{WEBINAR} Behavior Supports for Students with Disabilities

Summary

In this insightful webinar hosted by the Advocates for Children of New York, Rohini Singh discusses the critical topic of behavioral health supports in schools, specifically focusing on students with disabilities. Throughout the session, Singh emphasizes the importance of schools providing not just academic learning spaces but also social emotional support systems for students. The presentation covers various behavioral interventions and educational rights, equipping parents and educators with strategies to advocate effectively. Singh highlights key systems available for all students, specific supports for those with disabilities, and valuable advocacy tips. The session underscores the crucial role behavioral supports play in successful academic and personal development, especially in the face of challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Highlights

• Rohini Singh provides an introduction to the Advocates for Children of New York and their mission. 🏫
• Emphasis on the importance of social emotional learning in schools, integral for both academic and personal development. 📘
• Discussion on how unmet mental health needs negatively affect learning and the importance of behavioral supports. 🧠
• Overview of the various mental health supports available within NYC schools and how to access them. 🏢
• Explanation of the rights parents have regarding behavioral issues in schools and how they can advocate effectively. ⚖️

Key Takeaways

• Schools need to provide not only academic but also social emotional support to students for holistic development. 🌟
• Behavioral and mental health needs can significantly impact a student's learning experience and success. 📚
• There are numerous school-based support systems available for students, which parents and educators should actively advocate for. 📢
• Understanding and utilizing the DOE's path program can significantly benefit young students with behavioral challenges. 🚀
• Parents have rights in the educational system, and knowing these can empower them to better support their children. 💪

Overview

This comprehensive webinar presented by Rohini Singh is a treasure trove of information for parents, educators, and students dealing with disabilities. Hosted by the Advocates for Children of New York, the session delves deep into behavioral health supports available in schools and how these play a pivotal role in enhancing students' learning experiences. Singh walks the audience through vital logistical information, sets the table for an interactive session with polling questions, and welcomes an inclusive audience from various boroughs.

Key aspects of the webinar include a variety of behavioral supports accessible in the typical school setting, elucidating what can be requested by parents and educators, from functional behavior assessments to intervention plans. Singh underscores the array of services schools are mandated to provide, ensuring participants are well-equipped to navigate the educational landscape effectively. Importantly, she stresses the dire impact of COVID-19 on students' mental health, highlighting the urgency of advocating for social emotional and behavioral supports.

Singh also covers the procedural elements of advocating within the school system, offering strategies to address behavioral challenges and ensure schools fulfill their responsibilities. By focusing on the comprehensive supports required by students with disabilities, Singh empowers attendees with the knowledge needed to ensure an inclusive and supportive educational environment. Her emphasis on parental rights and available resources completes the framework for a transformative educational experience for all students.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 01:30: Introduction and Webinar Logistics The chapter titled 'Introduction and Webinar Logistics' begins with a greeting to the attendees as the webinar is being recorded. Rohini Singh introduces herself as the Assistant Director at the School Justice Project under Advocates for Children of New York.
• 01:30 - 04:30: Polling and Demographic Information The chapter discusses accessing Behavioral Health supports in schools and provides logistical notes about the presentation. Participants will receive a copy of the PowerPoint after the event via email. Specific questions will be addressed at certain points during the presentation, and attendees are encouraged to use the Q&A feature on Zoom as questions arise.
• 04:30 - 06:30: Overview of Advocates for Children The chapter titled 'Overview of Advocates for Children' provides guidance on how to interact during a presentation. It notes that while the chat function will not be monitored, participants can use the Q&A feature to ask questions. A designated staff member will address these questions directly or bring them to the attention of the speaker during the Q&A segments of the presentation. Additionally, the chapter mentions that the presentation is being recorded and will be uploaded to their YouTube channel.
• 06:30 - 10:30: Social-Emotional Learning and Behavioral Supports Context The chapter discusses the process of handling specific questions about children's circumstances discreetly, such as leaving questions that require privacy for after the recording ends. Participants will receive a copy of the presentation PowerPoint once it concludes, and there is a short survey to be filled out at the end. The chapter also notes a waiting period for participants to join the session.
• 10:30 - 12:30: Parental Rights and Behavioral Challenges The chapter 'Parental Rights and Behavioral Challenges' begins with the introduction of an introductory poll aimed at attendees. The purpose of this poll is to gather basic information from participants, such as their location and background, to better understand the audience.
• 12:30 - 24:00: School-Based Supports for All Students The chapter explores the various supports available for students within school settings. It discusses how these supports are designed to cater to a diverse student population across different boroughs, ensuring inclusivity and equity in education. The introduction mentions the presence of a large group indicating a wide-ranging involvement from various regions, highlighting the collaborative effort in discussing or implementing these supports. The focus is on establishing a systematic approach to provide necessary resources and support for all students, regardless of their background or location, aiming to foster a positive educational environment.
• 24:00 - 30:00: School Mental Health Services The chapter highlights the diversity of participants involved in school mental health services, including students, parents, educators, and professionals. It emphasizes the importance of gathering demographic information for reporting purposes to funders.
