Grantee: Spokane School District 81
Project Title:
Spokane Public Schools Multi-Tiered System of Supports
The U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) awarded grant funding to eight local districts under the OJJDP FY 2019 Comprehensive School-Based Approach to Youth Violence and Victimization Program (CYVP). This grant program supported a comprehensive effort to address youth violence and victimization through implementing evidence-based prevention, intervention, and accountability efforts in a school-based setting. The goals of the program were to: (1) reduce the incidence of school violence through accountability efforts for offenders; (2) respond to victimization, exposure to violence, and trauma as a result of violence that occurs in the school, community, or family; (3) improve school safety and climate; and (4) prevent violence, delinquency, and victimization in the targeted community. LISC Safety & Justice provided technical assistance and training to enhance CYVP grantees’ capacity to reach their goals.
Introduction
Spokane Public Schools (SPS) serves nearly 30,000 students in grades K-12 in 54 schools. With a population of 229,000, Spokane is the second-largest city in Washington state. Spokane’s students represent a blend of cultures including robust Hispanic, Native American, and Pacific Islander populations, and families speak 80 languages. The city of Spokane has experienced a surge in drug use and disorder involving juveniles in the downtown area in recent years, and there are also economic challenges. The city poverty rate is 11.2 percent and more than half of SPS students receive free and reduced-priced meals.
The SPS Office of Family & Community Engagement forms relationships with students, their families, and community partners, bringing different entities together to serve students in a holistic way. The office collected feedback from both parents and community members regarding their concerns about juvenile behavior and school safety. At the same time, school district data showed that attempts to address the behavior, such as suspensions and expulsions, were disproportionately targeting students of color and students with special needs. The SPS Office of Family & Community Engagement sent staff and selected community members to Georgetown University’s School-Justice Partnerships and Diversion Pathways Certificate Program. There they learned how to create effective and equitable in-school diversion programs and address problem behavior proactively rather than punitively. That experience laid the foundation for the school district to apply for the CYVP grant.
Project Purpose
SPS staff saw a strong correlation between disciplinary incidents and students’ sense of belonging in the school community. They knew that students were deeply affected by their family situations including poverty and a lack of opportunity. The school system had several programs and strategies in place to address school discipline, youth violence, and victimization, including Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS), on-site mental health services, mentoring, school resource officers, and conflict resolution. SPS applied for CYVP grant funds to build out its in-school diversion program, increase connectedness and positive relationships for students vulnerable to becoming involved in violence, and reduce disproportionate disciplinary measures.
Approach
The Restorative Interventions for Suspensions and Expulsions (RISE) program is central to Spokane Public Schools’ work under the CYVP grant, which also includes social-emotional learning and restorative justice components. RISE has two parts: in-school diversion and mentorship. When a student is facing suspension or expulsion, school administrators can convene a meeting with Office of Family & Community Engagement team members, the student, counselors, and other members of the school’s student support system. Together, the group creates an in-school diversion agreement tailored to the individual student and their family.
The RISE program intentionally serves a student’s entire family because mentors know that the family’s well-being is critically important to the student’s well-being. In addition to meeting the student’s social, emotional, and academic needs, mentors also attempt to eliminate stressors in the student’s household. They connect families with assistance for housing, food insecurity, employment, mental health, and other basic necessities. The SPS Office of Family & Community Engagement cultivates strong connections with agencies and service providers throughout the community so it can readily access help for a wide range of family needs. RISE serves students at SPS’ five mainstream high schools and three alternative high schools, but mentors also connect with younger siblings attending SPS elementary and middle schools.
During the initial meeting, the RISE team uses screening questions to assess whether the student or family needs support for substance abuse, mental health, or other challenges. The resulting in-school diversion plan may include a requirement to seek counseling or other assistance. The team provides the student or family member with referrals to service providers so they leave the meeting with concrete next steps and connections. RISE then provides ongoing, one-on-one mentorship for the student throughout the year.
