (2000) Injury Facts. Author: Itasca, IL Porth, D. and Hughes, G. (2000). Juvenile Firesetting Research Project. Nersesian, W.S., Petit, M.R., Shaper, R., Lemieus, D., & Noar, E. (1985). Childhood death and poverty: a study of Potts, R., Martinez, I.G., Dedmon, A. (1995). Childhood all childhood deaths in Maine, 1976 to 1980. Pediatrics risk taking and injury: self-report and informant mea- 75, 41-50. sures, Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 20, 5-11.

New Zealand Fire Service Fire Awareness Intervention Putnam, C. & Kirkpatrick, J. (May 2005). Juvenile fireset- Programme (2000). National Statistics year 1999/2000. ting: A research overview, Juvenile Justice Bulletin. 1-7.

Nishi-Strattner, L. (1996). Working with the juvenile Roberts, I., Less, B. (1995). Social policy as a cause of firesetter. Paper presented at the Firestoppers, Fire Injury childhood accidents: the children of lone mothers,” British Prevention Workshop in Tacoma, WA. Medical Journal, , 311, 925-8.

Olds, D., Eckenrode, J., Henderson, C., Kitzman, H., Runyan, C. W. & Castell, C. (Eds.) The State of Home Powers J. Cole, R., Sidora, K., Morris, P., Pettitt, L., Safety in America: Facts About Unintentional Injuries in Luckey, D. (1997). Long-term effects of nurse home the Home, 2nd edition. Washington, D.C.: Home Safety visitation on maternal life course and child abuse and Council, 2004. neglect, Journal of American Medical Association, 278, 637-643. Sakheim, G.A., Osborn, E., & Abrams, D. (1991). Toward a clearer differentiation of high risk from low risk Olds, D., Henderson, C., Cole, R., Eckenrode, J., firesetters. Child Welfare, 70, 489-502. Kitzman, H., Luckey, D., Pettitt, L., Sidora, K., Morris, P., Powers J. (1998). Long-term effects of nurse home Schwebel, D.C., and Bounds, M.L. (2003). The role of visitation on children’s criminal and antisocial behavior, parents and temperament on children’s estimation of Journal of American Medical Association, 280, 1238-1244. physical ability: links to unintentional injury prevention, Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 28, 507-518. OLS Newsletter. Most Americans Ignore Fire Alarms. (1997, Nov/Dec). Vol. 13 No. 1. Sharp, D., Blaakman, S., Cole, E., and Cole, R. (2006). Evidence-based multidisciplinary strategies for working Peterson, L., Ewigman, B., Kivlahan, C. (1993). with children who set fires. Journal of American Psychiatric Judgments regarding appropriate child supervision Nurses Association, 11(6), 329-337. to prevent injury: the role of environmental risk and child age, Child Development, 64, 934-950. Showers, J. & Pickrell, E.P. (1985). Child firesetters: a study of three populations: hospital and community, Peterson, L., Oliver, K.K., Brazeal, T.J., Bull, C.A. (1995). Psychiatry 38, 495-501. A developmental exploration of expectations for and beliefs about preventing bicycle collision injuries, Journal Simonson, B. & Bullis, M. (2001). Fire Interest Survey: of Pediatric Psychology, 20, 13-22. Final Report. Institute on Violence and Destructive Behavior, College of Education, University of Oregon. Piaget, J., Inhelder, B. (1969). The Psychology of the Child. Unpublished Manuscript. Basic Books: New York, NY. Slayton, J. (2000). Establishing and Maintaining Pinsonneault, I., & Richardson, J. (1992). The fire protocol. Interagency Information Sharing. Juvenile Accountability Westport, MA: Fire Solutions, Inc. Incentive Block Grants Program Bulletin. US Department of Justice. Plumert, J. (1995). Relations between children’s overesti- mation of their physical abilities and accident proneness. SOS Fires; Youth Intervention Programs (2004). SOS Developmental Psychology, 31, 866-876. Fires Family Interview Study Final Report Document, Gresham, Oregon.

125 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention Smith, C.L. (1994, October). Smoke Detector Operability Survey—Report on Findings, Bethesda, MD: U. S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Stuart, G.W. (2005a). Cognitive behavioral treat- ment strategies. In G. W. Stuart & M.T. Laraia (Eds). Principles and practice of psychiatric nursing, 8th edition (pp. 364-385). St. Louis, MO: Mosby.