• 30:00 - 40:00: School Disciplinary Policies and Restorative Justice The chapter titled 'School Disciplinary Policies and Restorative Justice' likely explores the contrast between traditional school disciplinary actions and restorative justice approaches. Though specific details are unavailable ('foreign'), it's probable that the chapter delves into how restorative justice can be integrated into school policies to address behavioral issues more constructively. It may discuss the benefits of moving away from punitive measures towards solutions that encourage accountability, problem-solving, and community healing.
• 40:00 - 60:00: Behavior Supports for Students with Disabilities The chapter discusses behavior supports for students with disabilities, especially in the context of federal disability categories. It appears to involve an interactive component, such as a poll, to gather information about whether any federal disability categories apply to the participants' children.
• 60:00 - 72:00: Functional Behavior Assessments and Behavior Intervention Plans Functional Behavior Assessments (FBAs) are a process for identifying the reasons behind challenging behaviors in individuals, typically used in educational settings. The goal is to gather information about what triggers and maintains such behaviors to develop effective intervention strategies.
• 72:00 - 83:00: Behavior Management Tips and Strategies The chapter provides a brief introduction to the training session and emphasizes the importance of the information collected through the forms filled out by participants. It hints at discussing behavior management tips and strategies, and mentions an introductory overview as the next step in the session.
• 83:00 - 87:00: Problem Solving and Escalation Pathways The chapter titled 'Problem Solving and Escalation Pathways' covers advocates for children, providing an overview of why behavior supports are crucial, particularly in the current climate. It discusses the supports available to all students, with a focus on specific supports for students with disabilities. The chapter also offers tips and strategies for effective behavioral support and advocacy, concluding with advocacy tips and strategies focused on problem-solving and escalation pathways.
• 87:00 - 91:17: Q&A and Closing The chapter "Q&A and Closing" covers the topic of accessing behavior supports in schools. The discussion begins with an introduction to 'Advocates for Children' (AFC), an independent agency dedicated to protecting the education rights of all students in New York City. Founded over 50 years ago by parents of children with disabilities, AFC has expanded its mission to include several projects aimed at various student demographics, including early childhood education, Charter School students, students in temporary housing, and immigrant students.

{WEBINAR} Behavior Supports for Students with Disabilities Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 hi everyone welcome I'm gonna wait just a minute for folks to come in join the webinar recording again Liliana okay so hi everyone thank you so much for joining us today my name is rohini Singh and I'm the assistant director of the school Justice project at advocates for children of New York uh today we're
• 00:30 - 01:00 going to be discussing accessing Behavioral Health supports in schools just some logistical notes everyone will get a copy of this PowerPoint presentation after the presentation is over you'll get an email with additional information and a copy of the PowerPoint um I'm also going to wait to answer specific questions until specific points in the presentation but feel free to use the Q a feature um that's an option on your in within Zoom during the presentation as questions come up
• 01:00 - 01:30 um don't use the chat function we don't I don't I won't be monitoring and I don't think you're able to use a chat function but you can use the Q a feature to ask specific questions we have another AFC staff member who will be monitoring the Q a and can either answer your question directly or flag it for me to discuss at at the Q a portions of the PowerPoint um just another note about questions this presentation will be recorded and so it's currently being recorded and so um and it'll be put up on our YouTube channel afterwards afterwards that other
• 01:30 - 02:00 people can view it um so if you have specific questions about your child's circumstances and would rather not have them discuss in the recorded segment um we will leave just a few minutes at the very end to stop recording and answer any of those questions again you will receive a copy of the PowerPoint after the presentation is completed and at the end of the presentation we will have a short survey for you to fill out and so please fill it out once you're prompted to do so at the end um so as we are waiting for everyone to join us
• 02:00 - 02:30 um let's maybe launch a few opening questions um so first we have a just an attendee intro poll um you could fill this out for us so we can just get a little bit more information and see who's here and where you all are from
• 02:30 - 03:00 great and I can't actually see the results but oh here we go um so yeah so we have a good group of people here um looks like all of the boroughs are
• 03:00 - 03:30 represented which is great um great to see um and some students are joining us which is wonderful parents Educators and professionals great um so let's launch the next two polls um just some demographic information which is helpful for us to gather and something um that we need to to report to some of our funders
• 03:30 - 04:00 foreign
• 04:00 - 04:30 okay I don't know if we can move on to now the final poll and this is the federal disability categories um so for us to get a sense of um if any of the following federal disability categories apply to your child or children and please select all that apply
• 04:30 - 05:00 okay
• 05:00 - 05:30 thank you everyone for filling those out um that's helpful information for us to have so now we will move forward and launch into today's training um so today just an overview of what we'll be doing um I'll give a uh an introduction of on
• 05:30 - 06:00 advocates for children who we are and what we do um I'll give an overview um you know about why this issue is so important why behavior supports are so important especially in this time um I'll talk about supports that are available to all students specific supports for students with disabilities some tips advocacy tips and strategies and then um or some tips and strategies when it comes to effective behavioral supports for students and then finally advocacy tips and strategies and problem
• 06:00 - 06:30 solving when you're trying to access these behavior supports in school so first um what is advocates for children so AFC is an independent agency that protects the education rights of all New York City students and we are founded over 50 years ago now by parents of students with disabilities and our mission has expanded over the years we have a number of different projects we have an early childhood education project a project that works with students in Charter Schools students in temporary housing immigrant students
