We are especially grateful to The Atlantic Philanthropies and Skadden, Arps for making this work possible! Keeping Kids In School and Out of Court REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS New York City School-Justice Partnership Task Force May 2013 Cover.indd 2-3 5/20/2013 9:51:44 PM Cover.indd 4-5 5/20/2013 9:51:45 PM KEEPING KIDS IN SCHOOL AND OUT OF COURT NEW YORK CITY SCHOOL-JUSTICE PARTNERSHIP TASK FORCE Report and Recommendations The New York State Permanent Judicial Commission on Justice for Children, working with Advocates for Children of New York, sponsored the New York City School-Justice Partnership Task Force with support from Skadden, Arps and a grant from The Atlantic Philanthropies. © 2013 New York State Permanent Judicial Commission on Justice for Children 150 State Street, 2nd Floor, Albany, NY 12207 · Phone: 518-285-8780 Email: [email protected] · web: www.nycourts.gov/justiceforchildren Permission to copy all or portions of this report is granted as long as this publication is acknowledged as the source in any reproduction, quotation or use. Paper used in this publication is FSC-certified using postconsumer waste fiber. a b NEW YORK CITY SCHOOL-JUSTICE PARTNERSHIP TASK FORCE Hon. Judith S. Kaye, Chair MEMBERS AND REPRESENTATIVES Dinu Ahmed, Community Organizer, Hon. Charles J. Hynes, District Attorney, Kings New Settlement Apartments Parent County District Attorney’s Office Action Committee David Kazansky, Director of School Safety, Zakiyah Ansari, Advocacy Director, Alliance for United Federation of Teachers Quality Education Elayna Konstan, Chief Executive Officer, Office Herb Barbot, Deputy Commissioner, Department of Safety and Youth Development, New York City of Youth and Community Development Department of Education Charles Barrios, MSW, Deputy Commissioner, Jaime Koppel, MPA, Director, Youth and Family Support Services, Administration for Education Justice, Children’s Defense Fund Children’s Services Frank Laghezza, Esq., Executive Assistant Leo Casey, Former Vice President, Academic District Attorney, Kings County District High Schools, United Federation of Teachers Attorney’s Office Kathleen DeCataldo, Esq., Executive Director, Deborah Lashley, Esq., Executive Assistant New York State Permanent Judicial Commission District Attorney, Kings County District on Justice for Children Attorney’s Office Hon. Monica Drinane, Supervising Judge, Bronx Joshua Laub, Director of Youth Development, District County Family Court 88, New York City Department of Education Hon. Lee Elkins, New York City Family Court Sue Lehmann, Board Member, New Visions for Judge, retired, Kings County Family Court Public Schools Chad Ferguson, Chief Academic Officer, District Tim Lisante, Ph.D., Superintendent, District 79, 79, New York City Department of Education Alternative Schools and Programs, New York City Maria Fernandez, Youth Program Director, Department of Education Sistahs and Brothas United Ernest Logan, M.S.Ed., President, Council of Rachel Garver, M.S.Ed., Doctoral Candidate, School Supervisors and Administrators Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Suzanne Lynn, Esq., Deputy Commissioner, Human Development, New York University Community Development Department of Youth & Stephanie Gendell, Esq., Associate Executive Community Development Director, Policy and Government Relations, Kavitha Mediratta, Programme Executive, Children Citizens’ Committee for Children of New York, Inc. and Youth Programme, The Atlantic Philanthropies Nancy Ginsburg, Esq., Director, Adolescent Julia Mendoza, Doctoral Candidate, American Intervention and Diversion Team, The Legal Aid Studies, New York University Society, Criminal Practice Eloise Messineo, Ph.D., Executive Director, Damon Hewitt, Esq., Director, Education Project, Executive Leadership Institute, Council of School NAACP Legal Defense Fund Supervisors & Administrators c Bettina Muenster, Research Assistant to President Sarah Sandelius, Esq., Executive Director, Policy and Jeremy Travis, John Jay College of Criminal Justice Student Advocacy, District 79, Alternative Schools and Michael Mulgrew, President, United Federation Programs, New York City Department of Education of Teachers Nitin Savur, Esq., Assistant District Attorney, Pedro Noguera, Ph.D., Executive Director, Steinhardt Co-Deputy Chief of the Trial Division, New York School of Culture, Education and Human Development, County District Attorney’s Office New York University Liz Sullivan, Director, Human Right to Education David Osher, Ph.D., Vice President, American Program, National Economic and Social Rights Institutes for Research Initiative (NESRI) Hon. Eduardo Padró, Supreme Court Justice, Kim Sweet, Esq., Executive Director, Advocates Supreme Court, Criminal Term, 1st. J.D. New for Children of New York York County Chris Tan, Esq., Education