Montana

2016 SJP Montana Team

Contacts:

Dave Bailon, Vice-Chairman of The Montana Youth Justice Advisory Council, Youth Justice Volunteer Center for Restorative Youth Justice

Kate Berry, Restorative Justice Practitioner & Student Advocate, Center for Restorative Youth Justice

Cassi Carr, Deputy Juvenile Probation Officer & School Liaison, Judicial District 11, State of Montana

Cory Clarke, Police Officer/School Resource Officer, City of Kalispell

Mark Flatau, Superintendent, Kalispell Public Schools

Shareen Springer, Executive Director, Center for Restorative Youth Justice *Note: Shareen is no longer involved with the Capstone Project.

Nicolle Roth, Social Worker, School District 5

Lisa Wolfe, School Counselor, Kalispell School District

Capstone Description:

To reduce the transfer of youth to the juvenile justice system for school-based offenses by conducting detailed assessment to identify current trends, establishing standardized disciplinary procedures that incorporate trauma sensitive and culturally appropriate interventions, developing a Strategic Planning Document, and launching a pilot program focused on targeted behavioral interventions. 

Capstone Update (2024):

The Flathead County Team remains grounded in an enduring referral process between Youth Court Services, city/county law enforcement, local school districts, statewide partners, and the Center for Restorative Youth Justice (CRYJ) to divert youth to community-based programs. Their original Capstone began as a pilot project at one Kalispell high school for first-time drug and alcohol offenses, but has since expanded to include all first-time misdemeanor/status offenses at all three Kalispell high schools, another local high school, and four local middle schools. 

In addition, school administrators can directly refer youth with non-delinquent offenses to CRYJ, and a coordinated reintegration meeting occurs between youth and their referring party upon CRYJ completion. Other jurisdictions in Montana have reached out to the team in hopes to mirror their program as well as for guidance on forming school-justice partnerships more generally. In 2025, CRYJ plans to offer services in Missoula, MT as a pilot for scaled program replication.

In 2023, referrals to the SJP program made up 43% of all youth court referrals, and youth in the SJP program had a recidivism rate of 10% as compared to a recidivism rate of 23% for all Flathead County youth. The number of Kalispell youth receiving out-of-school suspensions has decreased from 208 youth in 2017 to 82 youth in 2023.