• 06:30 - 07:00 um we have the school Justice project um a project that works with children in foster care um and a project that works with overage and older students who are transitioning out of the school system we have a number of services we have a city-wide education helpline that you or anyone can call and get information on any education related issue in New York City we also have a number of guides and resources on our website and I'll try to mention some of the key guides and
• 07:00 - 07:30 resources that could be helpful for you when you're advocating for behavior supports but I do encourage you to go on our website and look through some of those guides we do free workshops and trainings like this webinar today for community members for families for schools students and the bulk of our services are free legal services for low-income families so first let's turn to discussing the need and the definitions of social emotional and behavior supports so social emotional learning is the process through which all people acquire
• 07:30 - 08:00 and apply the knowledge skills and attitudes to develop healthy identities manage emotions and Achieve Personal or Collective goals feel and show empathy for others establish and maintain supportive relationships and make responsible and caring decisions it's important to note and I'll emphasize this a few times during the presentation that you know schools are not just responsible for providing students with spaces for academic learning but also for social emotional Learning and Development um our social emotional learning our
• 08:00 - 08:30 emotional and social well-being excuse me it affects how we think feel act and it helps demonstrate how we handle stress relate to others um and make healthy choices and so since these are all necessary skills for life These are also necessary skills for schools to be teaching children and for students to be learning and so you know this might be very obvious since you're here today for this presentation but it's really it's some of this is helpful context and helpful grounding especially as we advocate for either our children or students that
• 08:30 - 09:00 we're working with and we're speaking to the doe and School staff about um you know the need for behavior supports it's really important to be able to emphasize and say that you know unmet social emotional and mental health needs can have a significant impact on learning um and so um you know this is our current climate and our current reality is really important um to to think about um as we as we try to advocate for more
• 09:00 - 09:30 supports for students um we know this from our lived experience but it's important to acknowledge that as we start you know this as we start that our children are experiencing separation from support systems disruptions and routines increased rates of depression and anxiety compounded grief and Trauma from covid-19 and so on we see this in our families in our schools our communities and nationally in the headlines these are just some of the headlines but we know that there are more and that the current and long-term impacts of the past two years are significant and that's why we're here
• 09:30 - 10:00 you know to talk about behavior supports and you know it's something it's important to to think about and think through so that we were made grounded in sort of the urgency in advocating for these supports and so specifically when we talk about the impact of you know stress and Trauma on learning um stress and Trauma and unmet mental health and Behavioral Health needs negatively impact a student's chance of success at school
• 10:00 - 10:30 and so when a child's housing or family life is unstable there are many stressors competing for that child's attention and energy and and these feelings can quickly become overwhelming especially to a younger student and all of that competition for energy and attention can make a student less available to learn and so when students are experiencing chronic stress and Trauma they are more at risk for failing academically as well as exhibiting challenging behavior in schools such as aggression or extreme withdrawal and disassociation and so when students are less available
• 10:30 - 11:00 to learn they're obviously more at risk for not succeeding in school and so again it's important to keep this in mind and think about the the impact that you know unmet behavioral and mental health needs can have on learning um in addition to thinking through you know the the that portion of it that you know we need to have these effective behavior supports in order for students to be in school and learning we also want to keep in mind that you know parents have specific rights that they should be aware of when it comes to
• 11:00 - 11:30 behavioral challenges when they're students having behavioral challenges in school and so first the school should not ask you should not ask you to keep your child at home ask you repeatedly to pick your child up from school early or ask you to remain in the classroom with your child because of their behavior the school should not exclude your child from after school activities or field trips because of their behavior the school should not hold over your child the school should not repeatedly complain to you about your child's Behavior the school should not repeatedly suspend your child due to
• 11:30 - 12:00 their behavior challenges in addition the school should notify you if they use a physical or mechanical restraint on your child or if a student is placed in a Timeout room the school should not request school safety agent or police assistance to manage your child's Behavioral or mental health issues or to discipline your child the school should not call 9-1-1 when your child has a behavioral or mental health challenge unless it is a true emergency
• 12:00 - 12:30 and the school should not refer to a student would not refer a student to Virtual learning because of their behavior in the classroom so keeping in mind that you know parents do have rights in this process and those are things that schools shouldn't be doing let's turn now to talk about some of the supports that you can advocate for in lieu of and to prevent you know the school from engaging in the inappropriate behavior that I just described earlier um and so some school-based supports
• 12:30 - 13:00 that are available to all students and so these are Universal supports um within the doe that even students without disabilities have access to um some of them include at-risk counseling so this is offered on a limited time basis uh usually for eight to twelve weeks for students who are struggling with specific circumstances so they're not mandated so they don't go on a student's IEP into the individualized education program or a 504 plan and they're usually just provided as needed and they could be
• 13:00 - 13:30 with a school social worker guidance counselor psychologist Etc there are also a number of informal Behavior interventions that can be implemented by a teacher guidance counselor classroom paraprofessional Etc and this could be for a limited time period it could be this could be something like a behavior contract or chart a conduct card attendance monitoring a points or reward system using a signal to take a break and see a school counselor um you know doing a check-in at the beginning or at the end of the school year school day a bit later in the