Programs, Close to Vanessa Rodriguez, Former Chief Executive Officer, Home Initiative, Administration for Children’s District 79, New York City Department of Education Services Ralph Sabatino, Esq., Court Attorney, Kings Jeremy Travis, Esq., President, John Jay College County Family Court of Criminal Justice Lynn Sanchez, Parent Organizer, New Settlement Hon. Cyrus Vance, District Attorney, New York Apartments Parent Action Committee County District Attorney’s Office Rosemary Ventura, JD Resource Coordinator, Bronx County Family Court TASK FORCE STAFF Molly Armstrong, Project Director, NYC Sarah Part, Development and Communications School-Justice Task Force; Partner, Public Catalyst Associate, Advocates for Children of New York Chiyel Hayles, Research and Policy Associate, Gabrielle Kreisler Sheely, Consultant, Public Catalyst Public Catalyst Toni Lang, Ph.D., Deputy Director, New York State Permanent Judicial Commission on Justice for Children The New York State Permanent Judicial Commission on Justice for Children, working with Advocates for Children of New York, sponsored the New York City School-Justice Partnership Task Force with support from Skadden, Arps and a grant from The Atlantic Philanthropies. 150 State Street, 2nd Floor, Albany, NY 12207 · Phone: 518-285-8780 · Email: [email protected] · web: www.nycourts.gov/justiceforchildren Working to improve the lives and life chances of children involved with New York State Courts d CONTENTS BACKGROUND _______________________________________________________________ i EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ________________________________________________________ iii TASK FORCE RECOMMENDATIONS AND STRATEGIES AT A GLANCE ___________________ vii PART I. OUR CHALLENGE, OUR OPPORTUNITY: IMPORTANT FINDINGS _______________ 1 A. CONTEXT _____________________________________________________ 1 B. OVERVIEW OF NYC DATA: __________________________________________ 4 Suspensions, Arrests And Summonses For School-Based Incidents C. EMERGING RESEARCH ___________________________________________ 10 D. EMERGING REFORMS FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY __________________ 13 E. NEW YORK CITY HAS MADE STRIDES ________________________________ 19 e PART II. RECOMMENDATIONS AND STRATEGIES ________________________________ 22 LEAD RECOMMENDATION: __________________________________________ 23 Develop a Mayoral-Led Initiative that Establishes a Shared Goal among Agencies, in Collaboration with the Courts, to Keep More Students Safely in School While Reducing the Use of Suspensions and School-Based Summonses and Arrests CONTENTS RECOMMENDATION A: _____________________________________________ 28 Adopt a Graduated Response Protocol RECOMMENDATION B: _____________________________________________ 30 Build Improved Capacity Across Schools with Supports to Implement Positive Discipline Strategies and Reduce Reliance on Suspensions, Summonses and Arrests RECOMMENDATION C: _____________________________________________ 34 Focus the Role of School Safety Agents RECOMMENDATION D: _____________________________________________ 37 Improve Educational Planning for Court-Involved Youth RECOMMENDATION E: _____________________________________________ 40 Improve Educational Re-Engagement for Placed and Sentenced Youth APPENDIX A: ______________________________________________________________ 44 NYC School-Justice Partnership Task Force: Methodology, Process and Meeting Index REFERENCES _______________________________________________________________ 49 BACKGROUND Throughout her tenure as Chief Judge of the State of New York, Judith S. Kaye supported a host of innovative reforms on behalf of children and families, ranging from problem-solving courts to adoption practices. Upon her retirement from the bench, she continued her role as the Chair of New York State’s Permanent Judicial Commission on Justice for Children, working closely with judges and leaders throughout New York State and the nation to support positive change for children. The Commission, intent on improving life outcomes for children before New York State’s courts, has long focused on educational outcomes for youth involved with the courts. Its current focus on the school-justice connection is a natural outgrowth, given emerging research, wide attention and grass-roots’ calls for action. At the federal level, for example, the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division and the Department of Education’s Civil Rights Office hosted a conference in 2010, on Civil Rights and School Discipline: Addressing Disparities to Ensure Educational Opportunity, where agency leadership, educators, lawyers, law enforcement and researchers discussed strategies to reduce harsh responses to minor misbehavior and disproportionality.1 That same year, the U.S. Department