1. Ames Simmons Director of Transgender Policy
Intersectional Justice in Practice: Legislative Response to School Push-Out
Ames Simmons
Director of Transgender Policy

2. Framework
Three main legislative pushes during NCGA session that have the potential to affect LGBTQ justice-involved youth
Framework of pathways to school discipline identified by GLSEN’s 2016 Drop Out/Push Out report
Discriminatory school policies & practices
Youth with non-apparent disabilities
Punitive response to victimization

3. Discriminatory School Policy
LGBTQ youth who experienced discriminatory policies and practices at school experienced higher rates of school discipline
Example: LGBTQ students unwillingly required to use bathroom or locker room of their “legal sex”
NC School Climate Report: 59% of trans students in NC

4. HB142 Legislation that repealed HB2, but just differently bad
Forbids cities or schools from protecting trans youth in accessing facilities
Health impact assessment underway currently to gauge the effects of these laws and their media portrayal on LGBTQ people

5. Youth with Disabilities
Youth with non-apparent disabilities are at greater risk to become enmeshed in school-to-prison pipeline
43% of NC high school students seriously considered suicide past 12 months (2017 YRBS)

6. HB986
Education bill that requires creation of professional development content standards for:
Youth mental health
Suicide prevention
Substance use
Sexual abuse prevention
Sex trafficking prevention

7. HB986: Limitations
Implementation is not required, only availability of model policy
No specific provisions for marginalized populations of youth such as LGBTQ youth
Sex trafficking provisions often end up criminalizing LGBTQ youth experiencing homelessness

8. Punitive Response to Victimization
Students with higher levels of victimization are subject to higher rates of school discipline than those with lower levels.
LGBQ youth in NC are twice as likely to be bullied on school property and to be electronically bullied during past 12 months (2017 YRBS)

9. Raise the Age SB257 budget bill Juvenile Justice Reinvestment Act
Increases the age of juvenile jurisdiction from 16 to 18 except for certain felonies
Creation of model policies and procedures to establish school-justice partnerships between law enforcement, boards of education, and schools

10. Raise the Age
School-justice partnerships model “graduated responses” that limit school resource officer involvement
System-wide improvements in programming:
Restorative justice programming such as restitution, especially programs that offer vocational skill building and job shadowing tracks to help repay restitution balances
Diversion programs such as teen courts and mediation
Early intervention programs such as SNAP (Stop Now And Plan), cognitive-behavioral program teaching impulse control skills

11. Raise the Age: Limitations
No specific provisions for marginalized populations of youth such as LGBTQ youth
Continues presence of police in schools

12. Questions?