• 13:30 - 14:00 presentation I'll be going over some very specific behavior interventions for specific populations and these are all strategies that you could you can try to put in place and advocate for on an informal basis you know outside of the special education process um a crisis de-escalation plan so all schools are required under Chancellor's regulation a for for 11 to have a crisis de-escalation team that develops a plan each year and that plan must include
• 14:00 - 14:30 strategies for de-escalating Behavioral crises must identify locations in the school building where a student in crisis may be safely isolated from others it must identify any school staff trained in the escalation techniques you must identify in school and Community Resources available to the school and parents and it describes how crisis de-escalation and response protocols or Community communicated to school staff and the the you'll see if you look at chancho's regulation a411 it really emphasizes that this crisis
• 14:30 - 15:00 de-escalation plan must be followed prior to any call to EMS or 9-1-1 for a student that is experiencing a behavior crisis and so if you are in a situation where your your child's school is calling EMS or 9-1-1 repeatedly we would recommend that you request a copy of the students Christ of the school's crisis de-escalation plan um and you know it find out who the adults are in the building that are responsible for de-escalating students that are in
• 15:00 - 15:30 crisis and see if they're implementing that plan prior to calling 9-1-1 or EMS um in addition um every school has some type of mental health supports for students um this will vary depending on the specific school and I'll get into a little bit later how to identify what supports and services might be available within your specific school but every school should have some type of support for students this could be anything from having access to a mental health
• 15:30 - 16:00 specialist to help train staff or provide assistance on individual cases to having access to Crisis Intervention staff during school emergencies to having potentially a mental health clinic on site at the school in addition some schools have students in temporary housing community coordinators or single Shepherd success mentors who help support students um and as I mentioned in a few slides we'll talk about how to find out what services are in your specific School
• 16:00 - 16:30 um so just some examples of school-based mental health services so the city has a central crisis response team or they used to be both School response clinicians and these are licensed social workers who support students facing crises across the city to reduce the practice of Staff calling 9-1-1 and reduce trips to emergency departments they're available to assist schools when responding to students in emotional distress as well as provide professional learning city-wide for
• 16:30 - 17:00 social workers school counselors and crisis teams in addition there are some schools only about 28 that have access to something called the school Response Team these teams provide Crisis Support and interventions including assessments of individual students and recommended services staff trainings and mental health referrals for families and students there's also a school mental health specialist program who work with and these were formerly called mental consent consultants and these were for these Specialists
• 17:00 - 17:30 work with a group of schools to provide mental health education to school staff to help them address students mental health needs and strengthen community and family involvement in supporting students there's also a school mental health prevention Intervention Program this is only in 42 schools that help schools assess the need for mental health services within their school building partner with Community providers set up school-based programs offer crisis supports and interventions
• 17:30 - 18:00 um there are specific schools that have partnership Partnerships with health and hospitals clinics this is also known as school as Pathways to care it's I think in about 35 schools and essentially students can get diagnostic evaluations ongoing therapy medication management and other Clinical Services either done at the health and hospitals clinic or via tele mental health so a school or a parent can make a referral for children who's learning
• 18:00 - 18:30 who's learning in one of these schools with this partnership and essentially it's essentially a fast track to Mental Health Care at one of the partner health hospitals clinics there are also a number of community schools that have specialized Mental Health Services they partner with community-based mental health providers to offer counseling trainings interventions and Crisis Support there are a number of schools with that have a health center that ha that will provide Mental Health Services and
• 18:30 - 19:00 there's about I think around 300 schools that have this and this is typically a nurse practitioner or physician assistant a social worker um and a mental health provider and then finally there are also schools that have mental health clinics and I think right now there are about 190 schools and this offers a full range of services for students you know psychiatric evaluations individual family group therapy medication management Crisis Intervention and 24-hour crisis support
• 19:00 - 19:30 um so for students in order to figure out what support is could be available at your specific school um each school has a du website that lists the specific mental health supports in each school so if you go to schoolsearch.schools.mic and type in the name of the school or address and any information that you have about the school you know the the borough that it's in the grades that it serves Etc um and then you
• 19:30 - 20:00 um you will be able to get to the school's home page on the New York City doe website um and then if you scroll down there's a tab here that says Mental Health and Wellness and if you click on the tab you'll be able to see the specific mental health supports that are available at that school so for this school then I picked randomly this school has a school-based mental health clinic and it's part they partner with New York Presbyterian Hospital here's a number here that you can call um to get access to that it also
• 20:00 - 20:30 mentions that they're Community School um but that they have Christ and some other other additional supports crisis supports um and then generalized information about the NYC will hotline and height site um and so this is just important to know you know so that you can be aware of what resources exist within a particular school um not all School staff are going to know you know all about all the supports that are available within their particular school and so it's good to be able to look this up and find out and so you can ask specifically can I have
• 20:30 - 21:00 access to this because my child is needs more support um I also just want to mention briefly um because we do mention the beginning you know that schools should not be suspending students repeatedly for um for their for Behavior especially behavior that might be part of a student's disability um and even if the student has been hasn't been identified as a student with a disability if they have behavioral challenges behavioral needs that need support there are ways to use the New
