A student in the AN Center at Lake Middle School was having significant behavioral difficulties. Our center had to advocate for him to get a higher level of care. This is the compilation of data and stakeholders that were involved in this advocacy effort.

1. ADVOCACY CASE - TC*
CASSIDY MEEHAN
STRIVE PREP LAKE MIDDLE SCHOOL – AFFECTIVE NEEDS CENTER
*Initials have been changed to protect confidentiality

2. CASE BACKGROUND
 TC:
 12 year-old
 Father incarcerated for 1st degree murder, 1 year ago
 Trauma from step-father abuse
 Diagnosed with: Conduct Disorder, Intermittent Explosive Disorder, Depression, PTSD, ADHD
 Jumped into a gang in September
 Significant marijuana usage
 Placed in an AN center in 3rd grade
 Incidents:
 Smashed in Special Ed teacher’s windshield
 Punched in several windows on school property
 Assaulted another student to get his scooter after school
 Destroyed a classroom and had to be restrained by several officers in a violent outburst
 Cornered and hit a staff member
 Stabbed two students on school property

3. DATA COLLECTION
 BASC-3 (Behavior Assessment System for Children):
 “Clinically Significant Range” for 2 teachers, mother and TC: Aggression, Conduct Problems, Depression,
Atypicality.
 2 IEP Evaluations: involving TC, mother, security officer, mental health provider, school social worker, AN
center social worker, AN Center teacher, general education teacher, 2 paraprofessionals, SPED district
representative, AN center intern, GAL, school psychologist
 2 Full Threat Appraisals: involving TC, mother, school social worker, AN center social worker, AN center
teacher, AN center intern.
 Identified High Risk

4. 2016-2017 SCHOOL YEAR DATA
2016-2017 Point Sheet Data 2016-2017 Physical Aggression
Incidents
 Point Sheets:
 Blue Days – 9%
 Green Days – 25.8%
 Yellow Days –
44.9%
 Red Days – 20.2%

5. 2017-2018 SCHOOL YEAR DATA
2017-2018 Point Sheet Data 2017-2018 Physical Aggression
Incidents
 Point Sheets
 Blue Days – 0%
 Green Days – 28.6%
 Yellow Days –
33.3%
 Red Days – 38.1%

6. SUPERVISION
 Group Consult:
 AN Center Staff – Updating Behavior intervention Plan (BIP)
 District staff & AN Center staff – IEP Evaluations & recommendations for treatment
 Principle, AN Center staff & mental health team – What can we accommodate for and what is beyond our scope as
a public school?
 Group Supervision:
 How to emotionally handle TC’s aggression and threats
 Am I safe?
 How can I take care of myself to help me not get attached to outcomes
 1-on-1 Supervision:
 Data Collection/Representation
 Debriefing aggressive incidents
 Contact district stakeholders to get involved

7. IS THE ROLE OF ADVOCACY APPROPRIATE HERE?
 We tried several other roles:
 Negotiating services
 Mediating between mom, TC and the school
 After 3 Behavior Intervention Plans did not result in decreased risk, it was decided that TC needed a higher
level of care.
 Evaluated our role as a public school:
 What can we provide him?
 Are we doing him a disservice by continuing to educate him here without the proper mental health supports?
 Are we putting other students by continuing to educate TC here?
 TC’s needs were beyond what the school could provide.

8. GOAL OF ADVOCACY
 Problem: TC was becoming increasingly aggressive at school and was a risk to other students and staff.
 Need: TC needs more comprehensive mental health treatment for his past traumas and he needs a more
restrictive environment to ensure he is not endangering himself or others.
 Goal: To get TC into a day-treatment facility that could better serve his mental health and safety needs.
 The goal was NOT to get TC out of school, but to get him the care he needs.
 Objective 1: Get appropriate funding from both Medicaid and DPS for day-treatment through advocacy efforts.
 Objective 2: Get mom on-board with day-treatment plan by mediating between DPS, AN Center staff and mom.

9. INTERVENTION STRATEGIES
 Mental Health Interventions:
 Motivational Interviewing
 Social-Emotional Learning
 Coping Skills Development
 Goal of Mental Health Interventions: to get TC motivated to participate in school in an appropriate way
 3 Updates of BIP:
 Updating his de-escalation strategies and in-class supports
 Removing him from General Education classes
 1-on-1 support
 1 staff is always with TC
 TC has staggered transition times so he is not in the hall with his peers
 Goal of BIP Updates: To ensure TC is safe and other students are safe.

10. OUTCOME
 TC is currently Home-Bound after violently attacking a staff member
 It took 3 weeks for both Medicaid and DPS to agree to pay for treatment
 2 out of 3 day-treatments in the Denver-Metro area have declined to take TC, because he was deemed
“too aggressive for their facilities”
 Residential treatment is not being pursued at this time
 Court Date in early December – GAL is advocating for day-treatment to be a requirement of his
sentencing

11. ADVOCACY EVALUATION
 Evaluate: The effort has not been completed yet, since the goal was to get TC treatment, not kicked out
of school.
 Steps ahead: continuing checking in with day-treatments and GAL to see what more we can do and continuing to
update TC’s IEP to better reflect his current needs.
 The biggest concern now: TC cannot fall through the cracks. Just because he is no longer at our school
does not mean we can just hand him off to someone else and make him their problem.
 Learn: Involving as many stakeholders as possible is so important, especially when some of those
individuals can advocate at a higher level (such as at the district).
 Do the same: I would maintain the thoroughness of the data preparation. It took a lot of work to put
together the data and graphs, but data is how we were best able to advocate for TC’s needs.
 Do differently: Advocate for TC within the AN center and school. Many staff gave up on him and it would
have been good to advocate for him on that level in order to maintain his supports at school.