Taking Positive Behavior
Support to Scale in
Juvenile Justice Settings
C. Michael Nelson
University of Louisville
Jeffrey R. Sprague
University of Oregon
Cynthia Martin
NC Department of Juvenile Justice & Delinquency
Prevention
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Agenda
• What “going to scale” means
• Public Schools
• Juvenile justice settings
• Exemplar presentation
• NC Department of Juvenile
Justice & Delinquency
Prevention
• Discussion
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Taking PBS to Scale in Juvenile Justice Settings
Going to Scale with PBS
• Public Schools
• Building
• District
• State
• National
– OSEP
– Samsha
– NIH
• Juvenile Justice
• Program
• Facility
• System (State)
• National
– OJJDP
– NASDSE
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Taking PBS to Scale in Juvenile Justice Settings
Core Features of SW-PBS
Relative to Scaling Up
1. Establishment of local implementation
capacity
2. Continuous self-assessment
1. Intervention fidelity
2. Student outcomes
3. Evaluation and integration of multiple
behavior-related initiatives
4. A commitment to long-term effort
(Sugai, Horner, & McIntosh, in press)
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Taking PBS to Scale in Juvenile Justice Settings
Questions to ask
• How can we make our behavior support
process
– Help students accept responsibility?
– Place high value on academic
engagement and achievement?
– Teach alternative ways to behave?
– Focus on restoring the environment and
social relationships in the school?
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Taking PBS to Scale in Juvenile Justice Settings
School-wide Systems of
Positive Behavior Support
• Incorporate best practice in professional
development and system change (teams)
• Emphasizes the use of assessment information to
guide intervention and management decisions
(Blueprint, EBS Survey, www.SWIS.org )
• Focus on increasing the contextual fit between
problem context and what we know works
• Focus on establishing school environments
that support long-term success of effective
practices (3-5 years)
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Taking PBS to Scale in Juvenile Justice Settings
School-wide Systems of
Positive Behavior Support
• Local initiatives tie into district/state/national
goals
• Expectations for student behavior are defined by
a building-based team with all staff input
• Positive behavior support is implemented
consistently by staff and administration through
an instructional approach (Teach & Practice)
• Student behavior is monitored and staff receive
regular feedback
• Positive behavior support strategies are designed
to meet the needs of all students
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Taking PBS to Scale in Juvenile Justice Settings
Lessons Learned
• Plan for sustained implementation & expansion early &
formally
• Invest in & adapt evidence-based practices to local
context
• Give priority to relevant, measurable outcomes
• Treat school as basic unit for change, & districts/states as
main organizational units
• Establish demonstrations & data to enhance
understanding
• Invest early in local implementation capacity
– District/state coordinator
– Coaches
• Emphasize continuous regeneration for efficacy,
relevance, priority, & fidelity
• Positively reinforce successive approximations of
implementer behavior
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Taking PBS to Scale in Juvenile Justice Settings
The core features of PBS in
JJ
• Emphasis on prevention
• Adoption of evidence-based
practices (especially function-based
behavior support)
• Development of the systems
needed to support and sustain
effective practices
– Especially the role of the coach
– Emphasis on local capacity
– Data-based decision making at the
local level
– Adaptation of the procedures to fit each
local context.
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Taking PBS to Scale in Juvenile Justice Settings
How are these features
different in JJ contexts
• Staff come from very different
backgrounds with very
different assumptions about
problem behavior
• Security and safety are much
more important
• Very high risk population:
challenging to staff
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Taking PBS to Scale in Juvenile Justice Settings
Implications
• Greater need to define and teach behavioral expectations
• Make the environment (a) predictable (b) consistent, (c)
safe, and (d) positive
• High need for active instruction on appropriate behaviors.
– Because kids already have learned wrong-way…you need
multiple trials, and training to fluency
• High potential for peer-based deviancy training
– Focus on contingencies in which all benefit when each does
well
• Data
– Need additional outcome measures (e.g. incident
reports…physical restraint incidents..)
• Extra need for teamwork
– Because environment is high-risk…staff need to work well with
each other.
– Staff members need to be able to predict and depend on each
other
– Greater likelihood that support is provided 24 hours…so link
staff development across day.
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Taking PBS to Scale in Juvenile Justice Settings
Facility-Level PBS Teams
• Team is different
– School, law enforcement, mental health, ????
