Closing DC’s School to Prison Pipeline
Background on TimeBanks USA (www.TimeBanks.org)
TimeBanks USA (“TBUSA”) is building a movement to reform economic and social systems, policies and
practices so that they empower people to create the type of communities they want and need. With affiliates in
more than 35 states and over 30 countries, this nimble “think and do” tank catalyzes innovations. DC’s Time
Dollar Youth Court is one such innovation. It diverts 60-70% of non-violent youth offenses from the Courts back
to the community through a peer-governed jury process in which young people restore justice.
The Racial Justice Initiative (www.RacialJusticeInitiative.org)
TBUSA formally launched the Racial Justice Initiative (RJI) in 2009, with its first Colloquium, which collected
input for its seminal law review article, An Offer They Can’t Refuse: Deliberate Indifference Meets Juvenile
Justice Alternatives that Work, Cahn & Robbins, 13 UDC/DCSL L. Rev. 71 (2010). This article sets forth the
RJI’s ever-evolving strategy to challenge policies that disproportionately push young people of color into the
delinquency system. Our current work aims to shut down the “School to Prison Pipeline,” by addressing the
effects of long-term suspensions and intensified disciplinary procedures on youth of color – disproportionately
pushing them out of school, and making it virtually impossible for them to return after extended absences.
The RJI engages affected students and their families, along with advocates, experts and public officials in Public
Documentation Hearings (PDH), formerly referred to as Public Notice Hearings. These forums are designed to
document evidence about injury and alternatives. Sharing this information publicly creates a record in which all
segments of the community can hold one another accountable for doing what we know works. In the context of
school discipline, officials face both the injury caused by current practices -- such as exclusionary school
discipline, over-reliance on suspension and expulsion or “zero tolerance” -- and alternatives that would prevent
the injury. Once informed that more effective, less expensive, less discriminatory alternatives to exclusionary
school discipline and delinquency system engagement exist, failure to adopt those alternatives may trigger a legal
mandate to compel the use of knowledge about effective strategies, policies and practices.
The RJI strategy is grounded in a belief in and support of alternative, community-based programs that are more
effective than the present practice of pushing young people of color out of schools and into the juvenile
delinquency system. As part of the preparation for a Public Documentation Hearing, the RJI team engages in
extensive research and analysis of the targeted jurisdiction. We review local statutes, regulations, policies and
practices; perform statistical analysis of the number of youth within the school systems and jurisdiction;
determine the percentages referred from key public systems (e.g., law enforcement, schools); and investigate the
number and quality of alternatives to system engagement programs currently available and easily replicable from
locally and nationally known models. The RJI is excited to learn about community-based alternatives from cograntees in the Atlantic Philanthropies cohort and others. Another critical aspect of our strategy is the inclusion of
young people as forum witnesses and audience members.
Why is the Racial Justice Initiative Focusing on DC?
We anticipate holding a Public Documentation Process in DC because we live here. Our community is also
uniquely well positioned to succeed, due to an intensified focus on securing the data to track and address the overreliance on exclusionary school discipline practices in traditional and charter public schools. In addition, there is
an engaged accountability circle ready to use this strategy to challenge, inform and improve the decision-making
process at different stages of the school discipline process. We seek commitments from responsible civic and
community leaders to participate as witnesses and conveners. We hope to be part of the solution, advancing
successful discipline strategies such as positive behaviors and supports, restorative justice, peer mentoring and
classroom management techniques to create a culture of achievement and learning in public schools.
Contact Information:
Cynthia Robbins, Esq., Independent Consultant, Co- Leader of RJI, (646)772-0736, CRobDC@gmail.com;
Edgar Cahn, PhD. JD, Founder and Co-Chair, TBUSA, Co- Leader of RJI Yeswecan@aol.com, (202) 262-1176; and
Nicholas Clark, Esq., Associate, RJI, (202) 640-4140, ext.104, Nick@timebanks.org