A Journal on the Prevention & Treatment of Juvenile Firesetting

Transcription

1 ISSUE 01 Spring 2009 A Journal on the Prevention & Treatment of Juvenile Firesetting Connecting the Dots... between the child, the fire, and the worlds of Fire Services, Mental Health, Juvenile Justice, Burn Care & Schools. The MB Interview: Meri-K Appy President of the Home Safety Council Poll Question: Should it be mandatory for elementary school students to pass a fire safety exam?

2 MatchBook is a professional journal developed with the goal of providing current practical and reliable information and resources to the diverse professional groups engaged in juvenile firesetting intervention. Fire Services + Mental Health / Social Services + Juvenile Justice + Pediatric Burn Care + Schools A Journal on the Prevention & Treatment of Juvenile Firesetting To subscribe visit - MatchBook Journal is published twice a year and is augmented with the comprehensive website, which is updated regularly by Brandon School & Residential Treatment Center, 27 Winter Street Natick MA Copyright 2009 MatchBook Journal.

3 Issue 01 Spring 2009 Inside MatchBook 2 Letter from the Editor A Welcome to the first issue of MatchBook - By Timothy M. Callahan, Ed.D. 4 Connecting the Dots... between the child, the fire, and the worlds of: 6. Fire Services: A Call for Change in Our Industry - By Don Porth 8. Mental Health: Increase our Knowledge & Expand Awareness - By Robert Stadolnik, Ed.D. 10. Juvenile Justice: Development of Best Practices - By Robert Haas 12. Pediatric Burn Care: Expanding our Knowledge of Hospital Based Programs - By Marion Doctor, LCSW 14. Schools: Keeping Students Safe Through Collaboration - By Lauren Gilbert, M.Ed. 16 The MB Interview Meri-K Appy, President of the Home Safety Council 20 Poll Question Should it be mandatory for elementary school students to pass a fire safety exam? 20 Explore MatchBook Online See what s happening at 1

4 From the Editor Welcome to the First Issue of MatchBook Dear Fellow Professional: MatchBook is a journal and website devoted to connecting the disciplines serving youth involved in firesetting behaviors. Nationally, children who play with fire cause nearly 80,000 structure fires per year, which results in approximately 760 deaths and more than 3,500 injuries. 1 More specifically, youth-set fires are killing approximately 500 children annually and 85 percent of youth-set fires are started by children playing with matches or lighters. 2, 3 When nearly 85 percent of the victims of child-set fires are the children themselves and juvenile firesetting causes an estimated $1.2 billion in damage annually, we clearly have a challenge in front of us. 4 MatchBook is made up of an Editorial Board uniquely positioned to speak to and represent their disciplines: For some time, fire services, mental health professionals, juvenile justice agencies, burn hospitals and schools have been disconnected from one another. When they are called upon to respond to youth who set fires, they often operate in isolation, unable to effectively communicate between the professional disciplines that together make up the common services that serve youths in crisis. MatchBook is a national and international call to action to all constituencies responding to juvenile firesetters; it is time to come together to share research, promising practices, upcoming educational forums, current events and news. It is our hope that MatchBook will become a powerful voice and clearing house of information that not only connects the different constituencies, but begins to influence public policy. Juvenile firesetting is a dangerous and treatable behavior; together we can influence public awareness and practice that will save lives and reduce property loss. I believe the time has come where there is the correct combination of knowledge, desire and resources to develop national policies and treatment practices by working together. Sincerely, Timothy M. Callahan, Ed.D., Editor in Chief 1 Children and Fire Can Be A Deadly Combination- The Facts. Burn Institute, Feb < 2 United States Fire Administration. Children and Fire in the United States: Juvenile Firesetter Statistics. Burn Institute. Feb < 4 Children and Fire Can Be A Deadly Combination- The Facts. Burn Institute, Feb < 2 MatchBook Journal Issue 01