SPS launched RISE in 2020, during a school year that began with entirely remote instruction. Office of Family & Community Engagement team members worked with school administration to support students in myriad ways, including conducting home visits, delivering laptops and books, and checking on the status of students who had not been in contact with their schools. This work helped the team create relationships not just with the students, but also with school administrators. As it created the RISE program, the Office of Family & Community Engagement talked to administrators about the types of students RISE could serve and how it could support them, while administrators gave feedback on specific students that could benefit from the program.
It was sometimes challenging to form relationships through a screen with high schoolers who had already been online for classes all day. However, RISE mentors found that the regular check-ins created a sense of consistency during an uncertain time. Mentors used text and chat as well as video calls so they could be accessible to students. Their transparency, availability, and lack of judgement often led to strong and honest relationships. Mentors talked to students about their challenges and connected them with services available through the school district or in the community, including housing, food access, and benefits.
One memorable encounter occurred after students returned to school buildings. Office of Family & Community Engagement were called upon to create a RISE agreement for a young man who had engaged in an altercation with another student. The young person was very transparent during the RISE screening, answering questions honestly, but the mentor still was unsure of the root of the student’s problems. The mentor asked the student to name the biggest stress in his life. He replied that his father had just been released from prison and really needed a new pair of shoes. The mentor contacted the RISE team and community partners and by the next morning, had secured a new pair of sneakers for the student’s father. The student has now been part of the RISE program for two years and is doing well in an educational path tailored to his strengths.
The mentoring team represents a diverse range of people and skills and engage students in different ways. One mentor bonds with students over a shared love of music, another works with a gender identity-inclusive group of female students, and a third takes time to learn specific course material and work with all the students who are taking that class. The common thread is that RISE mentors work with families consistently and non-judgmentally. The often go beyond their basic job description to provide families the support they need.
Cultivating both one-on-one and group connections, the mentors get to know students beyond their own caseload. If one mentor is not having a successful relationship with a specific student, a different mentor can work with that young person instead. RISE leaders arrange mentors’ schedules to ensure a RISE mentor is in the school building and available to students as much as possible. Students can also reach their mentors through Google Voice and text. Mentors help students with everything from academics to social-emotional support to life skills like filling out a W-4 tax form for employment or obtaining a bus pass.
Results
All of the seniors in the RISE program graduated last year, compared with a 90-percent graduation rate for the SPS school district overall. In addition, rate of disproportionate suspension and expulsion declined to within acceptable levels according to Washington state educational system standards. Disproportionality came down in all categories, dropping most among students with individualized education plans. The Office of Family & Community Engagement staff feel confident that RISE is contributing to this improvement, as most of the program’s students belong to racial and ethnic groups that have historically experienced disproportionate discipline.
RISE students often come to mentoring sessions accompanied by friends who might not qualify to be in the program. RISE leaders do not turn anyone away; they include these extra students in their group mentoring and academics sessions. In this way, the RISE program helps dozens more students than will ever appear in the official case load, including seniors needing extra support to graduate. RISE participants also benefit from the inclusive approach because the students support one another inside and outside the program.
The benefits of the program are apparent to school administrators as well as their students. This was demonstrated during the recent budget season, as principals worked to identify funding sources that would allow them to keep the program in the building after the end of the CYVP grant. RISE mentors have become an indispensable part of school staff.
Related Resources
Webinar: Decreasing Punishment & Increasing Equity in Schools
Webinar: Making Equity a Priority in Schools
See all of LISC's resources on comprehensive school-based approaches to addressing youth violence and victimization.
The Department of Justice Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) works to prevent and respond to youth delinquency and protect children.
Resources on this page are supported by Grant 2019-MU-MU-K011, awarded by the Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Neither the U.S. Department of Justice nor any of its components operate, control, are responsible for, or necessarily endorse, this web site (including, without limitation, its content, technical infrastructure, and policies, and any services or tools provided).
OJJDP provides national leadership, coordination, and resources to prevent and respond to youth delinquency and victimization. The Office helps states, localities, and tribes develop effective and equitable juvenile justice systems that create safer communities and empower youth to lead productive lives.