PCCYFS 2012 Annual Spring Conference The Pursuit of Positive Outcomes and the Obstacles to Change...

PCCYFS 2012 Annual Spring Conference

The Pursuit of Positive The Pursuit of Positive Outcomes and Outcomes and

the Obstacles to Changethe Obstacles to Change

Presented byJoe Lavoritano, Martha Tavantzis & James

Black

PCCYFS 2012 Annual Spring

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Basic Premises

• The basis for positive outcomes is constant innovation

• Data gathering and evaluation is the cornerstone of innovation

• There are many natural obstacles to innovation making innovation rare


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Saint Gabriel’s System

• Multi-component system of care

• Residential Treatment Facility (200-bed) in Audubon, PA (suburb of Philadelphia)

• Three day-treatment programs located in and around Philadelphia

• Reintegration Program for youth returning to the community post residential placement

• Several community-based outpatient mental health programs


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Saint Gabriel’s Hall

• Eleven residential units, 16 beds in each

• Short-term, farm-based program (24 beds) for first-time delinquents

• All youth are followed for up to 6 months post-discharge by SGS Reintegration Program.


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To not constantly innovate is a matter of social injustice


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As Professionals…

• Are we not called to innovate?

• Are we not called to create positive outcomes?

• If not us, then who?

• What is just?


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We Believe…

Innovation should be a part of a professional’s DNA


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Before De La Salle’sInnovations and After

Before 1680

• Teaching was mainly individual

• Literacy began with Latin

• Teachers were not trained

• Teaching writing was controlled by a guild

By 1792

• Simultaneous method of teaching was used

• Teaching was entirely in French

• Teachers were trained and supervised

• A particular style of handwriting was taught


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Before 1680

• The poor and the better off were seated separately

• Corporal punishment was widely used

• Teachers were not highly regarded and

had to be paid

After 1792

• Pupils took their places according to their scores on the last monthly test

• Corporal punishment was forbidden by the Brothers’ Rule of 1717

• The brotherhood had been formally approved by Pope Benedict the XIII


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Before 1860

• Progress was haphazard and uncertain

• Attendance was haphazard and not controlled

After 1792

• Monthly test wereheld and results communicated to parents

• Attendance was carefully monitoredso that students did not fall behind


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De La Salle Standardized andPut into Practice Many Methods Considered Standard Today• Instructing an entire class of pupils

simultaneously

• Use of the vernacular in the classroom

• Pioneered teacher training colleges

• Grouping students according to achievement

(Source: SJBDLS, His Life and Spirituality, Saint Mary’s Press)


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But to focus on them as an excuse is conveniently non-productive

We are not saying that there are not real obstacles to what we do.

(There are!)


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Real Obstacles in Our Work at SGS

• Youth come from neighborhoods in generational poverty and are subject to chronic trauma

• Males do not have fully developed brains until their mid-20s; mid-teens have brains that overestimate reward and underestimate risk and negative consequences

• These two factors combine to make fertile ground for delinquent behaviors


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What Are Your Real Obstacles to Achieving Better Outcomes?


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Number of SGS Graduates by Fiscal Year

57

8292 91

131

?

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

06/ 07 07/ 08 08/ 09 09/ 10 10/ 11 11/ 12


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Innovations

• Sanctuary grant

• Software for rapid accrual of credit

• Night school

• Population shift to older youth

• Year-round school day

• CTE—more investment by kids


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We believe that the only way forward is through innovation, and the only way to innovateis to follow the data.


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Why Is Innovation So Rare?

Are we just lazy by nature and happy to accept the status quo as the best we can do?


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What Gets in the Wayof Innovation?

• Presentism

• Rationalization

• Cognitive Dissonance


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Presentism

The concept has been around for centuries, but Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert in his book “Stumbling on Happiness,” describes it this way:

“Each of us is trapped in a place, a time or circumstance and our attempts to use our minds to transcend these boundaries are more often than not ineffective” (p.138).


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Because imagination and perception have to run in the same part of the brain. This “time-share” of parts of thebrain causes presentism.

Imagination cannot easily transcend the boundaries of the present. Why?


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(Gilbert, p.131)


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We believe we’re thinking outside the box only becausewe can’t see how big the box really is!


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Defense Mechanisms Are Unconscious

RATIONALIZATION: “The individual deals with emotional conflicts or internal or external stressors by concealing the true motivation of his or her own thoughts, feelings or actions through the elaboration of reassuring or self-serving but incorrect explanations.”

(Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders)


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Rationalization is considered to be at the “disavowal level” of ego defenses. “This level of defense is characterized by keeping unpleasant or unacceptable stressors, impulses, ideas or responsibility out of awareness with or without a misattribution of these to external causes.”

(DSM)


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Examples of Rationalization

• “Kids have immature brains; how can

we be expected to influence them to do better?”

• “We are doing the best we can considering where our youth are coming from.”

• “We are lucky we can keep a lid onthe school!”


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MICHAEL: I don't know anyone who could get through the day without two or three juicy rationalizations. They're more important than sex.

SAM: Ah, come on. Nothing's more important than sex.

MICHAEL: Oh yeah? Ever gone a week without a rationalization?


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AWOLS BY FISCAL YEAR

1717

2323

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

FY08 FY09 FY10 FY11 FY12

Returned Did Not Return

5134

27 26

78

60

40 40?


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Innovations

• Trauma-informed care

• Trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy

• CTE—more investment by kids

• “Predictable unpredictability’ of AWOLS: timing, vigilance, monitoring, policy changes, etc.