5 Editor In Chief Timothy M. Callahan, Ed.D. Executive Director of Brandon School Dr. Callahan, Executive Director at Brandon School & Residential Treatment Center for the past 28 years, works to move youth from institutional hospital like settings, to less restrictive communities. Prior to Brandon, he spent 9 years in public education running two separate special education schools. Tim earned his Ed.D. from Boston University, where his dissertation, Students in Transition to a less Restrictive Residential Treatment Setting is devoted to serving youth in the most community based setting possible. Tim has served on several boards, including the Governor s Mental Health Commission and the Massachusetts Stuck Kid Committee. He is the Chair Elect of the Massachusetts Children s League. Pediatric Burn Care Marion Doctor, LCSW Former Programs Manager, The Children s Hospital Burn Program, Denver, CO Marion Doctor is currently on the Professional Advisory Board for the Zach Burn Foundation and is the First Vice President of the Board of Trustees for the Phoenix Society for Burn Survivors. Previously she served as a clinician and Programs Manager for The Children s Hospital Burn Program in Denver, Colorado. In this capacity she developed The Children s Hospital Burn Camps Program, The Juvenile Firesetters Assessment and Treatment Program and co-founded the International Association of Burn Camps. Marion also served as a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Burn Care and Rehabilitation. Schools Lauren Gilbert, M.Ed. Director of Pupil Services for Natick Public Schools, Natick, MA Lauren Gilbert, Director of Pupil Services for the Natick Public Schools in Massachusetts, began her career in education as a middle school special needs teacher in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Prior to her current position, she served as Natick s Program Supervisor for two years and as the Special Education Coordinator and Team Chairperson for six years in Massachusetts City of Worcester Public Schools. Lauren is an active participant in the Northeast Juvenile Firesetting Task Force. Juvenile Justice Robert Haas Police Commissioner, Cambridge, MA. Commissioner Haas brings thirty years of law enforcement experience. Early in his career, he was actively interested in working with youth who set fires and distinguished himself during his time as Police Chief in Westwood, MA for his work with juveniles. As the Secretary of Public Safety for Massachusetts, he was responsible for the oversight of several criminal justice and public safety agencies such as the State Police, the Department of Corrections, the National Guard and the Department of Fire Services. Fire Services Don Porth President of SOS Fires Mental Health Robert Stadolnik, Ed.D. President of FirePsych, Inc. Don Porth, a youth firesetting interventions specialist, is a member of Portland Oregon Fire & Rescue and has been in the fire service since 1980, working directly with child firesetting behaviors since His implementation of the youth firesetting information database has made Portland s program one of the most noted in the nation. Don is a member of the National Fire Protection Association as a steering committee member for addressing the national youth firesetting problem, and past Chair of Oregon Council Against Arson. Dr. Robert Stadolnik, a licensed psychologist, is President of FirePsych, Inc., and author of the book Drawn to the Flame: Assessment and Treatment of Juvenile Firesetting. He recently completed research studies on specialized firesetting populations including adolescents in residential care and adolescent females. Dr. Stadolnik consults to fire safety programs, residential treatment centers, public school systems, and state child welfare agencies. Over the past fifteen years he has completed or supervised over 1,000 firesetting behavior assessments and provides training and workshops on a national level. Full biographies available online at

6 Connecting the Dots Mental Health For too long the response to juvenile firesetting has been under and over reacted to; at times the behavior is under reported, while in other incidences the behavior is met with an extreme response. MatchBook is designed to bring together five constituencies impacted by juvenile firesetting: Fire Services, Mental Health, Juvenile Justice, Pediatric Burn Care and Schools. Fire Services

7 Pediatric Burn Care Juvenile Justice Schools The theme of our first issue, Connecting the Dots, works to better the treatment and prevention of juvenile firesetting by looking beyond the fire and into the facts and story of the child. We are connecting the dots between the child, the fire, and the worlds of Fire Services, Mental Health, Juvenile Justice, Pediatric Burn Care and Schools. The following Editorial Pieces offer perspectives from each of these disciplines. This issue s featured interview with Meri-K Appy, President of the Home Safety Council, offers insight into how these professional disciplines are beginning to connect in some areas and beneficial ways for them to connect in others. We know firesetting education works to prevent and treat juvenile firesetting. Furthermore, the best prevention and treatment involves all five disciplines, which means we need to address this challenge collectively. Reacting to these fires as individual events is not working. Thank you for reading and for rising to the challenge. We hope you will join us online at to further this discussion and to offer your own perspective and knowledge. 5