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U.S. Fire Administration. (2004a). Residential structure match- or lighter-ignited fires (Topical(Topical FireFire ResearchResearch Series, Volume 4 – Issue 2). Emmitsburg, Maryland: National Fire Data Center.

U.S. Fire Administration. (2004b). Fire in the United States 1992-2001. Emmitsburg, Maryland: National Fire Data Center

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Wooden, W. and Berkey, M. (1984). Children and Arson. New York: Plenum.

126 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention Products and Services Available APPENDIX from Fireproof Children/ Prevention First C Order forms available on our website Play safe! be safe! provides four fire safety lessons: www.fireproofchildren.com • My Friend the Firefighter or by calling (585) 264-0840 • Stop! Drop! and Roll! play safe! be safe!® • Crawl Low Under Smoke! Extensively evaluated and used by pre-school teach- • Safe for Play! Keep Away! ers in classrooms across North America, this kit has received an enthusiastic response. It was developed by BIC Corporation in cooperation with educa- play safe! be safe! wonwon the 1997 BestBest CurriculumCurriculum tors and fire safety experts, including the Fireproof Award from Early Childhood News, a journal of the Children team. It brings a firefighter into the class- National Association for the Education of Young room, through the power of video and DVD, to Children. teach three- to-five-year-olds the basics of fire pre- vention and show them how to respond to specific BIC Corporation and Fireproof Children received fire situations. Teachers in the test classrooms felt, the Rolf H. Jensen Partners in Public Education overwhelmingly, that the materials were very well Award from the National Fire Protection developed and age appropriate. After using the kit, Association for the play safe! be safe! program. a majority of children demonstrated essential fire safety behaviors. BIC Corporation makes the kit Mikey Makes a Mess available for the cost of shipping. Mikey is a little boy who likes to leave his things All materials are in English and Spanish. Kits are exactly where he wants them—which means, in the also available in French. Each play safe! be safe! kitkit middle of the floor. His parents aren’t too pleased. contains: But then Mikey’s daddy leaves out something he shouldn’t – a packet of matches. Both of them learn • A 20-minute presentation featuring “Firefighter there are some things that shouldn’t be left lying Dan”, on video and DVD around. • Color story/flash cards Mikey Makes a Mess providesprovides importantimportant education,education, • Dress the Firefighter activity board both for young children and their parents, in a fun, engaging story book form in both English and • Safe for Play! Keep Away! activity board Spanish. • Keep Away! card game Visit our web site to learn about additional books in • Comprehensive teacher’s manual/resource book the series as they become available.

127 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention Family Fire Safety Funbook

The Family Fire Safety Funbook encourages fami- lies to work together on critical fire safety issues. The Funbook is a motivating family activity book emphasizing fire prevention that relates to real people in the places where the most dangerous fires occur. The Funbook contains games, stories, and vital fire safety information for kids and parents to complete together. This book brings skills learned at your firehouse and schools, home -- where fires start.

Note: The 2006 edition will be in both English and Spanish. Training Workshops

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128 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention APPENDIX Internet Resources D Fireproof Children/Prevention First Centre for Addiction and Mental Health www.fireproofchildren.com www.camh.net Fireproof Children/Prevention First has gathered a This site for Canada’s leading addiction and mental wide variety of resources on its website, organized health teaching hospital includes, on its Publications for ease of use for a number of audiences: early page, ordering information for the TAPP-C childhood educators, fire service, parents, and men- Clinician’s Manual for Preventing and Treating tal health professionals. The site also features infor- Juvenile Fire Involvement. mation about training programs, newsroom articles on a range of fire- and safety-related topics, and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) “Mikey” page with links for kids. www.dhs.gov The Department of Homeland Security provides American Burn Association information to help families and businesses plan for www.ameriburn.org how they will respond in an emergency. This site The American Burn Association website has a vast also has a link to the department’s Citizen Corps, library of resources with information for children which provides local opportunities for citizens to get and adults that covers topics related to burns and emergency response training and volunteer to sup- fire safety in the home. Resources include Burn port local emergency responders. Awareness Week materials and a variety of books, brochures, coloring activity kits and videos. Pricing Family Education Network is included. www.familyeducation.com The Family Education Network website is ideal American Red Cross Be Ready 1-2-3 for parents looking for information regarding their www.redcross.org children’s education and wanting to share what they The American Red Cross website has materials for have learned with others. This site includes articles educators to help children and families learn how and lively discussion groups as well as expert advice to stay safe and prevent or reduce the effects of and educational activities. Age groups are broken up disasters or other emergencies. The website provides into pre-school, elementary, middle school and high materials for teachers and schools as well as for chil- school. dren. The “Be Ready 1-2-3” materials, designed for children aged 3 to 8, include lessons on home fires, winter storms, and earthquakes.