• 21:00 - 21:30 York City discipline code to advocate for more supports for students and so the discipline code contains a number a number of pages and it's in the it's essentially the first 30 pages of the code talks about um the ways in which the does is supposed to be approaching uh Progressive discipline and that the duty Embraces Progressive discipline and so it says within the discipline code that overly punitive methods methods of discipline are not in the best interests
• 21:30 - 22:00 of students the students are better served by providing positive supports that teach students social emotional and behavioral skills um that schools should be providing enhanced support to students with special needs or those suffering from trauma due to exposure to Poverty or violence and that New York City will reduce the use of suspensions of the disciplinary tool again this is just a good way to hold the doe accountable hold schools accountable you know using the language that they have within their own discipline code
• 22:00 - 22:30 um to your advantage when advocating for your clients is really important I also want to mention that the discipline code highlights um and emphasizes the use of restorative justice so we're just sort of Justice practices under the new discipline code all New York City Elementary Schools must provide social emotional learning to students and all middle and high schools must Implement restorative justice practices um and instead of blaming someone or sort
• 22:30 - 23:00 of approach asks what happened who was harmed what needs to be done to make things right how can people behave differently it takes into account all members of the school Community um you know what they that they bring with them different abilities interest viewpoints and family and cultural backgrounds and so we often will advocate for the use of restorative practices in lieu of discipline um for a situation where you know a student um we're I mean there are very few situations where discipline is necessary
• 23:00 - 23:30 but you know especially for a situation where um where students it would benefit the whole school Community for a student to have an understanding of the harm that they cause um and have a have a safe space for participants to be able to express themselves and actively listen to each other um and so it's important to note that schools do not have to suspend students for most infractions in the discipline code um you can use the discipline code to Advocate you know against the suspension
• 23:30 - 24:00 um to advocate for Behavior to be considered with a lower level of an infraction um to advocate for the use of restorative justice practices in lieu of discipline again these are supports that are available to all students and that again as I mentioned are contained within the discipline code um and then finally in terms of support that are available that are available to all students um all schools should have some sort of social emotional learning curriculum um and this is something that was implemented upon the return to school
• 24:00 - 24:30 after um the school closures during covid um you know and schools there should be focused on building community and resilience all staff at this point have been trained in trauma responsive educational practices um there's an emphasis on Partnerships between school-based mental health clinics um and there's more information available on the du's website about the different social emotional learning curriculum that should be available within schools again it emphasizes that schools should be providing all students
• 24:30 - 25:00 with these supports not just students that have IEPs or students with disabilities so again if your child or the student you're working with has not yet been identified as a student with a disability and does not have an IEP they should and should still be receiving behavior supports in school great um so before we turn to talking more specifically about supports for students with disabilities I just want to pause to see if there are any questions and I do not see there are no open questions
• 25:00 - 25:30 right now open questions great all right so we will continue on um so now I'm going to be talking about behavior supports for students with disabilities and so the remaining behavior supports are just for students with IEPs although I should say that some of the strategies that I mentioned and some of the advocacy points um that I mentioned that I'll mention towards the end um could apply to all students and so even if your student doesn't have an IEP these are this is still helpful
• 25:30 - 26:00 information to know so I'm going to be focusing mostly on specific behavior supports that you can request if your child if your child is experiencing behavioral challenges so that they can remain in their current School environment but it's important to note you know that your child might require a new school environment or a more appropriate school placement depending on their individual needs and so if you feel as though the school the child your child's school is just unable to support your students behavior I would encourage you to watch one of our special education webinars or read our
• 26:00 - 26:30 special education guide on our website so that you can have a better understanding of your rights when it comes to asking for a new placement for your child um I should say that in general you know there are limited options for placements when it comes to students with behavioral needs um I'm sure many of this many of you here are probably aware of this already um often what we see and I imagine many of you experience is that students that are experiencing behavioral challenges are referred to New York City Department
• 26:30 - 27:00 of Education specialized School District or District 75. while District 75 might be appropriate for some students it's not necessarily going to be appropriate for every student and we believe that schools should be providing more behavior supports in a district 1332 setting so that students can remain in less restrictive environments we know that the doe is working on some programming to try to prevent um you know the over referral of students of Behavioral challenges to District 75 but it certainly is a work
• 27:00 - 27:30 in progress um and I will I will go through you know and I'll talk a little bit about one of the new programs called the doe path Program for Young students who are experiencing Behavior needs um that is available in just a few few schools in a few districts right now um I also want to note before we move on that it's it's important to know that you know all students with IEPs no matter what their classification is um are entitled to behavior supports um
• 27:30 - 28:00 and so we can we also see and you might also experience that some students or families are told that the student's classification must be changed to emotional disability um which was is the classification formerly known as emotional disturbance in order to receive certain supports um and this is not accurate um in addition uh you know behaviors that are caused by and are due to a student's Disability