8 Connecting the Dots: Fire Services A Call for Change in Our Industry Fire Services By Don Porth, SOS Fires, Portland, Oregon Fire services spend countless hours preparing for any and all types of emergencies. If a child sets a fire, the response is prompt and efficient. The fire is extinguished and the cause is determined, but what about the child? What about the family? This is the moment in time to slow down the pace and begin an intervention that can have long term implications on the child, family, and community. Are fire services prepared for this? With these questions come a call for change in our industry; no longer are speed, strength, and agility the only considerations in job performance. Critical factors become interpersonal relations, empathy, and patience. While professionals with these skills are present in fire services, few have really been given the mandate and the opportunity to develop the skills needed for this interpersonal type of work. When approximately half of all intentionally set fires are set by youth, we need to know where the skills and knowledge to accommodate these factors are available. We ve found they most often exist outside the walls of any fire station. They exist in schools, mental health and social service agencies, juvenile justice venues, pediatric burn care facilities, and many other places. Pride is an admirable quality. Pride drives the passion and preparedness of the fire service and accounts for the outstanding service most communities enjoy. It can, however, be an obstacle to effective intervention. Firesetting behaviors are a community problem, not just a fire services problem. Recognizing this opens the door to many intervention options, but partnering with the community can be difficult. It means sharing ownership over prevention and education with others. It means admitting the inability to handle the youth firesetting challenge alone even though we are first in line to respond to many of the consequences. It means trusting other individuals and industries to help with something that in many ways directly affects and belongs to us. What it really means, however, is that part of this pride must be shared for an effective youth firesetting intervention effort to succeed. 1 in 4 fires Data Watch About one in every four fires is intentionally set. Almost half of these fires were set by youths under the age of Fire and Youth. Focus Adolescent Services. Feb < 6 MatchBook Journal Issue 01

9 No longer are speed, strength and agility the only considerations in job performance. Critical factors become interpersonal relations, empathy and patience. Path to Solutions Fire Services Key Points Fire Services must partner with the community to educate and prevent. As a member of fire services for the past 29 years, I ve seen dramatic change as we learn to think differently on many different topics. The time has come to expand our perspective on kids and fire. I have joined MatchBook s editorial board to promote better communication Firesetting behavior is a community problem, not just a fire services problem. between all disciplines in the youth firesetting arena. In my belief, each fire service and fire department throughout the country should have at least one person trained in juvenile firesetting. This person should focus on developing working relationships with individuals in mental health, schools, burn hospitals and juvenile justice. By knowing and understanding the other disciplines involved in youth firesetting intervention, more comprehensive approaches to the problem can be developed. Speed, strength and agility are only part of our job. Pride cannot get in our way to work with other groups to reduce incidents of youth firesetting. Participate For more information, helpful resources and online discussion, click on the Fire Services tab on our website - Participate online by sharing anecdotal information. Start the discussion with telling us what has worked for you, and what has not. Don Porth is a member of Portland Oregon Fire & Rescue. He joined the fire service in 1980 as a volunteer and was then hired by the Salem Oregon Fire Department before transferring to Portland. He is currently a youth firesetting interventions specialist and has worked directly with child firesetting behaviors since (View full bio online) 7

10 Connecting the Dots: Mental Health Increase our Knowledge and Expand Awareness Mental Health By Robert Stadolnik, Ed.D., President of FirePsych, Inc. The real truth is that as a collective professional discipline, we have not completely risen to the challenges and opportunities placed before us to reduce and eliminate problem firesetting among children. I am convinced that any progress we are able to make over the next ten years will first depend on the creation of a working national forum that allows for easier access to ideas, opportunities, and credible information. Equally important will be our willingness and ability to collaborate and partner with each other, within our own discipline, which will then allow us to rise to the challenge of becoming more equal partners with those in fire service, pediatric burn care, juvenile justice and schools. Our knowledge base of juvenile firesetting is limited and must be actively increased. A recent search on the PsycLit computer database for published mental health literature (books, chapters, research articles on child firesetting) identified only 89 citations published through This is compared to 8,803 located for child depression and 8,039 located for child trauma. 1 Child firesetting is researched nearly one hundred times less! This means that as a mental health community, we need to work with the other involved disciplines to collect data, conduct studies and define best practices. The base and research of our knowledge must be increased, but the dissemination of information and awareness of juvenile firesetting must also be expanded into our university and college training programs. This expansion is critical in encouraging greater professional training and internship opportunities for young professionals. Only 5% of 300 randomly selected psychotherapists indicated there was ever discussion of juvenile firesetting during their coursework. 2 Data Watch Thousands Published mental health literature 89 Firesetting 2271 Trauma 5286 Anxiety 8039 Depression 8803 ADHD 1 Stadolnik, R. (2007). Is She Cinderella or Medusa?: Adolescent Female Firesetting. Presented at Foster Family Treatment Association (FFTA) Annual Conference. Houston, TX. 2 Schwartzman, P.,et al. (1999). JUVENILE FIRESETTER MENTAL HEALTH INTERVENTION: A Comprehensive Discussion of Treatment, Service Delivery, and Training of Providers. National Association of State Fire Marshals. Washington, D.C. 8 MatchBook Journal Issue 01

