School professionals play a vital role in children's lives. Here are 9 strategies they can use to help their students succeed in school.

When families and schools work together, everyone wins. When both systems are open to one another, the school-to-prison pipeline can be interrupted. As this new school year begins, take on the challenge to understand each other, and to support and problem-solve together. It’s a new school year and a new opportunity for success and progress for students, schools and families.

In Part 1 of our blog, we considered what strategies families could use to help their children succeed. In Part 2 of our blog, let’s consider how we can effectively build those positive home-school links by examining what educational professionals can do to support student success.

School season can be stressful. Here are 9 strategies for families to help their children succeed in school.

It’s back to school season—from shopping for supplies to the sounds of early morning buses. For many young people, this can be a happy time of year, a time when they will start fresh or rejoin old classmates or re-connect with teachers. For some, the sights and sounds of crowded hallways bring a sense of excitement. But many youth—and families—do not have the same joyful anticipation. Many students and parents have lumps in their throats or experience anxiety when they think about returning to school and the concerns it brings—bullying, truancy, suspensions or exclusions, the dreaded phone call from school when a problem arises and the potential that things may escalate to involvement with child-protective services or the juvenile-justice system.

An MST newcomer shares her experience of becoming a supervisor

You know that feeling when everything just seems to ‘click’? That ‘aha’ moment when your brain clears and you understand whatever problem you have been trying to solve? That’s my favorite part about being an MST supervisor—being a part of the moment when the family ‘arrives’—when a mother looks at me and says, “You mean when I parent from guilt and keep letting my child get away with things, or let him off punishment early, that is why he keeps doing the things he is doing? I am not running my home, my child is? I get it. I want this to work. He is not going to like it, but I am the parent here, not him!” That is the moment that makes the challenges of Multisystemic Therapy (MST) worth it.

Stella and Paul were losing control of their adopted son, Charlie.

He was becoming violent and affecting the whole family. Luckily, they found a partner to work alongside them and keep their family together.

Stella and Paul have children ranging from age 37 to 12. Their two youngest, Brenda and Charlie, were adopted from foster care and have special needs.

“In our naiveté, we thought, we’re going to adopt these kids and bring them into a loving home. Then, they’d be just like the other kids we have,” said Stella. “But we didn’t realize that at a young age, there’s so much that they already picked up that we can’t change.”

A former school social worker and current MST supervisor reflects on harsh school discipline policies feeding the school-to-prison pipeline

“It is doubtful that any child may reasonably be expected to succeed in life if he is denied the opportunities of an education.” Chief Justice Earl Warren, 1954

I was a special-education school social worker and school social-work clinical supervisor in the Educational Achievement Authority (EAA) schools. These are the “lowest performing” Detroit public schools and were taken over by a governor-appointed emergency manager in 2011. As a Multisystemic Therapy (MST) supervisor and former MST therapist, I have dealt with keeping youth in school.

While schools have complex challenges, one of the most frustrating aspects I observed was the detrimental discipline policies.

MST therapists and supervisors doing whatever it takes

Houston, Texas. The largest city in the southern U.S. Hit last week with a natural disaster of epic proportions. Hurricane Harvey has made an indelible mark on the landscape and on the people of the Space City. It was the lead story on the national news for days. You have probably seen the flooding, heard of the death toll, watched the search-and-rescue efforts with bated breath. If you’re like me, you cried through heartbreaking interviews with families who have lost it all. What you may not know is that there are two Multisystemic Therapy (MST) teams in Houston. This is their story. And it’s not over yet—this blog may require a Part II.

Staying the course with Multisystemic Therapy

Recently, I decided it was time to get healthy. You know when you reach that point in life when some of your behaviors (like eating sugary foods, not exercising daily, etc.) will catch up to you if you don’t make a change? So, I started my “healthy journey.” About two weeks in, my muscles were aching from my intensive workouts (OK, intensive for me), I missed my midday sugar rush, and the water, how could one person be asked to drink so much water? But something told me that even though I hadn’t seen any great gains yet, I was on the right path to better health and shouldn’t give up.

This caused me to pause and think about the people we work with in Multisystemic Therapy (MST)—the youth, their families and the key community stakeholders. 

New Jersey calls for a bigger investment in community-based programs to lower disparities in the juvenile justice system

New Jersey has made progress in lowering the number of incarcerated juveniles. From 1997 to 2010, the confined youth population was cut by 53 percent. These efforts should be applauded. 

Unfortunately, there are other statistics that are far less commendable—those showing distressing racial disparities. 

A mom and two MST experts share their experiences on how MST works 

Think about how hopeless Michelle felt. Her daughter, Sam, was out of control, and Michelle was out of options. Or so she thought.

After trying many different services and suffering many disappointments, Michelle was doubtful that anything would work. Still, she gave Multisystemic Therapy (MST) a try. 

A childhood dream realized

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? A doctor, a lawyer, an astronaut? Studies show that just 6 percent of adults end up in the careers they wanted as kids. Katelyn Jakubovic is part of that 6 percent.