129 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) International Association of Arson Investigators www.fema.gov (IAAI) The FEMA website has information about its pro- www.firearson.com grams and a link to its site for kids. The kids pages The IAAI website provides arson investigators with include age appropriate information about disasters information about the latest legal decisions pertain- and emergencies that affect children and a special ing to arson cases as well as technical information to page that allows children to share their experiences help the arson investigator with fire investigation. It with other children. also lists information about upcoming seminars.

Fire Engineering International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) http://fe.pennnent.com www.iafc.org The Fire Engineering website is designed to help The IAFC website has information concerning you find and purchase the appropriate fire engi- upcoming conferences for the international commu- neering products for training programs, drills, nity’s career and volunteer chiefs, chief fire officers, firefighting instructional classes, and educational and managers of emergency service organizations. development needs. You’ll find valuable lifesaving It offers many resources to help manage small and information in their award-winning magazine and large fire departments (available to IAFC members). bestselling books and videos. An online resource page is also offered to members.

Fire Marshal’s Public Fire Safety Council International Association of Firefighters (IAFF) www.firesafetycouncil.com www.iaff.org In English and French, this Ontario site provides The IAFF website offers information regarding leg- fire safety information including materials from The islation, health and safety issues, EMS, and Hazmat Arson Prevention Program for Children. to 267,000 firefighters, paramedics and EMTs across the U.S. and Canada. Home Safety Council www.homesafetycouncil.org International Association of Hispanic Firefighters Features a safety guide for the prevention of a wide (IAHF) range of home hazards, and a resource center with www.iahff.org checklists, materials in Spanish, and Kids’ Corner. Includes information on the annual IAHF confer- ence, links to the Incident Page Network, and mem- The Idea Bank bership information. IAHF also sponsors the Tito www.theideabank.com Lorito page for children, described below. The Idea Bank’s website offers information about upcoming events of interest to those involved with David J. Kolko juvenile firesetting, discussion groups dealing with www.pitt.edu/~kolko juvenile firesetting, and training materials. This site Information on Kolko’s Handbook on Firesetting in also offers a resource guide that lists juvenile fireset- Children and Youth, including assessment tools, and ting programs and the organizations that run them. other fire-related studies.

130 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention National Association for the Education of Young National Head Start Association Children (NAEYC) www.nhsa.org www.naeyc.org The National Head Start Association is a private NAEYC is the nation’s largest organization of early not-for-profit membership organization which pro- childhood professionals and others dedicated to vides support for Head Start, the most successful, improving the quality of early childhood education longest-running, national school readiness program programs for children birth through age eight. The in the United States. It advocates for policies that site ffers a variety of books, brochures, DVDs, post- strengthen services to Head Start children and their ers, videos and other materials on early childhood. families, provides training and professional develop- ment to Head Start staff, and disseminates research National Association of State Fire Marshals to enrich Head Start programs. (NASFM) www.firemarshals.org Safe Kids Worldwide The NASFM website contains information about www.safekids.org current conference dates, press releases, reports and The Safe Kids Worldwide website offers safety articles on fire-related issues including juvenile fire- information for children such as burn prevention setting, and links to government and state fire mar- and fire safety. The site offers safety tips and check- shal sites. lists in English and Spanish, activities for children, and a catalog of available publications and materials. National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) www.usfa.fema.gov/nfirs Office of Domestic Preparedness (ODP) This page contains an overview of the standard www.ojp.usdoj.gov/odp national reporting system used by U.S. fire depart- The Office of Domestic Preparedness provides ments to report fires and other incidents to which training and support for the planning and execution they respond and to maintain records of these inci- of exercises, and technical assistance to assist states dents in a uniform manner. The page also includes and local jurisdictions to prevent, respond to, and information on training, technical support, and recover from acts of terrorism. This site provides information for vendors who develop NFIRS-com- links to a Responder Knowledge Base and Best patible software programs. Visitors may download Practices/Lessons Learned. coding handbooks, sample forms, and a system documentation manual. Office of Justice Programs www.ncjrs.org National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) This website offers an extensive library of informa- www.nfpa.org tion that deals with crime prevention and issues that The NFPA website contains the latest informa- involve juveniles, and statistics pertaining to juvenile tion about the National Fire Protection Association, crimes. including its departments, publications, seminars, and education programs. Resources include press Parent Teachers Association (PTA) releases and reports, RiskWatch® and Sparky the www.pta.org Dog® games, activities and materials, and fire, elec- The National PTA is the largest volunteer child trical, and building safety products. advocacy association in the United States. This web- site provides parent resources on a variety of topics including safety, and information on issues affecting children.