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Cognitive Dissonance

Is defined as an uncomfortable feeling caused by holding conflicting ideas simultaneously. The theory of cognitive dissonance proposes that people have a motivational drive to reduce dissonance. They do this by changing their attitudes, beliefs and actions. Dissonance is also reduced by justifying, blaming and denying.


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Cognitive Dissonance

Attempts to reduce cognitive dissonance typically follow this pattern: one desires something, finds it unattainable, and reduces one's dissonance by criticizing it.

This pattern is known as“adaptive preference formation.”


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A classical example of this idea (and the origin of the expression "sour grapes") is expressed in the fable “The Fox and the Grapes” by Aesop (ca. 620–564 BCE). In the

story, a fox sees some high-hanging grapes and wishes to eat them. When the fox is unable to think of a way to

reach them, he surmises that the grapes are probably not worth eating, as they must not be ripe or that they are

sour.


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How Have We Diminished Our Goals?

• “Even if our kids get a diploma, they won’t get a job. What’s the big deal?”

• “I provide the kids with a safe environment. If they get re-arrested, there’s not much I can do about it.”


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So, what do you currently measure, and what outcomes are you getting?

• Are your outcomes the best you can expect?

• How do you know?

• What could be holding you back from achieving even better outcomes?


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Burning Platform Story


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Cell Phones

Please take out your cell phones!


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Cell Phones

• 2008Apple had a 25% share of $300+ phones

• 201061% share


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How did we get to this point?Why did we fall behind when the

world around us evolved?


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NOKIA’s CEO’s Answer:

“We haven’t been delivering innovation

fast enough.”


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Reason for Discharge (% Age)

0

4

42

0

29

17

36

8

36

15

22

005

1015

2025

3035

4045

AWOL/ Truancy Arrest ProbationViolation

ProgramInfraction

Br. Rosseau DelSit DelVoc


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Innovations

• At Brother Rousseau, we are adding another social worker.

• At DelSit, we have added one AmeriCorps volunteer and one Lasallian volunteer who will provide more frequent relational supervision.

• At DelVoc, we funded a summer internship and will be funding a winter internship to supplement a jobs training grant that we received.


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Number of SGS Graduates by Fiscal Year

57

8292 91

131

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

06/ 07 07/ 08 08/ 09 09/ 10 10/ 11 11/ 12 @ 6months

56


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AWOLS BY FISCAL YEAR

1717

2323

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

FY08 FY09 FY10 FY11 FY12 @6 months

Returned Did Not Return

5134

27 26248

78

60

40

4032


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Reaction by the Organization: Barriers to Change

• Disbelief: “It’s a fluke!”

• Denial: “We are OK!”

• Displacement: “It’s not our fault!”


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Reaction in the Community:

• Youth having a difficult time with self-regulation/emotional managements

• Staff having a difficult time managing youth: parallel processes

• Leadership pulled to use old methods to get back on track: e.g., evaluating each individual incident without defining the themes/big picture


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The Sanctuary Model:We Needed to Use the Tools

• We started asking ourselves: “What is happening?”

• Began using Staff Meetings, Town Halls, Red Flags


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The Sanctuary Model:We Needed to Use the Tools

Began to use S.E.L.F. as the Framework to discuss issues:

•What are the safety issues?

•Where are/who is struggling with emotional management?

•What losses are we experiencing?

•What are our hope and challenges for the future?


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What’s Changed?

We now have the trauma-informed framework to process issues and solve problems.


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What We Discovered When We Asked Ourselves “What Happened?”• Difficulty with a judge: loss of confidence

• Key staff person fired: Loss of trust

• Loss of talented veteran teachers: several retired

• Many brand new teachers

• Went to full-day summer school: traditional summer programming changed

• Closed CBDS/opened new fraternity


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What We Discovered When We Asked Ourselves “What Happened?”

• Core team stopped meeting in late Summer and did not meet in the Fall

• Forced to change our calendar; fewer home visits (in conflict with our mission)

• Forced to change traditions; no more off-campus trips for youth/incentive loss

• Clinic and youth care staffing down: people stretched

• Youth challenging staff in ways never done before; increased “gang-like “ connections, bold behavior, K2


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What Actions Are We Taking To Prevent AWOLS and Engage Youth?Increase overall physical safety

•Increased cameras and lights in the parking lots

•Tightened up movement in the building

•Conducted fraternity searches

•Brought in more staff temporarily to help with challenging youth in the school area


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Increased Emotional Safety

• Work at preventing AWOLS

• Clinical therapists work to explore“push and pulls” to possible AWOL


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Other Strategies

• All departments and all levels of the organization meeting together to workon specific issues identified in the Team Meetings

• Work with other Sanctuary-certified agencies to honestly discuss AWOL challenges

• Share and develop best-practice standards to address prevention, management and post-AWOLdebriefing


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Has it Worked?

• In process now…we’ll see what is helpful

• Looking at solutions through a Trauma- Informed lens

• Sanctuary does not tell you how to solve your problems…it provides a model to work through issues

• We will evaluate through data to see if we are on the right track


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• As professionals, we believe we are compelled to innovate.

• Innovation does not come naturally—actually accepting current outcomes as the best we can do is natural.

• Collecting data and mulling over what it is indicating will encourage you to try new things and spur innovation.

• Innovation is the just thing to do.

Takeaways


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Innovation is the just thing to do!

TAKEAWAYS

PCCYFS 2012 Annual Spring Conference The Pursuit of Positive Outcomes and the Obstacles to Change...

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