SchoolWorks Successes
2013
Kristin Hajny, LCSW, is one of our SchoolWorks advocates. She
represented two sisters, "Lisa and Andrea," who
had been in foster care since 2006. Their parents struggle
with alcohol and other substance abuse. Visits are very stressful
for the girls, but they live with a family friend who provides
stability for them.
Lisa and Andrea are students in east Multnomah County, Oregon.
Lisa was eligible for special education and had an Individual
Education Program (IEP) in middle school but was re-evaluated for
special education and was found ineligible by her school at the
beginning of eighth grade. Lisa struggled with depression and
anxiety, and her grades plummeted. Her academic struggles continued
into high school.
Kristin Hajny and the DHS case worker requested a meeting
with the school to discuss the possibility of having Lisa
re-qualified for Special Education. Unfortunately, it took three
meetings before a Special Education teacher was present. The
school psychologist and special ed. case manager also began
attending meetings.
Kristin met a great deal of resistance from the psychologist and
case manager. They accused Lisa of being capable of succeeding in
school and blamed her struggles on a lack of effort. They did not
seem to consider her depression and anxiety, nor her family
situation. There was also a lot of commotion around the house due
to the other children living there, making it difficult for Lisa to
focus on her schoolwork. She and her sister attempted study at the
library instead of at home, but it was impossible for Lisa to
finish everything during the time she could spend at the
library.
Kristin asked Lisa what was helpful about being in special
education. Lisa responded by saying that having a case manager to
help with organization, prioritization, and study skills by having
meetings on a weekly or sometimes even daily basis was
invaluable.
One day Lisa was caught coming onto campus with a knife in her
bag. She explained that she had to go somewhere by herself the
previous day and didn't feel safe, so she brought the knife with
her. The school began the process to expel Lisa from school for
possessing a knife.[1] Due to Lisa's
anxiety over this possible expulsion, she became suicidal and was
hospitalized. Unfortunately, this is what it took to finally
convince the school officials that her anxiety was
significant. Kristin worked with SchoolWorks attorney Brian
Baker to represent Lisa at the expulsion hearing. They
established that Lisa's behavior was a manifestation of her
disability, and the expulsion was dismissed. The school also
re-evaluated Lisa and finally put her on a new Individual Education
Program.
Within weeks of finding a new case manager that Lisa liked and
felt comfortable with, she was already doing much better in school.
She was more responsive, doing all of her work, and attributed this
drastic improvement to feeling like her case manager cared about
her and wanted her to succeed. Without Kristin to advocate on
Lisa's behalf to be re-evaluated and re-admitted to Special
Education, she would not have had this support from her case
manager. In the bimonthly meetings held at the school as a result
of having an IEP, Lisa's teachers encouraged her by telling her how
much she has improved and that she is doing extremely well. Without
the support provided by her SchoolWorks advocate, Lisa would not
have had this chance to stay in school and resume the success she
had experienced previously.
While she was faring better, Lisa's older sister Andrea was
significantly behind on high school credits. Kristin helped
her to access credit retrieval support through her school, and
Andrea graduated high school in June!
[1] Under current Oregon law,
cases like these are automatically referred for expulsion, however,
this will change in 2014, as a result of HB 2192, which was written
by Youth, Rights & Justice!
2012
"Juan" was a 5th grader last year when the
SchoolWorks program first came to assist him. He was normally
a good student and liked to learn -- the kind of student that
teachers enjoy having in their classes. He was receiving help for a
learning disability. He has been living in foster care with his
grandmother. Juan's mother battles drug addiction, and may
disappear for months at a time.
When she is not around, Juan misses his mother and becomes very
concerned about her. Juan's teacher became concerned about him and
referred him to the mental health counselor at his school. While
there were many warning signs witnessed by adults at his school,
there had been very little communication among them, and their
response was slow. He wrote statements about harming himself in his
journal. One day, he brought a tool with a sharp point that he
found in his garage to school with him - something that boys his
age do. Another boy reported that Juan talked about harming others.
The school immediately suspended Juan and started the process to
expel him.
Through the course of investigation and at the expulsion hearing
itself, Juan's SchoolWorks attorney, Brian Baker, discovered that
Juan had unmet mental health needs and that the school had been
aware of these problems for some time. But very little had been
done so far. He had only seen a counselor twice before he was
suspended. And he would not continue seeing her as long as he
was excluded from school.
Juan's attorney argued that he should be assessed for an
emotional disability, in addition to his learning disability. Not
only would this explain his behavior, but it would also likely
protect him from being expelled. Everyone agreed that Juan should
attend a local alternative school while the additional assessment
was done.
Not only was Juan found eligible for special education services,
which prevented his expulsion, but he also began doing much better
in the alternative school setting. In planning for Juan's
transition to middle school, his attorney advocated for Juan to
return to his neighborhood school. When his depression is being
managed and treated, Juan is a bright and engaged student, and it
was important to him to return to school with his peers. Juan
started middle school this year, and he is thriving. He is earning
As and Bs in all of his classes and likes to recite poetry.
When Mary Kane, his YRJ attorney who represents him in court,
visited Juan September, he recited this poem, by Shel Silverstein,
to her:
If you are a bird, be an early
bird
And catch the worm for your
breakfast plate.
If you are a bird, be an early,
early bird
But if you are a worm, sleep
late.
Brian Baker just attended Juan's annual IEP review in
December. His teachers described him as a "rock star." He is
nothing like the student they read about in his records. He
has someone to talk to each morning and afternoon. He is no
longer the student who was anxious, depressed and disengaged.
