FASD and the School to Prison Pipeline

Photo Credit: http://www.hpjc.org/pipeline

Kudos to Broward County, Florida for making serious changes in school zero-tolerance policies that have been sending disproportionate numbers of racial minorities and special education students into the criminal justice system for non-violent misdemeanors.

FASD-affected students, with their lack of impulse control and judgement, are highly likely to make mistakes that make them candidates for needless incarceration.

The chart below illustrates the cost of criminalizing behavior that in the past would have been handled by the school:

Photo credit: http://ivn.us/2012/12/15/senate-committee-holds-hearing-on-school-to-prison-pipeline/

While the cost of incarceration to society is staggering, the cost to individuals can be devastating.

We must look instead at positive alternatives: generous funding of public education and after-school programs, restorative justice, and dismantling the school to prison pipeline across the nation.

Photo credit http://www.suspensionstories.com/school-to-prison-pipeline/