• 28:00 - 28:30 should be treated with interventions and supports and not punishment and discipline um and so if you're in a situation where your student with a disability is being routinely suspended I do encourage you to take a look on our webinar and school discipline which has more information about your specific rights in the discipline process if you're working with a student with a disability as well as our manifestation determination review guide on our website because we won't have time to get into the a lot of those specifics today
• 28:30 - 29:00 and so um within the uh the federal law the idea there are specific language that states that an IEP team must in the case of a child whose Behavior impedes the child's learning or that of others consider the use of positive behavior interventions and supports and other strategies to address that behavior and so we really can't emphasize enough that behavior and social emotional support is part of learning and for students with IEPs it's part of what constitutes a free appropriate public education that
• 29:00 - 29:30 they're entitled to um and so behavioral supports for students of IEPs they must be it was a positive behavior interventions and supports must be considered the main way that these supports are provided within an IEP is through a functional Behavior assessment or behavior intervention plan um there's also the use of behavior paraprofessionals or crisis paraprofessionals for students these living behavioral challenges
• 29:30 - 30:00 um and then another thing that we often advocate for within iaps is for staff to get specialized training and support and so for IEPs here are some specific things you can ask for from the school in order for them to better support your students needs um you can request a sense of Technology sensory items weighted vests ask for paraprofessional support and behavior interventions plans um
• 30:00 - 30:30 you can ask for at time um excuse me sorry just jumped ahead you can ask for an allow for time to consult with providers teachers and paraprofessionals often you know families that we work with we advocate for you know weekly meetings weekly check-ins with all providers to make sure that behavior supports are being provided asking for changes to types of services to meet a student's needs so changing timing or frequency
• 30:30 - 31:00 um you know doing regular check-ins with a school social worker or guidance counselor and then as I mentioned earlier discussing placement options and investigating different placement options depending on a student's specific needs um something that we also you know really encourage and advocate for quite a bit is for a child's clinical team outside of school so if they're receiving therapy or medication management at an agency or from a mental health provider out of school to connect that therapist with the school to help them figure out
• 31:00 - 31:30 what types of interventions might work for the student in the school setting um and so let's talk a bit more about the function about functional Behavior assessments and behavior intervention plans because this as I mentioned is the primary um primary mechanism that could be used within an individualized education program in order to for a student to receive behavior supports in school um and so an FBA is a special education
• 31:30 - 32:00 assessment it's important to note and it's the process of determining why a student engages in behaviors that impede in learning and how that student's Behavior relates to their environment and so the idea is that first you have to identify a specific behavior so what Behavior needs to change and then the school should be doing assessment they must observe a student's behavior in order to figure out um when does the behavior occur where how
• 32:00 - 32:30 often for how long in order to determine what's known as the function of the behavior and so children behave in certain ways for a reason we call this the function of the behavior and it's impossible to address unwanted Behavior without first determining the function and so why why is this Behavior occurring um something to remember here is that an FBA is a special education assessment and so you know if you don't want a doe employee to do an FBA evaluation um you can potentially pay for or
• 32:30 - 33:00 request an independent assessment um for independent assessments um there are some insurance providers that might cover the costs of the functional Behavior assessment or behavior intervention plan if the doe has already done a functional Behavior assessment but you don't agree with the findings you can always request for the doe to pay for an independent assessment and to do this you would send a letter to the IEP team or the command special education if your student was in a non-public school setting or Charter
• 33:00 - 33:30 School um and if the Dewey agrees to pay for the independent assessment you will need to then choose an evaluator and then ask for reimbursement for that evaluation um if the DUI does not agree to pay for that assessment then they can start an impartial hearing and if the hearing officer finds that the FBA evaluation the doe has already done is sufficient they do the DOA doe will not pay for the independent assessment but if they do fund the evaluation that the Dewey did is not sufficient then the doe will have
• 33:30 - 34:00 to pay and reimburse you for the the payment for the independent assessment I would encourage you to see our training on special education and our guide on special education for more information on Independent assessment authorizations but um I know that you know often in order to get a quality behavior intervention plan it's really important to um to get a quality functional Behavior assessment and that where it might be worth looking into an independent assessment authorization for an FBA
• 34:00 - 34:30 and so the purpose of the FBA is to gather the data and the information about the behavior and then once the FBA is done the team must then use the FBA to create what's called a behavior intervention plan that will prevent and address the behavior to promote positive behavior in a student and so the bip must include information about when and how often the behavior happens and how severe it is specific strategies for stopping the behavior from happening which could include classroom changes a
• 34:30 - 35:00 new school schedule Etc a safety plan for how to manage the behavior when it does happen such as calming the student down removing the student from the classroom having the child speak with a trusted adult Etc um specific School staff who your child's trusts will be designated to work to support your child and will be available to work to safely work with your child when the behavior occurs a schedule to Mark progress and set future meetings so that you can remain up to date on how well the VIP is working and how to make changes if you
• 35:00 - 35:30 feel like they're needed um this this is usually about every eight to ten weeks it's really important to note that um in order for a VIP to be effective you need to assess whether all staff who interact with a student are aware of the plan and are fully implementing the plan and if not you know to push for and to ask for staff to receive coaching and implementation support um if even with proper implementation the student is not progressing under the VIP and the actual VIP should be amended
