One Ohio School's Quest to Rethink Bad Behavior

In the wake of high-profile shootings, proposals such as banning assault weapons gain momentum. But there are solutions few national politicians are looking at that take a very different tack.

Assertive community treatment teams working through outreach-centered programs in Maricopa County have become an industry standard for treating those with persistent and severe mental illnesses who have recently been incarcerated. They provide a long-term approach, aiming to halt a cycle of incarceration and hospitalization by focusing on underlying issues such as what caused the police interaction and incarceration.

For many youth in India, illegal drugs are readily available, but rehab is socially stigmatized, government resources and information for narcotics are sparse, and there are few options for a user looking to get clean. A group of people in recovery in Sikkim has formed a football team as a means to recover, finding social support and exercise that is proven to aid in sustainable rehabilitation from drug use.

Peer to peer programs have existed since the 1980s. These programs pair up a person with mental health illness, with one another. The concept, is relatively new in the prison systems, and is gaining traction in states like Pennsylvania.

An innovative school and architectural endeavor in Denmark offers 16 years of lessons for the increasingly popular personalized learning movement. At the Hellerup School, students check in with their teachers at the beginning of the lesson and then disperse throughout the open-plan building to work where they are most productive. While the school has found the model highly rewarding, in recent years, Hellerup has grappled with how to build more group interactions into the intensely individualized curriculum.

Non-violent offenders arrested during mental health episodes in Davidson County are sent to Mental Health Court rather than criminal court. Through this court, they are connected to safety net services such as housing, medication assistance, and therapy.

Kansas City is trying to prevent people who have mental health or substance abuse disorders, from committing crimes. In order to do that, the city created a police crisis intervention team. They help people access treatment through the Kansas City Assessment and Triage Center, or other treatment centers. “Everything we do here is to really bridge them into whatever that long-term need is.” It’s too early to tell if the method is working, but police officers, judges, and addicts, argue it is. “It's amazing. It puts a smile on my face every day, and I have got a future coming.”

In several small rural towns in Texas, mental health professionals from Texas Tech are offering telemedicine counseling to make up for a lack of counselors available in local middle and high schools. The Governor's office has now asked the successful school districts to develop a training program for teachers in other Texas districts in order to scale the model.

With an influx of COVID relief money, the Russellville school district began hiring and certifying more local, Spanish-speaking staff to help teach English language learners. Districtwide, the percentage of students who met their language proficiency goals increased from 46% in 2019 to 61% in 2022.

To enhance rural access to healthcare in Nigeria, the Parkers Mobile Clinic partners with local volunteers, healthcare professionals, educators, and community development advocates to identify and remedy unique healthcare gaps. Outreach programs are then designed to provide localized mental health support, nutritional counseling, and other reproductive health services.