11 Path to Solutions A 1999 survey of 300 mental health professionals, sponsored by the National Association of State Fire Marshals, reported that the overwhelming majority had a poor awareness of juvenile firesetting, had a low interest in the area resultant from that poor knowledge, and had little access to literature or training on the subject. Both an increase of knowledge and expansion of awareness will stem from a well informed discourse within the mental health community. These two driving factors depend on the sharing of current information, breakthroughs, and high quality, evidenced-based information on assessment and treatment with our colleagues. MatchBook is the opportunity for a national clearinghouse on juvenile firesetting. It allows each of us to be an active partner with other professionals around the country, and beyond, who share a passion and commitment to this work. It provides us with the occasion to address the first 2 aforementioned steps: the lack of knowledge and stunted quality of discourse. Collectively, as mental health professionals, let s use MatchBook to learn and contribute state-of-the-art and best practice information and tools. The challenge is to increase our professional and personal influence, encourage great consultation opportunities and foster advocacy and public information initiatives. The outcome will be knowledge- based programs that save lives. Mental Health Key Points Progress will depend on collaboration and the creation of a working national forum. Psychology related training programs must incorporate juvenile firesetting awareness A survey found poor awareness and knowledge in juvenile firesetting, which is resultant from little access to material and training. Participate For more information, mental health resources and online discussion, visit the Mental Health page on our website - Use the on-line events calendar to share trainings, engage in forums, and utilize resources that can be shared with other professionals. Dr. Robert Stadolnik, a licensed psychologist, is President of FirePsych Inc, the author of the book Drawn to the Flame: Assessment and Treatment of Juvenile Firesetting, and a consultant to Brandon s fire treatment and assessment program. Dr. Stadolnik also consults to fire safety programs, residential treatment centers, public school systems, and state welfare agencies. (View full bio online) 9

12 Connecting the Dots: Juvenile Justice Development of Best Practices Juvenile Justice By Robert Haas, Police Commissioner, Cambridge, Massachusetts One of the fundamental underlying principles of the juvenile justice system is an acknowledgement that children and adolescents will typically engage in a wide array of behaviors as part of their developmental and learning experiences. Often these behaviors can yield a potential risky outcome that can manifest serious harm to others and themselves. Generally speaking, it is these dangerous encounters that create the deepest impressions and serve as life shaping experiences. Every year there are several instances where children have lost their lives or have been horribly disfigured as a result of experimentation with fire. There seems to be a stage in their lives when children show a distinct fascination with fire. Fortunately, more children than not progress through this phase without any serious ramifications. There are those children who do not and continue to experiment with fire until there is a tragic event like those seen in the media. As professionals, we intuitively recognize the potential harm and significant danger presented by children whose fascination with fire is more than just a passing curiosity but is a manifestation of, and possibly symptomatic of, a deeper underlying problem. Yet, we typically respond to firesetting incidents of youth and adolescents as we typically respond to most juvenile offenses. The focus tends to be on the act and typically centers on the youthful offender. Despite the philosophical differences between how the justice system responds to adult and juvenile offenders, there is not much difference in the approach. Rather than recognizing juvenile firesetting behavior as behavior that might be an instrument of a purposeful action of destruction, it could very well be evidence of other deep seated psychological maladies. Given the complexities that are associated with juvenile firesetting behaviors, everything from simple curiosity to malicious destruction, and everything else in between, this type of behavior warrants a field of study and response that recognizes the importance of early recognition and accurate identification of what the underlying causative factors might be. From that approach, it would seem wholly appropriate for practitioners to have a deeper and richer understanding of what these behaviors are and to better recognize what differentiates juvenile firesetters from other kids and other crimes. 10 MatchBook Journal Issue 01