• 35:30 - 36:00 and changed um finally I did want to mention the Doe's pack pilot program um and so this is for younger students students at risk um at risk for being classified with or who are classified with an emotional disability classification and this program provides intensive behavioral and social emotional supports for students um right now it's only in four districts District 4 9 17 and 27 it's only
• 36:00 - 36:30 um it's for much younger students so it's these are all kindergarten classes and so the recommendation is made at a turning five IEP meeting and so if you are you know working if you are working with or if your child is um enter in kindergarten and has significant behavioral challenges and my benefit from this program I would encourage you to ask your turning five IEP team about this or to email the path program at schools.nyc.gov for more information
• 36:30 - 37:00 again the the idea behind this pilot is to prevent the referral of students you know two more restrictive settings when their needs are primarily behavioral and so hopefully with more supports and services they're able to remain in District 1332 schools um you know through support of a program such as the Dewey path pilot program right um so now I'll turn to some tips and
• 37:00 - 37:30 strategies um again um you know I just want to give the disclaimer you know we're not clinicians but these are just some tips and strategies that were recommended To Us by clinicians and strategies that have worked with students that we've worked with that are in need of behavior supports um and so I wanted to make sure I go through these strategies so that you have specific things that you can request to be made either part of a student's FBA or VIP or IEP or even just as I mentioned earlier your student doesn't have an IEP
• 37:30 - 38:00 um you know these are just tips and strategies you can ask to be implemented within the classroom as a type of informal behavior intervention or support and so just some general behavior management tips um setting clear consistent and reasonable expectations providing choices and being flexible kids popping up forward so especially when it comes to reward systems making sure that making sure that there's some flexibility there um taking the path of least resistance
• 38:00 - 38:30 and being kind to yourself understanding that this is a process um especially with VIP implementation often we find you know if like after just one or two weeks the behaviors are still continuing you know sometimes we'll get calls from calls from parents who are saying the school is saying it's not working it's not working um these things take time and it takes time for students to um to learn to learn and change their behaviors some specific behavior management tools
• 38:30 - 39:00 use of a visual daily schedule asking for cognitive breaks between the tasks asking for movement breaks um requesting verbal or visual cues for directions and staying on task the use of a behavioral contract the use of a behavior chart or a reward system for appropriate behavior consistent use of positive reinforcement requesting daily teacher feedback to the student and parent
• 39:00 - 39:30 some common de-escalation strategies um staying calm giving a choice encourage the child to use a coping strategy developing coping strategies show that you're listening validate the child's thoughts and feelings and then at the end of a crisis there should be time spent debriefing the incident to identify ways to improve these are some strategies for children with language difficulties using a
• 39:30 - 40:00 visual schedule using a timer a visual countdown system using first then statements offering choices in a visual format strategies for children with attentional difficulties creating a simple list of instructions using praise creating a reward system using consequences effectively establishing structure strategies for children with low prostration tolerance completing tasks one at a time beginning with less complex tasks with fewer
• 40:00 - 40:30 components returning to Mastery or a task the child can successfully complete offering choices providing scaffolding encouragement and praise some strategies for highly active children so movement and motor breaks are are key um asking for a child to be able to use a fidget that are that's small and Silent setting clear rules and expectations for Behavior
• 40:30 - 41:00 um strategies for children with anxiety so using coping and commenting strategies listening to music on headphones deep breathing or watching a preferred video clip promoting the use of active positive coping strategies through modeling co-participation and discussion engaging in exercise and physical activity and offering choices and again these are all strategies that hopefully you know your school's providers and teams should be aware of but if not if these haven't been implemented
• 41:00 - 41:30 um you know these are all things that you can ask for to be placed within a VIP to be placed on a student's IEP to be implemented again as I mentioned just as a more informal Behavior Support or intervention depending on your child's specific individual needs um and so now let's move into some problem solving um so what happens when you are asking for these supports um and your child's not receiving them um or if there's pushback from the
• 41:30 - 42:00 school and so um what we owe this is what we typically recommend as an escalation path when you are trying to resolve special education or just generally education related issues with the Department of Education um so we always recommend that you start with a school um specifically if your child is an IEP and you're asking for more behavior supports um I would make sure that you reach out to the school-based support team the school psychologist School social worker
• 42:00 - 42:30 um you know the folks that typically um those that are known as the IEP team within your student school um to ask them for support in working with your students classroom teachers other school staff when it comes to providing more behavior supports in school um something we see at times is that there can be a disconnect between the school-based support team and maybe the folks in the administration that are in charge of school discipline um school safety and so you know making
• 42:30 - 43:00 sure that especially if your child has a disability that you know your child is being viewed as a child with a disability and not being like removed or disciplined for their behavior is something that you you know by connecting the school-based support team and and and reaching out to them and asking them for more support in lieu of discipline in lieu of calls to EMS that can be a very helpful connection to me that is not working and you know I'm sure a lot of you are here because it's
• 43:00 - 43:30 not working and you have tried to to ask the school for support um the next step is to to go to the superintendent's office um there used to be Borough wide city offices um that had Behavior Specialists um and that's where the directors of student services and the administrators for special education sat um but now your main point of contact is going to be um the superintendent's office which is where the family support coordinator um the directors of student services and
