School House Adjustment Program. What is the SHAPE Project?

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1 University of Memphis School of Urban Affairs and Public Policy Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice Prepared for: Memphis City Schools Prepared by: Wayne J. Pitts, Ph.D. Highlights December 2010 In July 2007, Memphis City Schools (MCS) received grant funding through the Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC) Pilot Project to implement the School House Adjustment Program Enterprise (SHAPE). The purpose of SHAPE is to reduce the number of minority students referred to Juvenile Court for minor offenses. Many incidents involving juveniles do not require the police to transport and in fact, most can be settled with a juvenile summons. A total of 416 students participated in the SHAPE program in the school year. During this school year, the number of SHAPE schools increased from 18 to 22. The leading referring offense was simple assault, accounting for over half of all referrals (53.2%). In total, transports to Juvenile Detention have dropped 39.6% in two years and much of this decrease can be directly attributed to the SHAPE initiative. The SHAPE project has helped to bring about some important policy and procedural changes. This project is supported by Grant# awarded by the State of Tennessee, Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth. Points of view in this document are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the State of Tennessee, or Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth. School House Adjustment Program Enterprise: Evaluation Report What is the SHAPE Project? In July 2007, Memphis City Schools (MCS) received grant funding through the Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC) Pilot Project administered by the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth to implement the School House Adjustment Program Enterprise (SHAPE). The program is a collaborative effort between MCS, the Memphis Police Department (MPD), the Shelby County Mayor s Office, the Memphis City Mayor s Office, the Public Defender s Office, and the Shelby County Juvenile Court. The program was officially launched at the beginning of the school year in one middle school and seventeen high schools distributed throughout the city of Memphis. These specific schools were selected for inclusion after determining these schools had the highest number of students transported to Juvenile Court for SHAPE eligible offenses during the and school years. SHAPE eligible offenses included criminal trespassing, gambling, disorderly conduct and simple assault with no serious injury. These seventeen high schools and one middle school accounted for 966 students in and 988 students in who were transported to Juvenile Court for SHAPE offenses. Approximately one-tenth of all juveniles booked into Shelby County Juvenile Court in 2006 were transported for minor charges and were likely eligible for SHAPE diversion. A student is eligible for SHAPE if they commit an offense on school prop- erty and face potential charges of simple assault with no serious injuries, disorderly conduct, gambling or criminal trespass. Simple assault charges involving school personnel are not considered SHAPE eligible. A student must have no felony adjudications, convictions or pending charges; have no violent misdemeanor adjudications, convictions, or pending charges; have no other misdemeanor charges within the past twelve months; and be willing to voluntarily participate in the program (with parental permission). After being accepted into SHAPE, the student meets with the site coordinator at his or her school to fill out an agreement form and an intake form. The Pending Document Form is completed and retained at the school. After the initial intake paperwork is complete, the student begins attending afterschool classes with the Behavioral Specialist and must complete twelve sessions of the Too Good for Drugs and Violence After-School Activities curriculum, a recognized best practices model developed by the Mendez Foundation (see Each session lasts two hours. Every school has a dedicated Behavioral Specialist funded by the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth. Most Site

2 SHAPE Schools Chickasaw Middle Cordova High Craigmont High Fairley High Frayser High Hamilton High Hamilton Middle Hickory Ridge Middle Hillcrest High Kingsbury High Kirby High Manassas High Melrose High Mitchell High Northside High Oakhaven High Raleigh-Egypt High Raleigh-Egypt Middle Sherwood Middle Trezevant High Whitehaven High Wooddale High # SHAPE Participants Coordinators are trained behavioral specialists. Once a student commits a SHAPE eligible offense, police officers from the Memphis Police Department complete a Pending Document Form. The Pending Document Form serves to document the incident without filing an official juvenile summons. The goal is to divert these juveniles from ever appearing on any paperwork in the juvenile court system. The Shelby County Task Force on Disproportionate Minority Contact has strongly asserted that keeping juveniles off paper is a high priority. Each month, the Site Coordinator tracks the students excused and unexcused absences, any incidences of misbehavior while at school, suspensions, expulsions, and grade performance in each class. If a student fails to complete the twelve sessions of the Mendez curriculum or is otherwise non -compliant with the conditions of the program, the Pending Document Form can be upgraded to a juvenile summons and filed with the court. A Pending Document Form remains active for six months following an incident. If the student completes the program, the Pending Document Form is destroyed and no record of any involvement is MPD Transport Discretion Officers of the Memphis Police