131 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention SOS Fires Youth Intervention Programs www.sosfires.com The SOS FIRES: Youth Intervention Programs website posts information that may be useful for professionals who work with youth firesetting behaviors or in juvenile firesetting intervention pro- grams, as well as parents, teachers, and others.

SOS Fires also offers a free download of the Youth Firesetting Information Recording System (YFIRS), including report writing functions. This remains a program on the user’s computer.

Tito Lorito www.titolorito.org Created by the International Association of Hispanic Firefighters, this site in Spanish has games and songs for children, a guide for parents, and links to other sites with information in Spanish.

United State Fire Administration (USFA) www.usfa.fema.gov The USFA website includes training and education- al opportunities, fire statistics, public fire education campaign materials, and home fire safety materials including a Special Populations Fire-Safe Checklist. The site also features a directory for travelers of approved, fire-safe hotels. This site also contains an overview of the NFIRS standard national reporting system used by U.S. fire departments to report fires and other incidents, information for vendors who develop NFIRS-compatible software programs, and downloadable coding handbooks, sample forms, and a system documentation manual.

132 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention APPENDIX Sample Program Agreement

(used with permission of Fire Stoppers of King County) B) To provide necessary hours of consultation and case management. E This agreement is entered into by and between C) To provide services only to those youths referred the Arson Alarm Foundation, CoHear, Inc., and by proper screening processes through partici- the King County Fire and Life Safety Association, pating fire departments, law enforcement agen- with the objective of establishing a comprehensive cies, or juvenile justice agencies. regional youth firesetting intervention program to reduce the incidence of fireplay and firesetting by D) Will work in conjunction with participating children and adolescents through early identifica- fire departments, law enforcement and juvenile tion, assessment, education, counseling and the justice to provide appropriate continuity of ser- referral for “at risk” youth between the ages of two vices. and seventeen years of age. E) To ensure a mental health professional makes General Terms contact with each referral and/or the child’s family within fourteen (14) days of referral. A) This agreement shall be in effect until such time Whether or not contact is made, feedback to that one or more of the participants wishes to the referring interventionist must be made to modify or make a recommendation for change. allow for follow-up with the family. It shall come under review every 24 months F) To provide up to eight (8) hours of individual by representatives from all three organizations. and family counseling services, and possible Recommendations need to be in written form, group sessions per referral. This will include reviewed and voted on by the contract commit- psychological assessment and the development/ tee that consists of representatives from all three implementation/evaluation of an individualized organizations. treatment plan as necessary. Also included are B) Any party, upon written notice to the others, consultations with referral sources, collateral may cancel this agreement at any time. contacts, travel when deemed necessary, admin- istrative services, and non-professional services (including, but not limited to, data input and CoHear, Inc. Responsibilities billing). If appropriate, CoHear may provide group sessions as clinically recommended. In A) To maintain an in-house orientation to all the event that group sessions are utilized, the mental health professionals of the program, total of the group sessions, or mix of individual including general youth firesetting informa- and group sessions, shall not exceed the equiva- tion, individual fire departments’ roles and fire lent dollar amount of eight hours of individual and life safety messages consistent with those sessions. taught by the King County Fire and Life Safety Association.