13 Data Watch Youth account for nearly 50% of all arson arrests, which is the highest percentage of juvenile involvement in any FBI index crime. 1 50% Arson Arrests Juvenile Justice Key Points 1 Hall, John R. Jr., The Truth About Arson Nov SOS Fires. 17 Mar 2009 < Path to Solutions While juvenile firesetting is an age old phenomenon, we in the juvenile justice system have yet to develop a set of practices that specially addresses the unique aspects of the child or adolescent behavior. There are pockets of innovative practices that are taking place around the country, but there still has not been a uniform practice that has been adopted by the juvenile justice system. We must establish awareness within court clinics to allow juvenile justice leaders to respond with input from the mental health community. During a time when academic research drives much of what we do, it would seem no better time to take more of an evaluative approach designed to effectively deal with what we know has all the potential of being a serious and persistent problem. The stage when a child experiments with fire or other risky behaviors yields encounters that create the deepest impressions and serves as a life shaping event. We can no longer respond to juvenile firesetting the same way we respond to most juvenile offenses. Criminal justice must develop a deeper and richer understanding of this behavior to differentiate juvenile firesetters from other kids and other crimes. Participate To further enhance our collaboration, the online community at will greatly assist in the development of best practices where we can learn appropriate responses to youth by finding and sharing promising practices. It is important to see what other courts are doing to differentiate between juvenile firesetting and other youth-set fires. The juvenile justice system has to develop a set of practices that addresses the unique aspects of a child and their behavior. Criminal justice needs to engage with other groups on juvenile firesetting and adopt the best practices that are yielding positive results. Commissioner Haas brings thirty years of law enforcement experience. In his previous role as the Secretary of Public Safety for Massachusetts, he was responsible for the oversight of several criminal justice and public safety agencies such as the State Police, the Department of Corrections, the National Guard and the Department of Fire Services. (View full bio online) 11

14 Connecting the Dots: Pediatric Burn Care Expanding our Knowledge of Hospital Based Programs Pediatric Burn Care By Marion Doctor, LCSW, Former Programs Manager, The Children s Hospital Burn Program, Denver, CO The concept that pediatric burn centers have a role and responsibility in identifying and providing appropriate intervention for children and adolescents burned as a result of firesetting behavior has only quite recently been acknowledged and acted upon. We, like many other professionals working with youth, tended to see this as an issue for fire departments, juvenile justice, social services or schools. When, in fact, successful identification and intervention with this population requires the combined, coordinated efforts of all of us. The Children s Hospital (Colorado) Burn Program JFS (juvenile firesetting) staff has not only embraced its responsibility to serve the needs of children who have been burned as a result of their firesetting behavior, but has broadened its referral base to include firesetting youth from the community. The benefits of offering this level of service to the community are many as are the challenges. The challenges of providing a comprehensive hospital based JFS program begin first and foremost with funding. The original format for providing JFS intervention services at The Children s Hospital (Colorado) included a brief assessment and an educational intervention for patients and parents. This intervention was provided by a burn nurse and a clinical social worker at no additional cost to the family. As volume and complexity of cases increased, it became clear that a more comprehensive, specialized program was needed. This was compounded by the decision to accept assessment and treatment referrals from the community. JFS Program staff now consists of four half-time clinicians and one half-time program assistant. Given the number of low income, uninsured, often court ordered patients and limited success with fund raising and grant applications, financial support for this increased level of service continues to be our biggest challenge. Other challenges to providing a comprehensive hospital based JFS program include continuity and consistency of referrals and parents resistance to seek treatment for their child and themselves. Parent participation is a requirement of treatment at The Children s Hospital Assessment and Treatment Program. Being based in a metroplex with many jurisdictions can at times create a complexity in terms of referrals, reporting and communication. The advantage of working from a pediatric hospital base is the ability to provide treatment across the age range from very young children through adolescence. It is also a neutral, safe place for parents and children to share and receive help with those issues that led to the firesetting behavior. An added benefit is access in-house to all levels of mental health services ranging from the emergency department to an inpatient psychiatric admission. 12 MatchBook Journal Issue 01

15 Data Watch Nearly 85% of the victims of child-set fires in the United States are the children themselves. 1 1 Burn Institute. 27 Feb < 85% Burn Care Key Points Only recently have Burn Hospitals played a role in prevention. Path to Solutions I have shared a brief overview of our treatment model with the hope of hearing from my colleagues in other hospital based programs regarding their treatment models, their successes and their concerns. Issues that Hospital based programs provide a safe place for parents and children to receive help. require our immediate attention and collaborative work are: establishing a national database, completing and reporting outcome studies that include documentation of recidivism rates, as well as a comparative study of different models of treatment and intervention and shared insights regarding funding for hospital based programs. Matchbook provides us with the perfect opportunity to collaborate not only within our own discipline, but to benefit from the knowledge of all disciplines providing services to youth who engage in firesetting behavior. An immediate issue is the establishment of a national database, completing and reporting outcome studies that include documentation of recidivism rates, as well as a comparative study of different models of treatment. Participate Participate online by publishing your data and findings on the Pediatric Burn Care page at - Marion Doctor is currently on the Professional Advisory Board for the Zach Burn Foundation and is the First Vice President of the Board of Trustees for the Phoenix Society for Burn Survivors. Previously she served as a clinician and Programs Manager for The Children s Hospital Burn Program in Denver. (View full bio online) 13