•
meets monthly at school
– Continuous assessment of school progress and problems
– Implement discipline systems
• Team provides staff training/coaching across the year
and is continuously available
• Team gives status report monthly to all staff
– Office Referral patterns and updates
– Successes and Concerns
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Taking PBS to Scale in Juvenile Justice Settings
Begin with the end in mind
• The goals of an initiative for JJS should focus first
on student outcomes
• There should then be goals related to features of
the JJS setting
• There should then be goals related to behavior of
staff
• Establish an initiative that will produce durable
effects
• Never train teams without training the coaches
and trainers who will sustain the effort.
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Taking PBS to Scale in Juvenile Justice Settings
Goals
• Improved behavior
• Improving educational
outcomes
• Creating a safe culture and
environment
• Better transition supports
• Reducing recidivism
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Taking PBS to Scale in Juvenile Justice Settings
Goals
• Develop system for working with client
behavior (staff too!)
– Continuum of consequences (+/-)
– Universal tone/ basic steps (i.e., de-escalation,
etc.)
• Develop a comprehensive, coherent,
rewarding, effective training system
– Evaluation, rewards for performance
• Developing well paced achievable timeline
for implementation
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Taking PBS to Scale in Juvenile Justice Settings
Facility-Wide Positive Behavioral
Support Programs
Classroom
Systems
Facility-wide
Systems
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Taking PBS to Scale in Juvenile Justice Settings
Data Collection
North Carolina Juvenile Online
Information Network (NC-JOIN)
• database of information that
can aid in analyzing student
demographics, behavior alerts,
infractions, hearing results,
person submitting behavior
report, location of infraction,
etc.
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Taking PBS to Scale in Juvenile Justice Settings
Obstacles
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Funding
Buy-in
Staff Relationships
Moving beyond Universals
Conflicting Initiatives
Turnover
Standardization
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Taking PBS to Scale in Juvenile Justice Settings
Addressing Issues
Funding
Streamline Initiatives
Creative Incentives
Support from Department
of Instruction
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Taking PBS to Scale in Juvenile Justice Settings
Addressing Issues
Buy-in
All Levels of Management
Behind Initiative
Student Results
Change Results
Communication
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Taking PBS to Scale in Juvenile Justice Settings
Core Teams
Representative of all branches of
Department
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Teachers
Counselors
Psychologists
Hearing Officers
Social Workers
Security
Center for Prevention of School Violence
Intervention/Prevention
Educational Services
Staff Development Trainers
Chief of Staff Office
Directors
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Taking PBS to Scale in Juvenile Justice Settings
Addressing Issues
Staff Relationships
Communication
TET Training/Paradigm Shift
Equal Representation on
Committees
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Taking PBS to Scale in Juvenile Justice Settings
TET Training
The therapeutic environment:
• Creates a structured setting
focused on therapeutic activities;
• Promotes positive relationships
between youth and staff;
• Reinforces youth skill acquisition
through focused staff-youth
interactions; and
• Provide opportunities for youth to
practice in establishing new
patterns of values, thoughts, and
behaviors.
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Taking PBS to Scale in Juvenile Justice Settings
TET Training
Motivation
Enhancement
Therapy
Model of
Care
Positive Behavior
Support
Adequate
Staff
Therapeutic
Environment Training
(IMS + Core)
Strong
Leadership
Team
Work
Clear Systemic Understanding of Goal: Therapeutic Environment
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Taking PBS to Scale in Juvenile Justice Settings
Addressing Issues
Moving beyond
Universals
Combining Efforts
Educating all Staff
Networking between all Youth
Development Centers
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Taking PBS to Scale in Juvenile Justice Settings
Addressing Issues
Conflicting Initiatives
Combining of Initiatives
with Same Goals
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Taking PBS to Scale in Juvenile Justice Settings
Combining of Initiatives
Positive
Behavior
Support
Secretary’s
Youth
Leadership
Academy
Canteen
Performance
Redirection
Committee
Performance
Based
Standards
Interim
Motivational
System
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Taking PBS to Scale in Juvenile Justice Settings
Addressing Issues
Turnover
TET Training as part of New Employee
Orientation Training
Future TET component in Basic
Training for all new employees
Appeal to new employees to
become member of PBS
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Taking PBS to Scale in Juvenile Justice Settings
Addressing Issues
Standardization
Legislative Mandates
Policy & Procedures
Safety & Security
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Taking PBS to Scale in Juvenile Justice Settings
Lessons Learned
• Leadership support from all
levels is crucial for PBS
success
• There should be extensive
student involvement in the
planning and implementation
of PBS
• PBS is a strong motivational
component that has an effect
on the most negative behavior
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Taking PBS to Scale in Juvenile Justice Settings
Q&A Session
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Taking PBS to Scale in Juvenile Justice Settings