133 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention G) In the event additional individual sessions/group Arson Alarm Foundation sessions are deemed necessary, CoHear will Responsibilities provide information that supports this recom- mendation to the Steering Committee, of the A) Arson Alarm Foundation will provide a deposi- King County Fire and Life Safety Association. tory for Youth Firesetting Intervention funds. This information needs to be provided prior When requested by CoHear and supported by to the monthly steering committee’s meeting an itemized billing, Arson Alarm Foundation for review, and before the youth’s service time will issue checks out of the Fire Stoppers expires and may be provided via email. The Program funds, to the extent that such funds committee will review each request on a case- are available. by-case basis and mutually agree on any child’s continued participation and funding options. B) Arson Alarm Foundation recognizes the impor- tance of this program and the need for con- H) In the event that an “at risk” child is already tinued funding, and will attempt to assist with involved in some form of therapy and wishes fund raising efforts when asked to do so. to continue that treatment separate from the Fire Stoppers Program, efforts shall be made C) Arson Alarm board members will provide by CoHear to interact with the other therapist assistance and in-kind services when feasible when appropriate. Cohear may act as a resource as requested by the King County Fire Stoppers to said provider for the referred youth. This Program. action is pending the signing of the appropriate D) Arson Alarm Foundation may assist with pro- release forms by the legal guardians of the youth motion of this program through media contacts referred. and other resources available to it.

I) To generate monthly reports to the Steering E) In the event a new program sponsor is selected, Committee and to the Arson Alarm Foundation all funds designated for the King County Fire by the second Tuesday of each month. Stoppers Program being held by Arson Alarm J) CoHear will request funds by providing item- Foundation, will be transferred to the new ized monthly billings, to the treasurer for the sponsoring agency upon approval of the Arson Arson Alarm Foundation. Alarm Foundation Board of Directors, the King County Fire and Life Safety Association Board, K) To the extent required, CoHear may make and CoHear. referrals to third parties, with any such services to be provided at the expense of the referred F) Arson Alarm Foundation will provide a party. monthly accounting of the Fire Stoppers funds at their monthly board meeting. Copies will L) Arson Alarm Foundation, and the King County be made available to the Fire Stoppers steering Fire and Life Safety Association shall be named committee. insureds on CoHear liability insurance.

M) Assist in compiling the program’s annual report.

N) Attend Fire Stoppers steering committee meet- ings when requested to do so.

134 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention King County Fire and Life Safety B) Participating fire departments’ requirements are Association Responsibilities as follows: 1) Provide a minimum of one person to A) To empower a Steering Committee within the become trained and remain current in the King County Fire and Life Safety Association, process of conducting a screening/interview to act as the facilitator for this program as fol- and appropriate education for any youth- lows: involved fire incident. 1) Solicit and monitor the funding for the Fire 2) Provide the steering committee with a per- Stoppers Program. son to act as the point of contact and let the 2) Continue to encourage King County Fire committee know in writing if this person Departments to support and participate in changes. the program. 3) Provide sufficient time necessary to conduct 3) Provide a copy of the program’s screening, education and training of fire Memorandum of Understanding to every department personnel. participating fire department and limit pro- 4) Timely completion and submission of gram participation to those departments appropriate paperwork with all youth that sign and return the document. referred to that department’s Fire Stoppers 4) Review monthly billings. Program.

5) Provide interview/screening and continuing 5) Conduct timely follow-up with clients at a education training sessions to participating minimum of 3 and 6-month interims per fire departments and other agencies when program format. deemed necessary by the committee. 6) Sign and maintain a current MOU. 6) Provide all necessary documentation 7) Monitor and evaluate local program efforts (screening tool, release forms, demographic information, follow-up forms and updates) 8) Agree not to refer to CoHear any youth to participating fire departments. who they have reason to believe may have legal charges brought against them or who 7) Provide reports to the Arson Alarm are currently waiting for court date/sen- Foundation when requested. tencing - unless assigned/approved by the 8) Compile the program’s annual report. designated fire investigator or by the court system itself. 9) Monitor the Fire Stoppers Program and evaluate its progress. 9) Provide communication and information exchange between participating depart- 10) Provide for the opportunity for commu- ments, mental health providers, schools, nication to occur and information to be other program managers, law enforcement exchanged between participating depart- and juvenile justice. ments, mental health providers, schools, other program managers, law enforcement, juvenile justice and other related agencies. Dated this 11th Day of December 2002

Co Hear Inc. Arson Alarm King County President Foundation Fire & Life Safety Assoc. President President

135 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention Juvenile Firesetter Intervention APPENDIX Program Coalition Community Partner Data Form

(used with permission of the Kansas State Fire Marshal’s Office) F Name of Organization/Community Partner:

Type of Organization:

Organization Contact Person:

Organization Address:

City: State: Zip code: County:

Work Phone: Fax:

Cell Phone: Email:

Have you attended Juvenile Firesetter Intervention Program ( JFIP) Training? (Circle One) YES NO

If yes, which one?