16 Connecting the Dots: Schools Keeping Students Safe Through Collaboration Schools By Lauren Gilbert, M.Ed., Director of Pupil Services for the Natick Public Schools, Massachusetts Schools, in collaboration with the police, fire and mental health departments, have an obligation to provide a safe learning environment for students so they may achieve academic success. It is this interagency cooperation, along with a clear understanding of a common goal, that provides a process to keep students safe. As a school administrator, a community constituent and a MatchBook editorial board member, I am advocating that we take an active role in this four part process: Prevention, Preparedness, Response, and Recovery. As the Director of Pupil Services I am responsible for school safety. My first goal is to prevent students from participating in dangerous behavior to themselves or others. My second and third objectives are to provide educators with the ability to prepare and respond appropriately when a student is in crisis. Lastly, I make sure our schools have the resources to recover in such an event. Working in a school, I have the unique opportunity to interact with students and parents on a continual basis and to be part of this four part process. All agencies should have a recovery plan in place to address an urgent situation that may arise to ensure that students and staff can recover and move forward in a positive direction. Correspondingly, if a student is the victim of a burn injury, schools must be prepared to welcome and integrate that student back into their community. This part requires significant communication between schools, pediatric burn care and mental health professionals. Education is key to preventing students from participating in and exploring firesetting behavior. As educators, we have an excellent forum to reach students and families by incorporating fire safety instruction into our curriculum. The presence of fire services and juvenile justice, the research from the mental health community, the referral services offered by pediatric burn hospitals all strengthen the ability to provide age appropriate fire prevention activities and lesson plans that can be quickly implemented and easily incorporated into classroom instruction. Based on recidivism studies, we know that fire prevention education works, but we also know that educators are under-resourced to provide this effective type of prevention education. Through guidance counselors, social workers, school nurses, and psychologists, schools today provide far more than academic instruction. As these layers of our academic community support our roles as educators, we need to support their work so they can be prepared to identify and respond appropriately to students who may be participating in or likely to be participating in firesetting. 14 MatchBook Journal Issue 01

17 Data Watch Only 12% of United States Fire Departments have a staff member assigned exclusively to fire and life safety education. 1 1 State of Home Safety in America report. Home Safety Council Mar 2009 < 12% Fire Depts. Schools Key Points There are four parts to school safety: Prevention, Preparedness, Response, and Recovery. Path to Solutions As a member of the MatchBook team and discussion, I know that each of these parts requires collaboration and will be strengthened by coming together to tackle this challenge. While I am in the unique position to reach students and parents, my message is better delivered, informed, experienced and achieved as an outcome of pediatric burn care, fire services, juvenile justice, mental health and schools coming together. Participate For more information, school resources and online discussion, visit the Schools page on our website - Education is key to preventing students from participating in and exploring firesetting behavior. Based on recidivism studies, we know that fire prevention education works, but we also know that educators are under-resourced to provide this effective type of prevention education. Post your curriculum suggestions and see what other schools have done. Engage in a discussion in our online forum to help tackle specific problems you are having with your curriculum or students pertaining to juvenile firesetting. Lauren Gilbert, Director of Pupil Services for the Natick Public School system in Massachusetts, previously served as Natick s Program Supervisor for two years and as the Special Education Coordinator and Team Chairperson for six years in Massachusetts City of Worcester Public Schools. Lauren is an active participant in the Northeast Juvenile Firesetting Task Force. (View full bio online) 15