According to Brian, "He has found his place, his voice and
community. He loves poetry and wrestling and works on reading at
home with grandmother. He is all business and loves middle
school."
2011
"Annie's story"
Hi, I'm Annie. I've been in foster care for seven
years. My attorney, Lynn, has been my advocate the whole
time. I've had a rough time and lived in 24 different
foster homes. My life wasn't very stable even before I was in
foster care. My dad left me with a neighbor, and she took care of
me for more than a year.
I've gone to 9 different schools. I didn't attend the same
school for an entire year until the 6th
grade. Lynn made sure that I stayed at that school for the
7th and 8th grades, too, even though I moved
foster homes at least six times while I was there. Lynn had
to go back to court one time because DHS wasn't obeying the judge's
order that said I could stay. That was the best time in my life.
I had really good grades and I was a teacher's
aide.
While the rest of my life continues to be up and down, I've
stayed in school and still get good grades. I'm a high school
senior now. I'm not sure what I want to do
yet. I like both art and medicine, and I plan to go to college
next year after I graduate. Through all of the
foster parents, case workers and other adults who have changed,
Lynn has been the one I could count on. She helped make
it possible for me to do well in school.
"Owen's story"
Hi, I'm Owen. I have this thing called ADHD. It
makes school harder for me. In middle school I got extra
help, which made it easier. But when I went to high school,
they said I couldn't get extra help anymore. My parents tried
to get them to keep me in special ed., but my school wouldn't
do it. My parents didn't have any insurance then either, so I
couldn't get my medicine for a while. Things got bad after
that. I got in a lot of trouble at school, and even got
arrested.
I don't like telling people I'm in special education, but it
really helps me. After I was arrested, I got two lawyers -
one for court and one to help me with school . One of my
lawyers, Brian, went to the school and had them test me again. They
didn't listen to my parents, but they listened to Brian! He
knew what to say to my teachers.
My parents and me had to move before the testing
was finished, so I had to transfer to a new school. Brian
got my new school to finish the testing, and I got back into
special education. My mom and dad were amazed cuz it
only took Brian like a week to get my new school to
do everything.
I have my medication again and my school helps me get
my work done. I'm not getting in trouble like I was
for a while, and I'm almost finished with my probation,
too. Getting in trouble wasn't the best way to get
help, but we got Brian, who helped make things right
again.
"Eddie's story"
My name is Eddie. I've had a hard time in
school. Moving around just made it worse. I went to four
different schools in two years. When they put me in a
"special" school, I didn't like it, so I stopped going. My
parents are immigrants who don't speak much English. They
didn't know how to help me. I got some help from my lawyer,
Whitney, last year, when I was getting expelled after another kid
started hitting me and I fought back. She represented me at
the
hearing, and I got to stay in school.
I called Whitney for help again because I wanted to go to
school, just not the last one they put me in. She called and
got me back into my neighborhood school. I couldn't believe
it!
They were supposed to call me, but when they didn't, I went and
registered myself anyway. It was great. Now that I'm in
a regular school, I have the chance to play football again, too.
Whitney helped me get back into school twice, and she helped me
start counseling so that I could deal with my problems, too.
"Kenny" is a 12 year-old who began 6th grade
this past fall at a new school. Kenny is a student with a
disability and on an Individual Education Program (IEP) for a
psychiatric condition, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
(ADHD). Even though he arrived at the school with a current
IEP that included special instruction in the core academic areas of
math, reading and writing, the new school did not provide him any
of the services or accommodations he was supposed to receive.
The school, in fact, did not even have a special education teacher
for the 6-8 grades.
Kenny was at least three grades behind academically, but he was
placed in regular classes with no support. When his foster
mother realized Kenny was struggling in school, unable to do his
homework and becoming reluctant to even go to school, she
called the SchoolWorks program for help. She knew that
SchoolWorks could help because it had helped other foster children
in her home before. A meeting with the school was requested
and the information about the lack of educational support for Kenny
came out. Kenny's SchoolWorks attorney worked with the school
to get Kenny's schedule modified and to obtain more support and
instruction at his academic level until a special education teacher
was assigned to their school. She then approached the school
district with a request for compensatory education to provide the
instruction Kenny had not been provided earlier in the school
year. Kenny's attorney negotiated additional services
from the district to help make up for the support he had not
received.
2010
"Ralph" is in foster care and in the process of
being adopted, but his adoptive mother had been struggling to get
his school to provide an appropriate education for him. Ralph
has a history of many behavior problems, and his school had
relegated him to spending his days in a small room, removed from
other classmates. He saw his teacher for only brief instances
each day. Most of
the day, he had an aide watching over him.
For Ralph, this was a recipe for failure. He became easily
frustrated. The school was also physically restraining Ralph
unnecessarily and in ways that violated state policies, adding to
Ralph's toxic experience at school. This pattern repeated
over a period of months. SchoolWorks became involved and
demanded that the school come up with a better plan for
Ralph. The district agreed to obtain training for its staff
in Collaborative Problem Solving. Ralph's SchoolWorks
attorney also persuaded the school to use physical restraints only
in instances where Ralph's behavior might pose a risk to his safety
or the safety of others and to implement a behavior plan that
focuses on positive interactions and incentives.
After the plan was implemented, the use of physical
interventions with Ralph dropped by 93%. His attorney also
convinced the school to allow Ralph to spend part of the day in a
special education classroom with other students. While the
school staff feared that this would have disastrous results,
instead Ralph thrived in his new class. By the end of the
school year, Ralph was successfully attending classes with other
students and the school plans to continue to transition Ralph to
more mainstream classes in the fall.