Transcription of Sheila Nee for the show Tales of Tragedy & Triumph, #111
Dr. Lisa: This show is about tales of tragedy and triumph. We thought it would be good to link back up with Sheila Nee, who’s the Associate Director of Lives in the Balance to talk about something that we think is really important and that is making tales or bringing tales from the area of tragedy into triumph. Sheila is going to talk to us about a really exciting new event, something that she and Dr. Ross Greene have been working on for the past a little while, something that’s really important to have here in Maine, so thanks for coming in.
Sheila: Thank you for having me Dr. Lisa. I’m happy to represent our nonprofit, Live in the Balance, from just across the way on Exchange Street. I have been fortunate to work with Dr. Greene for the last year when I was hired last autumn, we were easing into the second annual international summit, so this past year I’ve been much more immersed in the planning and the logistics of this year’s events, which does have a long name because we’re covering a lot of topics that day and it’s going to be a very exciting, innovative event for Portland, Maine.
Dr. Lisa: What is the name?
Sheila: Lives in the Balance Third Annual International Summit on non-adversarial, non-punitive interventions for at risk kids there is a better way.
Dr. Lisa: We are very interested in education as you know. We’ve had a profile in Maine magazine on Dr. Ross Greene. We’ve had people recently talk with us about charter schools, education, health, and I’m also personally interested in the prison system because I did work as a medical director in the jail. Why is it so important that you try to help kids understand ways to change their lives so that they don’t need to keep going back into that system?
Sheila: It is critical work and what our goal is to reach the parents, educators, and other caregivers of children at risk who are the children with social, emotional, and behavioral challenges much earlier in their lives before their making decisions perhaps in their teenage years that alter their past.
Ideally when parents are struggling with a child who has challenges beyond their toolbox let’s say, that’s an ideal time to know there are resources out there to help guide them in their parenting and perhaps introduce some ideas to that child’s school system. That also becomes a comfortable community because the pipeline begins early on and if the child is given a place of comfort in that school system, a sense of belonging feels like they are on the right path and really a part of that community, they will likely stay in school.
Earlier resources is key or when that child is veering off a path knowing where to turn for help for those caregivers.
Dr. Lisa: That sounds like you’re trying to help not only the child, the student but the parents, the teachers, the people who work with that student to help change the story, to help change the direction of where they might be going.
Sheila: Absolutely, and I believe the role of a teacher is one of the hardest jobs there is and when you have this community where each child is different and you’re trying to meet all these needs, it can be difficult, so there are tools to help create a setting in the classroom where the children who formally would have been placed out of the room or sometimes leading to a placement outside that school community with certain interventions in place, the teacher finds a way to keep that child comfortable in the classroom continuing his or her education of the whole population.
Dr. Lisa: I know that there are some good statistics out there that show that the work that you’re doing is important.
Sheila: There are and what’s exciting for me when I joined Dr. Greene about a year ago was I just really began learning more about the impact of his work in Maine. I’ve been familiar with his work for years through his first book, The Explosive Child, the statistic that stays with me I think is the critical one for our State and one that we’re proud of.
Within our juvenile correctional facilities about eight years ago, the number of children leaving Long Creek and Mountain View and returning was at our nation’s worst. We were the highest in the nation and it was at 65%.
With the support of the Maine Juvenile Justice Advisory Group, the JJAG led by Barry Stoodley who is our board member and the former Associate Commissioner for Corrections, with the work of Dr. Ross Greene and a whole change within the system. This whole line staff had to embrace this model and a new way of thinking about the children and treatment of the children, the statistics are now at 15%.
Dr. Lisa: You’ve gone from 65% to 15%?
Sheila: Yes.
Dr. Lisa: Sheila, this summit is coming up on November 8, who are you hoping is going to attend?
Sheila: We are inviting parents, educators and all caregivers of children with behavioral challenges and we are open to people within the school systems who are from superintendents and principals, educators, school nurses, school psychologists. We’ve heard from a great deal of parents in the community who are very excited about this event and we are continuing to hear from people throughout mostly New England. I know Dr. Greene speaks around the world and there are people from Canada and Sweden also hoping to attend our summit.
Dr. Lisa: Sheila, what’s the goal of this summit?
Sheila: The goal of this summit as dedicated as Lives in the Balance is to Dr. Ross Greene’s motto, we believe that coming together with other interventions and working as a collective voice on behalf of children at risk will help move this work further along and we also are encouraging participants to advocate on behalf of these children in their own home communities.
Dr. Lisa: Sheila, how can people find out about this summit and about Lives in the Balance?
Sheila: Lives in the Balance has a website that is full of resources for a parent and caregivers livesinthebalance.org.
Dr. Lisa: Sheila, thank you for the work that you’re doing putting this summit together on November and we encourage all of our listeners who have an interest in this area to look you up on your website. We’ve been speaking with Sheila Nee, the Associate Director of Lives in the Balance, and we hope everybody gets a chance to meet you at your upcoming event.
Sheila: Thank you very much Dr. Lisa, thanks for your time.