18 The MatchBook Interview MB Interview Meri-K Appy President of the Home Safety Council Meri-K Appy is President of the Washington, DC-based Home Safety Council (HSC), the only national organization solely dedicated to preventing the nearly 20,000 deaths and 21 million medical visits that result each year in America from unintentional home injuries. Since joining HSC in 2003 Appy has spearheaded creation of the Home Safety Council Expert Network, offering free materials and resources to the fire and life safety education community, and the new Home Safety Literacy Project, a unique outreach program designed to teach adults with low literacy skills about basic home fire safety and disaster preparedness practices. In 2009, HSC will release Start Safe: A Fire and Burn Safety Program for Preschoolers and Their Families with funding the U.S. Department of Homeland Security/FEMA. A national media safety spokesperson, Appy is a frequent guest on NBC s TODAY Show and has also appeared on every major network including the Oprah Winfrey Show, CNN, the EARLY SHOW on CBS, ABC s GOOD MORNING AMERICA, and HGTV. Appy received the Mason Lankford Fire Service Leadership Award from the Congressional Fire Services Institute in recognition of her years of service to the field of fire and life safety education and was named the 2006 Sprinkler Advocate of the Year by the American Fire Sprinkler Association. The MB Interview includes questions from MatchBook s Editorial Board & was conducted by Publication Manager, Morgan Callahan. MB: Since firefighters visit schools, children must know how dangerous fire can be. Can t children just be taught that fire is dangerous? MKA: Yes, children can be taught fire is dangerous, but we have to teach them in the right way for the right age child. A very young child doesn t understand conceptually the power of the match. Cognitively it s just not something they can understand. So the answer is to prevent access to matches and lighters, and start at the beginning of the story to teach them things they can understand and add more information a little at a time as they grow and develop. The problem is, in our country, there isn t enough sustained fire safety and life safety education to tell the story in the right way. Fire services are going into the schools, certainly, but based on a national study the Home Safety Council did a few years back with Johns Hopkins, we know there are only 12% of US fire departments who have somebody assigned full time to fire and life safety education. What this suggests to me is, while there may be many heartfelt attempts to educate the community, there are an awful lot of folks out there we need to get our message to and we need a lot of help. 16 MatchBook Journal Issue 01

19 We need to seek partners in the community who are in the best position to reach our target audiences. For children, this means working with the schools in a very comprehensive way. This gives us the benefit of wonderful teachers there on the ground, working with the students, day in and day out. They can address these issues over time, and take advantage of teachable moments as they arise. Unfortunately, these strong school-based partnerships are hard to manage with the limited resources most fire departments have, so most kids aren t getting the kind of safety education they need. Now, when you pair that with research of what their parents do not know, it s no wonder there are as many unintentional home injuries and deaths as there are in our county. Many adults in our country lack a basic awareness about what fire can do. They don t understand how quickly a fire can grow from first ignition to flashover- they don t know it can take as little as 3 minutes. They don t know that their children may not wake up from the smoke alarms even if they have them. We have to face facts: if children are to survive a home fire, they re going to need a grown-up to help. We can t rely on the children themselves because they may not even wake up. There s so much more we need to do on all levels to educate. Within this question, lies a much bigger problem: we re just not doing enough in a sustained way to help people understand the true nature of fire and prepare them to prevent and respond to it well. We need to rally an army of allies, engaging more people in different arenas to deliver our lifesaving messages - it can t be the fire services alone doing that. MB: Mental Health professionals bring experience and interest in research on human behavior. What are specific home fire safety initiatives where this contribution might be helpful? MKA: I think all home safety initiatives and all fire safety initiatives would benefit from more insight on people s real behavior and motivations. To emphasize the part of the question that talks about the experience of the professional group, I think it is a challenge to get people in this country to alter their habits; we get set in our ways, especially in our homes. So to move people beyond what they ve done day in and day out, when maybe nothing bad has ever happened, takes a lot. Part of what works is repetition and social norming; we have to make our messages clear so that everyone is talking about them. I think professional groups who are perhaps outside the fire arena can help us a lot by embracing and modeling in their own lives this stuff. For example, I don t know if the American Psychological Association starts its meetings by pointing out the fire exits, or holds their meetings in sprinklered facilities. And I m sure there are things they would like us to be doing, too. There are probably things we could learn from each other that would be health promoting and more consistent with the messages we re trying to get everyone else to do. Part of it is just us all being open to changing things based on what matters to our partners. We need to open the tent up a little bit so we re better able to influence our society by the power of our own personal example as role models. 17