Are you currently a member of a juvenile firesetter community coalition? (Circle One) YES NO

If yes, which one?

If no, are you interested in being a coalition member? (Circle One) YES NO

Do you already have a juvenile firesetter program? (Circle One) YES NO

If yes, describe your program’s characteristics:

If you are in need of technical assistance, training to expand/improve your program or interested in becoming part of the Y-FIRE network, please describe those needs below. Be specific.

136 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention APPENDIX Recommended Funding Sources For Community Coalitions G 1. Local County Youth Bureaus 13. State Office of Children and Family Services

2. Rotary Clubs 14. Safe Schools Grants

3. Elks Clubs 15. County Legislature (if County Program)

4. United Way 16. Insurance Companies

5. FireAct Grants 17. Banking Community

6. Local Unions--fire, police, teachers 18. Fire Department/Police Benevolent Associations 7. WalMart, other local vendors 19. Foundation Grants 8. Grant from County from Annual Payments to County from tobacco companies 20. Businesses affected by fire in the past

9. Rotary Club, Lion’s Club, Moose Lodge 21. Private companies within the County

10. Shriner’s 22. Personal donations

11. Ronald McDonald Charities 23. First Responder Institute (www.FirstResponder.org) 12. State Office of Mental Health

137 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention APPENDIX Fireproof Children/Prevention First Release From Liability and Disclaimer of Warranties

IN CONSIDERATION OF the receipt of a smoke alarm and battery from the Fire Department of the City of ______, the undersigned hereby releases the City of ______, its officialsH and employees and its partners in the initiative from any and all liability whatsoever for any injuries, damages, and claims of any nature which the undersigned, his/her heirs, dependents and assigns may sustain with respect to said smoke alarm.

The City of ______and its partners in the initiative shall not be responsible for the periodic testing of said smoke detector nor for providing any necessary repairs or replacement batteries for said smoke alarm. The undersigned hereby acknowledges the need for proper testing, repair and replacement of batteries in order for said smoke detector to function properly.

The City of ______and its partners in the initiative, offer no warranty relating to this smoke alarm and battery. The City of ______and its partners in the initiative specifically disclaim any implied warranty of merchantability or fitness and the undersigned agrees to accept the smoke alarm and battery “as is.”

INSTALLER, PLEASE FILL OUT COMPLETELY: Name:

Address:

Apartment: (# or description of location)

City: State: Zip:

Phone: Call for an appointment? ❏ Yes ❏ No

Check all that apply: ❏ Rent ❏ Own ❏ 1 Family ❏ 2 Family ❏ Multi Family

Family Mambers (check all that apply): ❏ Preschool Children ❏ Older Adults ❏ Person(s) with Special Needs

Installation Location: ❏ Hallway ❏ Bedroom ❏ Kitchen ❏ Living Room/Den ❏ 1st Floor ❏ 2nd Floor ❏ 3rd Floor ❏ Basement ❏ Other (please describe)

Recipient’s Signature:

Installer Name:

Installer’s Organization:

Date Installed:

How long did installation take?? ❏ 15 minutes ❏ 30 minutes ❏ 45 minutes ❏ 1 hour ❏ 1 1⁄2 hours ❏ 2 hours

Installer signature:

138 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention APPENDIX Juvenile Firesetter Intervention Program Planning Exercise

(used with permission of the Kansas State Fire Marshal’s Office) I It’s been said that the first step to overcoming an obstacle is to recognize it. Firesetting is a complex problem. People don’t always recognize it when they see it. People who do recognize it might not see it as “their” problem. People who see it as “their” problem might not know what to do with it. All these “might nots” add up to a lot of cases going unresolved. This exercise is designed to identify all of the obstacles that people in your professional area of activity face when it comes to trying to identify and intervene with cases of child firesetting.

What fields or disciplines are represented in your group?

1. What are the top five obstacles to these people in becoming involved with an interagency juvenile firesetter program?

a.

b.

c.

d.

e.

2. For each obstacle identified, what do you think is the underlying cause?

a.

b.

c.

d.

e.

139 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention 3. For each obstacle identified, what are some potential ways to overcome these, and who will have to take the first step to bring about these changes?

a.

b.

c.

d.

e.

4. What do you think is the major misconception that people in other agencies or professions have about what can or should be done about juvenile firesetters?

5. What would an interagency program need to have in order for it to succeed in your area?

140 Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention