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Health Equity, School Discipline Reform, and Restorative Justice
Thalia González1, Alexis Etow1, Cesar De La Vega1
1Thalia González, J.D., is a senior scholar at Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C., where she leads the Center on Poverty and Inequality's national research on restorative justice. Thalia's work centers on issues at the intersection of restorative approaches, public systems, and reducing inequity in youth outcomes. Thalia earned her B.A. from Arizona State University in Tempe, AZ, and received her J.D. from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law in Chicago, IL. Alexis Etow, J.D., is a senior attorney at ChangeLab Solutions, a national public health nonprofit organization based out of Oakland, CA. At ChangeLab, Alexis focuses on d eveloping legal and policy strategies that address issues related to the intersection of education and health. Alexis earned her B.A. from Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey, and received her J.D. from Washington College of Law at American University in Washington, D.C. Cesar De La Vega, J.D., is a policy analyst at ChangeLab Solutions, a national public health nonprofit organization based out of Oakland, CA. At ChangeLab, Cesar focuses on schools and child health, violence prevention, healthy housing, and shaping the built environment to promote health equity. Cesar earned his B.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles in Los Angeles, CA, and received his J.D. from Stanford Law School in Stanford, CA.
Abstract:
Every day, students from marginalized communities disproportionately face adversity and trauma. It is well documented that exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) can impact children's ability to focus, learn, and even regulate their emotions. Many schools, rather than providing multi-tiered systems of support to address the root causes of behavior, place these students at greater risk of experiencing health disparities through the use of exclusionary school discipline (ESD) practices. ESDs not only deny students important educational opportunities, but also can compound existing social, economic, and health inequities. Thus, ESD practices must be understood as more than simply impacting what happens in the classroom. Instead, they should be conceptualized as public health policies with far-reaching impacts on a child's lifelong health and well-being. Even though school discipline has largely been overlooked by the public health community, current reform efforts are one aspect of a holistic health justice framework. This article seeks to begin to bridge current gaps in the literature and public discourse by identifying key linkages between ESD practices and health. It then presents evidence-based design principles to ensure education policy is aligned with a health justice framework. And finally, it explores a specific school-based intervention, restorative justice.
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