20 MB: From the perspective of the criminal and juvenile justice field, what is something preventive we could do to address fire safety and fire curiosity? Additionally, a lot of people believe firesetting to be a law enforcement issue, but at MatchBook, we re aiming to bring together different disciplines that are involved in and affected by juvenile firesetting, so we can work together. What type of relationship have you noticed fire services, schools, burn hospitals, juvenile justice and mental health to have? MKA: Knowing that the juvenile justice system still has a lot of males in leadership positions, one thing is to lead by example and make sure members of the law enforcement community and fire service community don t fall into the trap of reminiscing about fires they set in their own childhood in a way that conveys to children that this is just something that kids do. Making sure we all are practicing what we preach is really important. What I love about this slice of the problem, is that it is where we all come together. There is such an important role for law enforcement, fire service, mental health, [schools, juvenile justice] to collaborate. Coming out of the silo and joining forces is the most important thing we all can do, including law enforcement. By the time firesestting gets to be a law enforcement issue, we ve missed so many opportunities to intervene. So, I look at it as a societal issue, I look at it as a parental issue, I look at it as a community issue and the opportunities are there. Personally, I feel they should be better supported and financed so it s not an ad hoc approach so as a nation, we can put together an integrated plan that is comprehensive, multi-faceted and sustained. What we need is an established system that lasts over time, because I think that is what changes things. MB: Many parents that have children involved with firesetting want their child to tour the burn center and see all those poor burned children. What is your opinion regarding the effectiveness of consequences of behavior/scared straight interventions? MKA: For very young children, particularly school age, the Home Safety Council s policy is to be very positive and non-threatening. We strongly recommend against scare tactics. Even showing burned items, not to mention burned children, is not something we feel is appropriate. Children don t tend to learn when they re scared or uncertain or unsettled. So, making them see a really harsh consequence is not going to lead to the behavior change we are looking for. Kids who have been burned need to be embraced and fully integrated back into the mainstream and so there are ways of taking a real world experience and gently helping children understand why that burn might have occurred and how they could work in their own lives to be safer from fires and other things. 18 MatchBook Journal Issue 01

21 I would strongly urge folks to seek out the resources from the Phoenix Society. I know they have a new curriculum helping a child to reenter the school environment after a burn injury, which would not only benefit the injured child, but also the other children around. So I m qualifying that a little bit; there are times when you have to deal with the subject because it s right in front of you and it helps the children understand, but to just use a scare tactic or show a harsh image because we think it s going to teach them something is not going to work, and the Home Safety Council does not recommend that strategy. MB: When are kids old enough to begin to learn about fire safety? MKA: For fire safety, learning can begin almost from the beginning, but children themselves can t really begin to understand fire safety and burn safety until about age 4. Before then, they re re too young to understand very much. This means it s very important that the caregivers understand about fire safety and other safety matters and that they re, from the get-go, taking responsibility for the family s safety and setting the right example. Little ones are going to grow up doing what the adults around them do. Practicing family fire drills from the time the baby comes home from the hospital is really smart because that family needs to be outside and calling the fire department within 3 minutes, and the only way the family is going to be able to do that is if they map out their plan and practice it. So if they ve got an infant and are on an upper floor, they ve got to be figuring out what they will do if their primary exit route is blocked, if they can use the window, if they have a baby carrier that will allow their hands to be free while going down the safety ladder. All of this is an adult role and really an adult responsibility all the way through, especially when the kids are little. For young children, HSC s programs stick to very basic messages, such as teaching them to know what is hot and stay away from it. We teach them to say Code Red Rover, Grown-up Come Over, if they see something that s not safe.. Rover is our mascot, the Home Safety Hound. He helps young children understand that fixing dangers is a job for grown-ups the children s job is to spot dangers and stay away from them. The information about smoke alarms and mapping and meeting place selection is directed to the parents and caregivers, where it should be. To read the entire interview and to download an audio transcript visit our website

22 Poll Question / Explore MatchBook Online Poll Question: Should it be mandatory for elementary school students to pass a fire safety exam? Yes No Maybe We want to know what you, our readers, think. Start the discussion by voting on our online poll. Go to our website - Explore MatchBook online The MatchBook Journal website is an interactive community that brings together the various groups working with juvenile firesetting. The site is a resource for professionals, as well as parents and caregivers. As our online community grows, our site will reflect this growth and continue to evolve. Please contribute your articles, research, anecdotal information, curriculum suggestions and events by clicking on the Submit to MB button on the homepage, or by contacting the Publication Manager, Morgan Callahan. Over the next few months you will begin to see various features such as: MatchBook Online Edition Community Pages Interviews Poll Questions JFS Event Calendar Frequently Asked Questions Helpful Resources Facts & Stats Case Studies Lessons Learned Teaching Tools Submit an Article 20 MatchBook Journal Issue 01

23 Visit MatchBook online at To get a free subscription to MatchBook, sign up at -

24 Stay posted for our next edition. Learn how readers responded to this issue s poll question, read a new interview from the juvenile firesetting community, find new data and statistics from our Editorial Board, and locate events near you. Be part of the discussion and solution by reading and submitting evaluations, interact in a debate about the rhetoric of juvenile firesetting, and check the website frequently for updates on related current events. Visit MatchBook online at - For more information contact: Publication Manager, Morgan Callahan - (508) x 660 mcallahan@matchbookjournal.org A Journal on the Prevention & Treatment of Juvenile Firesetting Published by