This is a presentation on the last two school years that East Valley School District has participated with the Attendance and Re Engagement Network through ESD101 and the positive results of that work.

This presentation will begin by evaluating current practices, school culture, and management strategies to support youth's behavior in a trauma informed way to increase emotional resilience through brain development. Participants will be introduced to trauma-informed, evidenced based strategies that are effective in increasing resiliency when working with youth who exhibit challenging behaviors of disengagement. Participants will reflect by taking a deeper look at the actions of themselves, the youth, and other staff members, to be able to adjust their own behavior, systems, structures, and skills to meet the needs of youth. Youth who are impacted by trauma have a higher likelihood of experiencing this state of distress and disengagement. This session will familiarize participants with the dynamics of the Escalation Cycle, and how it negatively impacts both staff and student behavior.  Participants will be introduced to strategies for using knowledge of resiliency, trauma and disengagement to support youth with re-engagement practices within the school setting.

The Washington Assessment of the Risks and Needs of Students (WARNS) research team proposes two sessions for the 2024 Becca Conference. This first session (60 minutes) will provide an overview of the WARNS as an assessment tool designed to evaluate the risks and needs of students, providing crucial insights to diverse areas of student socio-emotional well-being.

Healthy staff are our most valuable resource for creating safe and supportive learning environments. This workshop will explore why individual and collective wellbeing are challenging and necessary skills. Participants will be introduced to the components of wellbeing and explore using the SELF-CARE acronym and Thriving Schools Staff Wellbeing Assessment as a way to strengthen the long-term wellbeing of staff.

How do we meaningfully engage and share power with young people with lived experience in systemic advocacy efforts (Hint: it goes beyond merely compensating young people for their time and expertise)? In this session, we will review the Center for Children & Youth Justice’s compilation and synthesis of model practices and policies for engaging individuals with lived expertise in reforming child welfare and juvenile justice systems. These models cover compensation, supports, preparation, staffing, and organizational assessments. We will then engage in interactive activities to critique and augment these model practices and policies, utilizing all participants’ knowledge and experience. Finally, we will strategize around scenarios to practice applying practices and policies..

The ongoing impacts of COVID, capitalism, systemic racism, and the climate crisis have brought attention to the trauma young people and our communities face. Together we’ll learn to harness brain science and restorative practices to support those who have been exposed trauma. Our session introduces foundational concepts like the ACEs study and Adlerian psychology to provide theory along with examining how power and equity shape our relationships. Encouragement vs praise, asking vs telling, and regulation strategies are some of the trauma-responsive skills adults will gain to maintain the dignity of all young people..

This workshop will provide an overview of the Leadership, Intervention, & Change (LINC) program that brings together a community-wide, multi-jurisdictional, and multi-disciplinary coordinated effort to reduce youth gang involvement and community violence in King County, Washington. LINC is a collaboration between regional communities and government systems. Based on the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) Comprehensive Gang Model (CGM), the LINC program uses a data-driven and evidence-based process and works with up to 200 young people annually who are involved with or at risk of involvement with gangs and/or violence. Presenters will review LINC program outcomes for youth/LINC clients. Outcomes are based on the youth’s individual intervention plans and goals in multiple areas, including a reduction in gang activity/association, improvement in academic performance, enrollment in school, improvement in school attendance, obtaining employment, attending work regularly, and connection to prosocial activities.

The second session (60 minutes) will transition into practical applications of the WARNS in a breakout discussion with a local, rural district partner. This session will be co-led by a Washington Educational Service District (ESD) Student Assistant Specialist who will share their experience implementing WARNS in a rural district context. The first 20 minutes will introduce how WARNS is embedded within the needs, policies, and activities of the local rural community. The remaining 40 minutes will be an interactive small group discussion co-facilitated by the district partner, focusing on how youth specialists are navigating the challenges and strategies in addressing chronic absenteeism and truancy within their school and community contexts. The sessions will conclude with each group presenting their key takeaways and insights, followed by an open floor for questions and answers (5 minutes).

We have created a solidified, cohesive and effective process around tier 3 attendance systems. We will share our story and positive data trends and how we went through several iterations to get to this system. We will share our system including documents for your adoption into your own attendance system. We are a small (1500 student) district in a smaller area with limited resources, but we have found an effective means of improving attendance district wide from 50.5% regular attendance to 74.73% and for ML students from 43.5 to 66.15%.

Learn the ins and outs of universal CSEC screening in King County Juvenile Court. We will share the why, the how, the results, and lessons learned.

Join us for an engaging and transformative workshop that delves into the complex power dynamics within the educational system and their broader societal implications. Through a lens of equity and implicit bias, we will investigate the social psychological theories of Alfred Adler and the role of mirror neurons in modeling behavior.

This session will provide participants an in-depth look at how motivational interviewing (MI) can be effectively used to address and improve school attendance among youth. This session will focus on the principles of MI, practical techniques, and real-world applications. Key themes and concepts of this session include understanding the what and how of MI, highlighting various factors that lead to attendance challenges, engaging young people through MI, and addressing ambivalence and resistance. Participants will walk away with an effective approach to understanding and addressing the complex factors behind poor attendance.

1. Understand the Eligibility Requirements: Attendees will be able to identify and explain the eligibility criteria for Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) classification. 2. Develop Knowledge of the State Court's Role: Attendees will learn how to help immigrant youth obtain the necessary SIJ order through state court proceedings including dependency, guardianship, juvenile offender matters, CHINS, ARY, and truancy. 3. Address Barriers in Accessing Benefits: Attendees will gain insights into the common barriers immigrant youth face in accessing public benefits such as medical care, housing assistance, and educational scholarships, and will be equipped with strategies to help overcome these barriers to support the youth's path to permanency in the United States.

"Responding to the Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking of Youth" training will provide information on the what, who, how, and why of Commercial Sexual Exploitation including a detailed discussion of identification and the “red flags.” This training will focus on victim engagement and interventions with a focus on King County’s Coordinated Response.

In this session, participants will explore an Attendance Improvement Toolkit, a powerful, field-tested, easy-to-use resource designed to help schools build effective Tier 1 attendance teams and make data-driven decisions to improve student attendance. This toolkit offers practical templates, universal strategies, and tools for data collection and action planning that can immediately be implemented to improve attendance rates. With a focus on real-world WA State schools and attendance systems improvement, participants will leave with actionable steps to engage their teams and communities in attendance improvement.