May 2009

Letter from the Editor

Buon giorno!

If you read last month’s edition you must have giggled at my vacation announcement! Sorry about that little glitch, but I’m happy to say that the clouds over Bologna parted just for me, Sienna was charming, Florence spectacular, and Venice amazing. We saw a wonderful art exhibit in Sienna called Art, Genius, Madness: Day and Night of the Artist – that examined the intersection between art and madness. Many of the featured artists battled with mental illness in ways that were evidenced in their work, Van Gogh being perhaps the most famous among many. What a powerful reminder that we must be tolerant and supportive in the face of each other’s weaknesses if we are to reap the rewards of each other’s strengths!

And now, it’s time for you to brag! Some of you, I’m sure, have noticed that the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention has a particular interest in mentoring this year. Does your community run a MENTORING program that is having a measurable effect on school-related outcomes in one or more of the three As of school engagement? (The three A’s are Attendance, Attachment and Achievement.) Send in a description of your program to info@schoolengagement.org with a subject line of “mentoring program.” We will post all the submissions on our website and feature our favorite in next month’s newsletter. Submissions are due by June 19. Please include the following information:

v Name of your mentoring program;

v A brief description including the number of matches, general characteristics of the mentors and mentees, length of the match, and outcome information;

v Contact information that we can post along with your submission.

Submissions should be no longer than 750 words, which is the maximum length of our feature articles. Thanks, and I look forward to hearing from you!

Jodi Heilbrunn,
Newsletter Editor

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Community and School Support Services for Childhood Bereavement
by
Amy K. Nuttall and Louise E. Silvern, Ph.D.
University of Colorado, Judi’s House
Evaluation Project

By age 18, more than 40,000 children attending Denver Metro Schools will suffer the death of a parent. Research has consistently shown that parentally bereaved children and adolescents are at risk for impaired academic performance, behavioral problems and long-lasting psychological distress. Given the cumulative impact of these problems, not surprisingly, bereaved students receive significantly lower grades and test scores and have higher dropout rates than do their non-bereaved peers.

Research has further revealed that unfavorable academic outcomes are especially likely if parental deaths occur in the context of certain factors: impoverished neighborhoods; deaths that are sudden, especially due to violence or suicide; deaths children witness directly; and deaths that psychologically traumatize the children for any reason. Youth with these risk factors are especially in need of services to ameliorate distress and trauma and prevent adverse academic outcomes.

Judi’s House. Judi’s House in Denver is a non-profit agency dedicated to reducing distress after the death of loved ones and to preventing disruption to children’s and adolescents’ academic, psychological and social development. Judi’s House provides no-fee services to youth and their caregivers, including: ten-week psychoeducational grief groups for age-grouped children with parallel groups for caregivers; specialized groups for suicide bereavement; Spanish-language groups; continuing group support after the initial ten-week groups; and grief-specific, adventure education programs for adolescents (with Outward Bound).

Judi’s House Participants. Although Judi’s House is open to all bereaved children, a substantial portion has risk factors for unfavorable academic outcomes. About half of the families have annual incomes below federal guidelines for poverty. About 25% of the deaths were directly witnessed by the youth. 80.2% of the deaths were sudden; 35.1% due to suicides, “self-harm,” or homicides. Not surprisingly, 60% of children’s grades had dropped since the death.

Effectiveness of agency-based groups. Researchers from CU found a statistically significant improvement in children’s academic performance after the initial ten-week groups. There were also significant improvements in caregivers’ and children’s psychological functioning. Additional aspects of Judi’s House programs are currently being studied.

School-based services. In spring 2009, Judi’s House provided 10-week psycho-educational groups at 19 schools from four Colorado counties. Groups are facilitated by a professional from Judi’s House and, when possible, a school counselor or social worker. School-based groups could substitute for agency-based services when more accessible for caregivers, and even more importantly, they might be ideal for children, especially adolescents.

School is the arena in which bereaved adolescents’ development can be either de-railed or sufficiently supported that academic progress can be reinstated or continue. Research revealed that the likelihood that bereaved adolescents persisted in school was affected by their perception that school personnel responded to their grief. Providing school-based services could strengthen bereaved youth’s sense of school as understanding and concerned. Group facilitators and members who are identified with students’ daily life might ideally fulfill the need for social support, which researchers have found also predicts favorable outcomes for bereaved individuals. School-based groups might encourage integrating support for students’ grief into their daily social network. Insofar as group members are perceived to understand one another’s difficulties at school (e.g., concentrating on studying or their worries about being viewed as “different” after parental suicide), group members seeing one another at school might be mutually encouraging, ameliorating the bereaved youth’s subjective isolation.

Judi’s House researchers hope to test the effectiveness of school-based groups. Collaboration among schools, bereavement centers and researchers is needed to develop and provide the best possible services for high- risk, bereaved students. Otherwise, school personnel struggle to meet the needs of failing students without identification of or useful interventions for those whose difficulties reflect traumatic loss.

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Athletes Set an Attendance Example
by
Jodi Heilbrunn and
Dennis Mullen, Principal, Pilgrim High School

Athletes in the three high schools in Warwick, RI are going to be signing on to a tough new policy governing school attendance as well as substance use next fall. Repeat violators of the alcohol, drug, tobacco and attendance policy face suspension from the team for up to 90 days, which will pretty much mean watching all the games from the sidelines for the rest of the season, although they would still be permitted to practice after a period of suspension for a number of games. The measure is not intended to be entirely punitive; sanctions also come along with counseling.

One might imagine that student athletes, and even coaches who could lose a key player for an entire season, would be up in arms. However, in a model of how to do things right, the process began with a parent forum to which not just the high school parents, but those from all the middle and elementary feeder schools were invited. The policy was drafted by a committee including several of the athletes themselves, the coaches, parents, and school and district administrators.

The athletic director of Pilgrim High School, Dominic Marcone, initially brought up the idea in response to an increase in alcohol abuse over the last several years. According to Principal Dennis Mullen, the community had experienced more than one fatal car crash involving intoxicated high school students or recent graduates, and the widespread concern set the stage for a serious response. The policy targets athletes, not because they are believed to have a greater alcohol problem, but because they are seen as role models by other students. Sanctions are associated with alcohol, tobacco or drug use, on or off campus at any time, or even an athlete’s presence at an event at which substances are available. The attendance stipulation was added due to a notable increase in tardiness this year. The policy reads:

"Athletes missing or late to school for reasons other than illness, legal, medical, funeral, college visits, or at the discretion of the administration, must be excused in advance of the absence in order to participate. Athletes absent from school on Friday or a day preceding a holiday and/or a weekend contest are ineligible to participate unless the absence is excused in advance by the Principal or his/her designee.”

The language states that consequences will arise from excessive absences or tardiness, but “excessive” has for now been left undefined. At the beginning of every season, athletes and their parents or guardians must attend a meeting and sign a behavior contract. Hopefully the new policy will have a twofold payoff in terms of the athletes’ attendance and health behavior, and a change in school-wide culture.

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