Department have significant discretion as to whether to transport a juvenile suspected of delinquency to juvenile court or not. Many incidents do not require a suspect to be transported and in fact, most can be settled with a juvenile summons. A summons is essentially an order to appear in court. By issuing a summons, the officer can reduce the amount of time spent processing a case since the officer is not required to transport the juvenile charged with delinquency. Similarly, the Shelby County Juvenile Detention Center can conserve limited resources since the juvenile does not have to be processed and admitted into detention. Perhaps most importantly, a juvenile charged with a minor offense is not introduced into the detention setting unnecessarily. In the 2 recent past, only about 40 percent of juvenile suspects were issued a summons the others were taken to temporary detention. In March 2010, the SHAPE project coordinator worked with Memphis City Schools to develop a training video for MPD officers designed to raise awareness of the SHAPE program and emphasize the benefits of the issuing of a summons rather than transporting juvenile suspects to juvenile court. Strongly endorsed by the Memphis Police Department and Shelby County Juvenile Court, the renewed emphasis on summons processes reduced the number of juveniles transported between March and June from 47.0% to 41.7%, an overall reduction of 11.3%. SHAPE initiatives continue to affect juvenile justice system policies and procedures in Memphis and Shelby County. Participating SHAPE Schools A total of 416 students were referred to the SHAPE program in the school year. During this school year, the number of SHAPE schools increased. The additional schools were added in an on-going effort to reduce disproportionate minority contact with juvenile court. The original eighteen schools were included after analysis revealed these school had the highest number of transports to juvenile court for SHAPE charges. Because of the successes during the first year of the pilot program, many school administrators and community members sought opportunities to be included in the initiative. Five additional schools were funded in the school year bringing the total to five middle schools and seventeen high schools. SHAPE participation was highest among Kirby High, Hickory Ridge Middle, Cordova High, Kingsbury High and Raleigh-Egypt

3 Methodology Data Collection Twenty-two schools (seventeen high schools and five middle school) participated in SHAPE during the school year. Behavioral Specialists were assigned to each school and charged with monitoring the students enrolled in SHAPE; implementing the curriculum and documenting the academic and behavioral progress of each of the participants. Behavioral Specialists also obtained the data needed for evaluation through the use of quantitative and qualitative structured interviews conducted on site at the participating schools throughout the school year. The interview protocols included: referral forms, intake forms, monthly tracking forms, and exit forms for each student enrolled in the program. These forms were designed by the evaluator and approved by Memphis City Schools officials. Extreme emphasis was placed on preserving student confidentiality and all methods discussed here were conducted in accordance with the written protocols approved by the Institutional Review Board for the Protection of Human Subjects at the University of Memphis. Site coordinators were instructed to utilize a three digit code assigned to each school. This threedigit number corresponds with the three-digit identification number assigned the students upon receipt of High Schools. One-quarter of SHAPE participants came from Kirby High and Hickory Ridge Middle Schools, both located in the Ridgeway Station Police Precinct. Chickasaw Middle, Oakhaven, Hamilton, and Trezevant High Schools had the lowest number of participants. Special care should be given when interpreting the levels of participation as high participation could reflect either a high number of delinquent events identified or diligent pursuit of SHAPE eligible students on their information. This was done in order to protect the students identities. In addition to the individual school code, an evaluation ID code comprised of the student s initials, year of birth, and last four digits of the social security number were utilized to mask confidential data. No addresses, personal identifying information, or other contact information was stored or received by the evaluation team. The data were transferred to the University of Memphis evaluation team in three ways: (1) a site visit to the SHAPE schools in which interview protocols were copied by the Behavioral Specialist and given to a member of the evaluation team; (2) the requested information was sent to the project facilitator and picked up by a member of the evaluation team; (3) the information was sent to the University of Memphis, Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice via fax or mail. As data were received from the site Findings Demographic Summary 3 There were 416 students admitted into the SHAPE program during the school year. The gender distribution was nearly even with 212 males (51.0%) and 204 females (49.0%). Minority youth comprised a wide majority of all participants with 407 out of 416 being either African American (95.4) or Hispanic (3.1%). Stucoordinators, each form was entered into a password protected Microsoft Access 2007 database. In addition to the data obtained by the individual MCS Behavioral Specialists, data regarding students grades and behavioral infractions for the school year was obtained from the MCS Office of Evaluation, Research, and Assessment by the evaluation team. This information was also entered into the SHAPE database. Data Analysis The