• 43:30 - 44:00 the administrators of special education um say um and in order to get information on your school superintendent um you can go on your on the New York City Julie's website and look up you know your schools the doe website and all the superintendent information the superintendent's email address the Family Support printers email address is all available there um sorry about that um and then
• 44:00 - 44:30 if that is not working if you are unable to get support from the superintendent's office you can then reach out to if your child has an IEP to do East Central um to talk to email special education at schools.myc.gov or call the special education helpline at 718-935 2007 um again this is helpful if you know you're asking for an FBA and they're a debt then the school is not doing the FDA or your um you're not comfortable
• 44:30 - 45:00 with the FDA or behavior intervention plan and you'd like a new assessment um you know any really any issue related to special education that you're you're not getting a response from the school or their superintendent we would encourage you to reach out to the special education email address um some specific things you can ask for um you know from this from um the folks in either the superintendent's office or the office of special education or even just the school
• 45:00 - 45:30 um is again you know asking for um an independent assessment authorization for a functional Behavior assessment if you feel like the school is just not um has not developed a quality functional Behavior assessment and behavior intervention plan um asking for you know support specific support from the school psychologist um and you know if the school psychologist isn't that response responsive um asking to speak to the uh the supervising psychologist for your school
• 45:30 - 46:00 um you know these contacts these are the people in the school setting that should have the training to be able to identify a student's behavioral challenges and identify specific strategies to help address that that child's challenges and so you know really trying to bring these people into the conversations that you're having with the school could be really helpful in terms of getting more supports and service is um and then there's a link here at the bottom of this slide for um with a Google website that lists all of um the
• 46:00 - 46:30 school and superintendent information um and all of the specifics of contacts and email addresses um if your child is is if you know your child's struggling you're struggling to get in touch with with someone from the school or someone from doe Central the superintendent's office um just some general tips you know keeping copies of all emails um and that you're sending to the school um keeping a list of contacts that you've spoken with as well the dates of
• 46:30 - 47:00 conversations with School staff um tracking the services that your student is receiving um and so it's really important because if they're not receiving all of their mandated services or if there was a delay in Services um you might be entitled to compensatory services so it's important to keep track um you know it's something we you know just a general advocacy tip we encourage that we implement we encourage parents to use as being you know politely persistent um you know and again if the school is
• 47:00 - 47:30 really struggling to figure out how to help um trying to bring in as many people from the outside um you know reaching out to Specialists encourage you know there are Behavior Specialists that are employed at the doe in doe Central that could be that could come in and provide more support um you know trying to get third parties in who maybe can take a more objective look at what is happening in the school and not the student's behavior and then suggest and recommend specific supports for the the school to be using to support your child
• 47:30 - 48:00 and so um when to call AFC so if a school will not recommend any new behavior supports for your child um despite you know your child needing behavior supports um or if they won't you know you know if they're saying that they won't provide any behavior supports until the next IEP meeting or or they're sort of refusing to provide more support um that could be a reason to call AFC um if a school is saying it can't consider
• 48:00 - 48:30 any changes to an IEP or any additional supports um until you know they conduct evaluations until you know there is a meeting then that's again something that you can call us about because as I mentioned you know schools should be able to provide supports you know through the evaluation process there are behavior supports that are available to all students and so there are ways to advocate for those supports in the interim if your child is removed from class suspended first from school or otherwise
• 48:30 - 49:00 disciplined because of their behavior um that you know that would be another reason to call IFC um if a school is calling 9-1-1 when a child's behavior is not a true emergency again another red flag and something that you know you can call our helpline and we can help you navigate that situation great um well so we have quite a bit of time lapse I didn't realize um
• 49:00 - 49:30 that we would but I'm happy to answer any questions as they come up let me just see here so I see okay oh so I said there's a question here um with the doe pilot program would it be expanded anytime soon for district 12. so I am I I'm not aware of um I mean we certainly hope that will be expanded I'm not aware of a specific expansion um it could be something that you can actually ask I would encourage you to
• 49:30 - 50:00 actually just email that email address um and say that you would like it in District 12. um I do my understanding is that the Dewey is hopefully going to expand it and so if your child has a specific need um and you and you want them to be able to access it um then it it would be good to make sure that they're aware um you know that District 12 is um is in need of a path program
• 50:00 - 50:30 great um I don't see any upgrade questions for healing would you I'm sorry there are no more open questions right now which is okay um so you know we could we can stop the recording now and if folks have specific questions um oh here there's a question here oh so I see a few more questions coming
• 50:30 - 51:00 in um Liliana it's up to you if you if I'm happy we can stop the recording and I can answer these questions live or whatever you prefer I'll pause recording now and just let me know we'll go by back to live when you tell me um all right well thank you everyone for joining us um I think we'll launch the final survey right now um so that you can fill out just a quick
• 51:00 - 51:30 survey about this presentation um whether it was helpful um if you you know would like additional information or other information um just in general you know if you need help um please call our helpline and the numbers up on the screen 866-427-6033 we also have an email address info advocates4children.org that is monitored if you have any specific questions or concerns I understand this training was a very general overview of all the different
• 51:30 - 52:00 behavior supports that you could potentially advocate for um but if you know you have a specific situation that you're trying to navigate um once we close the feedback survey I'm happy to pause the recording again and that way I can stay on until five to answer any specific questions