Orange County NC Website
resources are offered to help the child and/or parent, the parent isn’t receptive because there is <br />nothing wrong with their child. <br />DBT was suggested as a longer term solution. If some of those skills were taught to the kids, <br />they could use them to reduce classroom disruptions and problems. DBT can only be taught by <br />trained professionals, and so the schools would need to obtain permission from the parents to <br />allow their child to attend. <br />It was mentioned that in Durham, Freedom House partnered up with the police department and <br />when they were called for crisis intervention, a social worker would meet law enforcement law <br />enforcement at the location and be there to assist. Tina asked if the response was immediate <br />because what they are experiencing with the mobile crisis team in Orange County is too long of a <br />response time. The social worker from Freedom House would respond immediately, often <br />within the same time frame as law enforcement. However, it has been several years so this <br />service may no longer be available. <br />Cardinal still offers CIT training and all of the SROs have been trained, but the training doesn’t <br />work for the population they are encountering (ages 4.5-11). The resource officers that have <br />been involved in these situations have stepped up and done tremendously well. <br />Michelle Guarino (Chapel Hill PD), Freedom House, and some other agencies have partnered up <br />to pilot a youth CIT training and they have already conducted about three or four. This may be <br />something to look at doing for the SROs. Currently, all school staff has attended Youth Mental <br />Health First Aid. Tina mentioned that by the time law enforcement is called, it is beyond the <br />training and capability of school staff, and their only options are to try and calm them down <br />and/or restrain them. And they hate having to be in put in those situations, but they are finding <br />they are more and more. With four calls like this in the past two weeks, Tina is concerned and <br />has been having conversations with the Sheriff’s Office attorney. <br />Often times there are mental health problems and the parent has been denying the problem and <br />unwilling to accept help. FAN was offered as a resource in situations like this because they are <br />able to work with the parent through a peer role and help them understand that there is a problem <br />and what they are doing/not doing is no longer working. Also, if the parent constantly getting <br />calls from the school about their child, they may begin to view the school as being against their <br />child. <br />Someone asked what happens after the incident. The school will set up a meeting with the parent <br />to discuss what’s been happening, the incident, and the services they can offer to help wrap- <br />around the child, and will change their service delivery to try to support the kid as much as <br />possible. However, the school also needs to keep in the mind the best interests of the whole <br />school, and find the balance between helping that one particular child but also keeping in mind <br />the needs and safety of all the kids. <br />Dispute Settlement offered their services to have an outside facilitator attend the parent meetings <br />because it may help ease the “us versus them” mentality. They do often help with child and <br />family team meetings. <br />Additionally, someone mentioned that the behaviors some of the kids have exhibited are <br />frequently link to trauma. So it may be beneficial to have a conversation with the parents to see <br />if there has been any trauma they know of, and see about getting some support for that child if <br />there has been. <br /> <br /> <br />