sample used for this study includes 142 students who participated in SHAPE during the school year. Detailed intake information was collected on these 142 students. Other SHAPE participants either did not complete the intake interview or did not forward the completed forms to the evaluation team. Records for each student were entered into the evaluation database upon reception. After all of the students records were entered into the database, analyses were done on the demographics of the sample, student s grades before, during and after the program, as well as the behavioral conduct of the students while in the program. All of these analyses were done using the statistical package, SPSS dents ranged between 12 and 19 years old with a mean age for all participants of` 16 years old. About the Parents Perhaps contrary to common perceptions, many of the SHAPE participants reported living with both their biological parents (28.7%) or with a biological parent and a stepparent (13.2%). Single parent households make up 41.1% of the living arrangements for

4 SHAPE students with the vast majority being female-headed households. The average size of SHAPE students households is just over four people. Most of the SHAPE parents have graduated from high school or have their GED. Less than three percent of parents have less than a high school education. Based on the information collected at intake, many parents are working. Over half of all mothers are working full-time (58.2%) or part-time (11.2%). Fathers are less apt to be employed with 44.1% reported as employed fulltime and 11.8% working parttime. In general, the housing situation for most SHAPE participants was fairly stable with 84.3% staying in the same residence all school year. The other 15.7% had moved an average of 1.2 times since the beginning of the school year. These findings closely mirror school year findings. Table 1. Incident definitions Referring Offenses The SHAPE eligible offenses include: simple assault (with no serious injury), disorderly conduct, gambling and criminal trespassing. During the school year, the leading referring offense was simple assault, accounting for over half of all referrals (53.2%). Disorderly conduct was the next most prevalent charge (30.7%) followed by criminal trespassing (15.9%). Gambling will be added as an additional referring offense in the school year. These data show a significant increase in the number of simple assault referrals and decreases in disor- derly conduct and criminal trespassing charges compared to the previous school year. Attitudes about Education The attitudes about education are similar to the previous study. SHAPE students want to graduate and go on to college and most believe they will be able to achieve this goal. Furthermore, students are more likely to believe their grades are about the same or better than their peers. Based on a look at overall grade performance, this finding is reinforced. SHAPE participation has little or no effect on academic performance or grades. This should not be taken to mean that SHAPE does not impact grades. If these same students had been transported to juvenile court for SHAPE eligible offenses, it is reasonable to expect that their grades would have been negatively affected. Certainly there would have been no positive effect. Minor Serious Cell phone Assault against student w/minor injuries Class cutting B&E- burglary/theft $500+ Excessive excused/unexcused tardiness Under the influence of drugs/no possession Miscellaneous run/hall/throw/pen Abusive language towards school personnel Uniform/dress code violation Sexual harassment gender base Continue/engage level 1 Threat against student (non-serious) False accusations against a student Threaten to explode/burn/damage Gambling Aggravated assault on teacher or staff Insolent/insubordinate Aggravated battery on teacher or staff Leave campus without permission Assault teacher or staff Shove/stud/ball/no injury Drugs possession/use/distribute illegal Rx Obscene/offensive material, behavior, language Fight- serious injuries/weapons/gang Possession/use of match, light, firework Gang related middle/high school Profanity towards student Other major incident with potential serious injury Unauthorized material/post or display Threats against school personnel Continue/engage- level 2 Threats against student (serious) Fight- minor injuries/non-gang Weapons Trespass and loitering Electronic device: pager, beeper Bullying or harassment Continue/engage level 3 Disruptive behavior w/prior unsuccessful intervention 4

5 Behavior before SHAPE The vast majority of SHAPE participants served during the school year had previously had behavioral problems at school. In fact, 93.7% reported they had been previously suspended, and the overall average number of suspensions was 2.0 times. Nearly two-thirds (60.8%) reported they had been suspended during the prior school year. As might be expected, far fewer reported prior expulsions (17.2%) but still, an expulsion indicated previous involvement in serious behavior incidents. Parenting Rules The current evaluation uses much the same research methods as the evaluation study and many of the finding are similar. The previous report explored what students perceived to be important to their parents. In essence, this line of questioning sought to measure whether students were aware of any boundaries, rules, or other expectations about this child s behavior. Box 1 shows their perception of the existence of family rules. Curfew times were also considered. Only 18.3% reported that they did not have any school night curfew time. Among the others, curfew times ranged from 5PM to as late as 1:30AM. The other curfew times on school times fell between: 5PM and 9PM (58.6%); 9:01PM to 10PM Box 1: Family Rules Does your family have rules about: (21.6%); 10:01PM