The Institute on Disabilities (IOD) at Temple University, Pennsylvania's University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD) in partnership with the Racial Empowerment Collaborative (REC) at the University of Pennsylvania completed an innovative intervention and community training project that brought awareness to and addressed the reality that race and disability are salient factors in the continuation of the school-to-prison pipeline. The school-to-prison pipeline describes the process through which children of color are pathologized, criminalized, and pushed out of their communities and schools into disciplinary schools, detention centers, jails, and prisons. While the school-to-prison pipeline is often described as a single force operating in isolation, it is important to understand how many factors contribute to the unfortunate success of this machine.

To better understand these multiple factors the Institute on Disabilites has made available to the public two asynchronous and accessible digital trainings that can be viewed at the IOD's website. Training materials include accessible audiovisual recordings of facilitators leading the trainings, a downloadable version of the training Powerpoint, and a resource guide with over 50 online sources for further learning. Both trainings are designed for school, community, juvenile justice, judicial system, social work, and law enforcement professionals. We encourage anyone interested in learning about the connections between racism and ableism to participate in these trainings and review the resource materials.

Project Facilitors

• Shawn Aleong, Legal Studies Major at Temple University
• Dr. Sally Gould-Taylor, Interim Executive Director at the Institute on Disabilities at Temple University
• Stormy Kelsey, Media and Communications Coordinator at Temple University Community Collaborative
• Mazzii Ingram, Senior Producer at POPPYN

Training Content Warning from Sally Gould-Taylor, Interim Executive Director, Institute on Disabilities at Temple University

As you participate in this virtual training about racism, ableism, and the school-to-prison pipeline, I encourage you to allow yourself time and space to process the heavy topics, disturbing historical events and video clips, and personal stories shared by the trainers. You may pause, stop, restart, and rewind the modules at any point.

Training 1: Building a Foundational Knowledge Base

Training 1 Introduction

Through this training you will gain foundational knowledge, build awareness, and deepen your understanding of race, racism, disability and ableism and the school-to-prison pipeline. Specifically, you will learn how racism and ableism are intrinsically linked historically and today. The training also provides background on how eugenics and marginalization have historically contributed to the exclusion of individuals with disabilities and people of color from society. As you complete the training you will also make connections between training topics and current events such as Covid-19 related healthcare rationing and ongoing conversations about police reform.

Watch Training 1 Introduction

Training 1 Topics

• NEXT: Topic 1: What do race and disability have to do with one another
• Topic 2: History of Racism, Ableism, Eugenics and Marginalization
• Topic 3: Race and Disability Based Institutionalization
• Topic 4: Racism, Ableism, and the School-to-Prison Pipeline
• Topic 5: Dismantling the School-to-Prison Pipeline in Philadelphia
• Topic 6: How can you take action?

Training 2: Moving from Awareness to Action

Training 2 Introduction

Training 2 builds upon Training 1. Participation in Training 1 is not required to participate in Training 2. In this training you will learn about techniques to identify and reduce stressors in face-to-face interactions, hear stories from the facilitators lived experiences with racism and ableism, and you will receive guidance on how to construct your own stories for social change.

Watch Training 2 Introduction

Training 2 Topics

• NEXT: Topic 1: Brief Review of Training 1
• Topic 2: Race and Disability Stress in Everyday Life
• Topic 3: Storytelling for Social Change
• Topic 4: Our Stories of Racism, Ableism, and the School-to-Prison Pipeline
• Topic 5: Crafting your Story for Social Change

Training Materials

• Training 1 Slides (Google Docs)
• Training 2 Slides (Google Docs)
• Additional Resource Document (Google Docs)

Funding

This project, School to Prison Pipeline, is supported in part by a grant from the Pennsylvania Developmental Disabilities Council, through grant number 1801PABSDD, from the U.S. Administration for Community Living, Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, D.C. 20201. Grantees undertaking projects with government sponsorship are encouraged to express freely their findings and conclusions. Points of view or opinions do not, therefore, necessarily represent official ACL policy.

Contact

General questions about the Deconstructing Racism trainings: [click-for-email]
General information about the Institute on Disabilities: [click-for-email]

Individual facilitators:
Sally Gould-Taylor - [click-for-email]
Shawn Aleong - [click-for-email]
Stormy Kelsey - [click-for-email]
Mazzii Ingram - [click-for-email]