Statement of Need
The Delaware Department of Education has legislated that School Districts within the state be allowed to “provide alternative educational and related services for the more severe discipline problems in the public schools.” These alternative and/or related services (Home Bound Instruction) may come in the form of supportive instruction for students who are ill, hospitalized for various reasons, serving a suspension or expulsion, or otherwise unable to learn in a traditional school environment. These services are provided by school district employees and various contractors to meet the education needs of the students.
Home Bound Students are given instruction at home or in a community setting for a nominal period of time in respect to traditional instruction. The students are given this instruction in a more restrictive social environment. In this isolated instructional setting, the maladaptive behaviors which led to the Home Bound Placement (HBP) may never be addressed. A student may very well be in a HBP and return to the school setting with the same maladaptive behaviors the precipitated the placement and no transitioning. Why is HBP Necessary? HBP is a necessary aspect of public education in today’s society. The practice began to serve the children with special needs and was later and later used for other behavior related solutions. Students are removed from the regular school environment due to an inability to or due to involvement with Law Enforcement outside of the school setting, which may cause a danger to students and staff. School Administrators place students on HBP until the student is able to be placed in an alternative school or until the student is allowed to return to the home school. While student are on HBP the students are in many cases immersed in the environments that often breed the maladaptive behaviors with little or no supervision, character development, cognitive behavioral interventions and re-direction. Today’s trends in maladaptive behaviors, youth violence in particular, in Wilmington, Delaware call for a serious rethink of how we address issues with our children on all fronts. …show more content…
The rise of gang activity amongst adolescents in the Wilmington, Delaware area was sited in a 2012 audit of the Juvenile Systems of Delaware stating that, “A 2012 review of Delaware Juvenile Justice System conducted by Comprehensive Strategy Group brought attention to Gang-related violence, making the assessment and addressing of gang violence as one of the highest priority recommendations. This recommendation was supported in part by a 300% increase in gang members from 2009-2010. More recently there have been sweeping indictments of teens in Wilmington for gang involvement, violent crimes and other serious offenses, including murder. School environment unsafe, disrupting learning, There is no question that youth who are disruptive to the regular learning environment must be educated in non-traditional ways. It is the responsibility of the school administration to make sure that students, the majority of which are due not have behavioral issues, and staff are afforded a school environment conducive to educational instruction. Conversely, as educators and behavioral health practitioners we are charged with the task of providing a quality education to some of the most challenging students. We have a responsibility of ensuring that educational setting which we chose has the least negative impact on the child as possible. Many of the students placed on home-bound instruction are often students who suffer from disabilities and must survive dangerous home environments. Students who are on HBP are often left to their own devices during the day as most parents are at work. This leaves the student with much more unsupervised time to further engage in maladaptive behaviors, get involved in negative peer groups and to be steeped in the negative behaviors, attitudes and activities found in the neighborhood. Educational Goals …show more content…
Whereas a homebound student receives on average 5 hours per week with little to none of the supports afforded a student in the traditional school setting. The HBP educational instructor has the dual task of educating the most challenging students in the most challenging environment. Even in the best learning environment the students are still isolated which is contrary to best practices. Many behavioral issues arise from poor academic attainment and this can be compounded for a student if they fall behind during a HBP
The Delaware Department of Education has legislated that School Districts within the state be allowed to “provide alternative educational and related services for the more severe discipline problems in the public schools.” These alternative and/or related services (Home Bound Instruction) may come in the form of supportive instruction for students who are ill, hospitalized for various reasons, serving a suspension or expulsion, or otherwise unable to learn in a traditional school environment. These services are provided by school district employees and various contractors to meet the education needs of the students.
Home Bound Students are given instruction at home or in a community setting for a nominal period of time in respect to traditional instruction. The students are given this instruction in a more restrictive social environment. In this isolated instructional setting, the maladaptive behaviors which led to the Home Bound Placement (HBP) may never be addressed. A student may very well be in a HBP and return to the school setting with the same maladaptive behaviors the precipitated the placement and no transitioning. Why is HBP Necessary? HBP is a necessary aspect of public education in today’s society. The practice began to serve the children with special needs and was later and later used for other behavior related solutions. Students are removed from the regular school environment due to an inability to or due to involvement with Law Enforcement outside of the school setting, which may cause a danger to students and staff. School Administrators place students on HBP until the student is able to be placed in an alternative school or until the student is allowed to return to the home school. While student are on HBP the students are in many cases immersed in the environments that often breed the maladaptive behaviors with little or no supervision, character development, cognitive behavioral interventions and re-direction. Today’s trends in maladaptive behaviors, youth violence in particular, in Wilmington, Delaware call for a serious rethink of how we address issues with our children on all fronts. …show more content…
The rise of gang activity amongst adolescents in the Wilmington, Delaware area was sited in a 2012 audit of the Juvenile Systems of Delaware stating that, “A 2012 review of Delaware Juvenile Justice System conducted by Comprehensive Strategy Group brought attention to Gang-related violence, making the assessment and addressing of gang violence as one of the highest priority recommendations. This recommendation was supported in part by a 300% increase in gang members from 2009-2010. More recently there have been sweeping indictments of teens in Wilmington for gang involvement, violent crimes and other serious offenses, including murder. School environment unsafe, disrupting learning, There is no question that youth who are disruptive to the regular learning environment must be educated in non-traditional ways. It is the responsibility of the school administration to make sure that students, the majority of which are due not have behavioral issues, and staff are afforded a school environment conducive to educational instruction. Conversely, as educators and behavioral health practitioners we are charged with the task of providing a quality education to some of the most challenging students. We have a responsibility of ensuring that educational setting which we chose has the least negative impact on the child as possible. Many of the students placed on home-bound instruction are often students who suffer from disabilities and must survive dangerous home environments. Students who are on HBP are often left to their own devices during the day as most parents are at work. This leaves the student with much more unsupervised time to further engage in maladaptive behaviors, get involved in negative peer groups and to be steeped in the negative behaviors, attitudes and activities found in the neighborhood. Educational Goals …show more content…
Whereas a homebound student receives on average 5 hours per week with little to none of the supports afforded a student in the traditional school setting. The HBP educational instructor has the dual task of educating the most challenging students in the most challenging environment. Even in the best learning environment the students are still isolated which is contrary to best practices. Many behavioral issues arise from poor academic attainment and this can be compounded for a student if they fall behind during a HBP