Communities finding ways to combat school-to-prison pipeline

Bethel, K., & McKitten, R. (2014, July 18). Communities finding ways to combat school-to-prison pipeline. TheHill.

Read more here

The authors of this post are Kevin Bethel and Rhonda McKitten. Bethel is Philadelphia’s deputy police commissioner and McKitten, ESQ. is the director of Juvenile Grants and Policy at the Defender Association of Philadelphia. The authors shed light on the school-to-prison-pipeline, in Philadelphia 1,600 students were arrested in 2013 alone. According to the U.S. Department of Education, 260,000 children and teens were referred to law enforcement by their schools during the 2011-2012 school year. Of these, 92,000 teens and children were arrested for their school-based behaviors. The police department and Philadelphia’s Department of Human Services (DHS), along with other partners such as the Public Defender’s Office, the School District of Philadelphia, the District Attorney’s Office, the Administrative Judge of Juvenile Court, and Juvenile Probation have all joined together to attempt to reduce the number of children who are funneled from the playground to the jailhouse. Measures put in place include checking students records for prior offenses- if students have no prior brushes with the law, and they are alleged to have engaged in minor behavior, such as a school fight, they will not be arrested. Other steps include enrolling students and their parents/guardians in counseling services to counteract the root causes of their misbehavior- such as substance abuse, trauma, neglect, or bullying.