to 11PM (12.9%); and after 11PM (5.2%). Weekend curfew times were much more lenient with nearly one-third reporting no curfew times (29.6%). Of those with weekend curfew time, 46.0% were after 11PM. Most SHAPE participants perceive that their parents know who they hang out with (82.4%); where they are after school (89.8%); and where they are on the weekends (85.8%).On a scale from 1 to 10 where one is, they don t know anything and 10 is, they know a lot, SHAPE students perceive their parents are pretty wellinformed. The average for what I do after school is 8.3. The other questions included what I do on the weekends (7.7); where I go at night (8.7); and about how I spend my time (7.2). While the general public may perceive that youths are getting into trouble because of uninvolved parents, these data show that parents may be more involved than many think. Students do report awareness of their parents expectations. Of course, having expectations and being able to balance the effects of peers and to enforce parental expectations are very different. Prior Delinquency Factors When you do homework? Yes: 54.1% Dating? Yes: 54.8% Drinking alcohol? Yes: 85.1% Using drugs? Yes: 85.1% Fighting? Yes: 72.4% Skipping school? Yes: 87.4% Who your friends are? Yes: 46.6% Church attendance? Yes: 55.2% One of the prerequisites of the SHAPE project is that the child not have any prior felony adjudications, convictions, or pending charges and that they have no violent misdemeanor adjudications, convictions, or ending charges. Still, 22.4% of the participants of the SHAPE program did report a prior arrest (about half in the past year) for an illegal or delinquent offense. Almost half of SHAPE participants have a friend who has been arrested (48.1%). In the year preceding their intake into SHAPE, 13.4% had runaway from home for at least one night and 7.4% had stolen something. Violence Exposure The first evaluation found that SHAPE participants have significant exposure to violence at home, in their neighborhoods and at school. Nearly three-fourths of SHAPE participants say they have been in a fight themselves in the past year. Some report they have carried a knife or a razor to defend themselves in the past year (12.0%). Of those who say they have carried a knife or razor, most report carrying in their neighborhood or at home. A small but worrisome number say they have carried a gun in the past year (5.3%). Again, most carry weapons in their neighborhoods and at home rather than at school. Their concerns about personal safety are borne out in their experiences with 16.9% saying they have actually witnessed someone being cut, stabbed or shot. Nearly one out of ten students report that someone has threatened them with a knife or gun in the last year (9.0%). One out of four had a friend or family member shot or stabbed during the 12 months prior to their intake. In short, exposure to violence in this population is especially prevalent. 5

6 Gangs and Gang Involvement Gang participation is low amongst SHAPE participants with less than five percent of students reporting some sort of gang involvement. However, 34.6% say they hang out with gang members, most commonly while at home. Substance Use The dynamics of substance are also explored during the intake procedure. Relatively few of the students involved in SHAPE report smoking cigarettes in the past year (4.7%). Alcohol use is far more common with 18.3% saying they had used alcohol in the past twelve months. Again, the mean age of SHAPE participants is 16. A few participants (2.0%) say they have had five or more drinks on a single occasion during the last year. About two-fifths say they have socialized with others who were drunk on alcohol or high on drugs in the past year (40.3%). Marijuana use is not uncommon as 14.1% of students say they have used marijuana in the past year. However, students perceive that far more of their friends are using marijuana. One-third believed their friends were using marijuana. No students reported any cocaine use, but again, they believed their friends were using other drugs (13.9%). Outcome Study Results The SHAPE project has now been fully implemented for two years and some important outcome measures do exist to show the impact of the project. These outcomes are discussed individually in the following sections. Transports to Juvenile Court Perhaps the most obvious outcome measure of the SHAPE initiative is manifested in the overall reduction in the number of transports to the Shelby County Juvenile Detention Facility. Compared to the Transports to Juvenile Court between the and school years have dropped by 39.6% and much of this decrease can be directly attributed to the SHAPE initiative. school year, transports to Juvenile Detention dropped from 2,494 to 1,830, a 26.6% decrease in one year. Transports in dropped to 1,507, another 17.7% decrease during that year. In total, transports to Juvenile Detention have dropped 39.6% in two years and much of this decrease can be directly attributed to the SHAPE initiative. System Change Although more challenging to measure objectively, the SHAPE project has helped to bring about some important policy and procedural changes. Some of these changes have been formal written changes and others have been more informal. For example, the SHAPE project has produced a video which provides an overview of the SHAPE referral process. The message of the video is clear transports to juvenile court are costly and they affect minority populations in Shelby County disproportionately. Moreover, community safety is not compromised as a result of the SHAPE program. The eligible SHAPE charges are minor and efforts are being taken to ensure that students are being held accountable. There is an approved best practices curricu- Box 2: Perceptions of Skipping School lum in place. The Juvenile Summons can and will be filed for students who fail to comply with the program. The SHAPE alternative is not a get-out-of-jail-free card. The video encourages police officers to actively pursue option other than detention. And, while SHAPE is a school-based program, there is at least anecdotal evidence that the flexibility of the juvenile summons resulting in an increase in their use. These shifts in policies and procedures are not only affecting the police practices. School administrators are beginning to see the benefits of SHAPE and recognition of the principles of steps to reduce disproportionate minority contact resonate in the community. The Juvenile Court is similarly questioning historical practices as increasing competition for limited resources continues to be a growing concern. Detention administrators are promoting the use of Juvenile Summonses and the detention population overall has declined as administrators are diligently working to reduce unwarranted detentions and overall lengths of stay. What percent of your friends skip school? Almost none (less than 10%) 64.0% About 25% 24.0% About half (50%) 4.8% About 75% 3.2% Almost all (more than 90%) 3.2% 6

7 In , the SHAPE program has selected a curriculum based on work compiled by the Mendez Foundation, an innovative leader in prevention education and a recognized best practices model. Curriculum Completion In , the SHAPE program has selected a curriculum based on work compiled by the Mendez Foundation, an innovative leader in prevention education and a recognized best practices model. A total of 416 students participated in the SHAPE program during the school year. Of these, 254 or 61.1% graduated from the program while 19.0% were discharged from the program because of a new arrest or additional charges. A number of students (13.5%) dropped out of the SHAPE program voluntarily before completion. The remaining 6.5% either transferred to a non-shape school or were on an administrative hold and had not yet begun the curriculum. Those students who were dismissed or refused to participate were given a Juvenile Summons to appear in Juvenile Court to have their case adjudicated. School Performance Measures The evaluation team tracks grades, attendance, and behavioral incident reports on SHAPE participants. In the previous evaluation report, no significant relationships were found. Grades do not improve as a result of SHAPE participation, but they do not decline either. Attendance is similarly not affected. Reports of misbehavior at school also remain statistically stable. In short, SHAPE does not seem to af- fect grades, attendance, or behavior. While reasonable to consider, as outcome measures, these factors may be outside of what the SHAPE initiative intended to do originally. Conclusions and Recommendations The SHAPE program continues to have impressive results, especially in regards to reducing the number of transports of minority youth to the Shelby County Juvenile Court. These reductions will eventually level out and it will be important to continue with due diligence. Perhaps the greatest accomplishment of the SHAPE initiative has been the increased attention the program has placed on the decision to detain all juveniles. Important policy and procedural shifts have been realized within Memphis City Schools, the Memphis Police Department, and the Shelby County Juvenile Court. These policy and procedural shifts must become formalized. This evaluation does not include a meaningful assessment of the Mendez Foundation curriculum and it should. Is the curriculum being implemented according to best practices? What is the effect of the curriculum itself? This is due in part to Memphis City Schools implementing a new approach to behavior issues. Restorative Justice will focus on respect, truthfulness, dependability, self-control, self-discipline, acceptance, responsibility, and accountability which can be achieved through the circle process. Memphis City Schools will reintroduce the Mendez Foundation curriculum and continue with Restorative Justice for the school year. Make staff training mandatory. This training will ensure that individuals are committed to the mission and direction of the program. Data collection for the SHAPE project is not done consistently and there are differences between schools. The Intake Form is not always done and neither are the monthly Tracking Forms. The evaluation will be incomplete as long as these are not done. Memphis City Schools is addressing data collection by using interns from the University of Memphis Department of Criminal Justice to assist and follow up with site coordinators on a weekly basis to ensure accuracy and compliance regarding all necessary forms needed to produce a through evaluation for the school year. Create a data collection protocol. There should only be one method in which the evaluation team collects/receives data. There should also be one method in which Behavioral Specialists obtain data (i.e. filling out paperwork themselves as opposed to having the student or student s parent fill it out). SHAPE administrators must determine effective strategies for continuing SHAPE initiatives beyond the current Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth funding cycle. Pursue opportunities to expand the program into all middle and high schools in Memphis City Schools. Continue to develop the basic framework of the SHAPE initiative and help to initiate similar programs for DMC initiatives in Blount, Davidson, Hamilton, Knox, Montgomery, and Sevier Counties. 7

8 For more information about the Memphis City Schools SHAPE Program, contact: John Hall SHAPE Program Coordinator Memphis City Schools Or Wayne J. Pitts, Ph.D. Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice School of Urban Affairs and Public Policy University of Memphis