Non-profit provides special education training in Sikeston to support at-risk youth

SIKESTON, Mo. (KBSI) – A non-profit program made a visit to southeast Missouri to focus on providing special education training, information, and support to at-risk youth.

Missouri Parents Act held training courses to inspire families and youth to advocate for their educational rights.

“Have we tried everything, have we exhausted every resource and support possible for that student,” said Nakatia Clay, mentor coordinator for Missouri Parents Act. “So that’s why we’re here to take a look at those things and see if we have done everything that we can do.”

Missouri Parents Act is a non-profit, federally funded parent training and information center that started in 1988.

“We were getting a lot of calls in this area from parents who were experiencing a lot of the same issues with their children’s discipline,” said Clay. “They were being suspended, expelled for minor discipline code of conduct violations.”

That is where the program’s training takes place. The course is called the Juvenile Justice Initiative. Clay says it is dedicated to challenging the school to prison pipeline.

“In this training, we talk about different strategies,” said Clay. “We talk about a functional behavior assessment. We talk about behavior intervention plans. We talk about just different strategies to use in the classroom. Even being trauma informed, culture awareness…how all of that can help us to rethink how we do disciple and keep our children in the classroom rather than expelling them and suspending them…putting them in alternative settings.”

That all supports families of justice-involved youth with disabilities, at-risk youth and also educators and professionals on ways to rethink how discipline is done.

Although the headquarters are based in Joplin, Missouri the group covers the entire state of Missouri.

“So we have a coordinator strategically placed in different parts of the state,” said Clay. “We broke it up by six regions.”

Not only do the trainings reach families where they are, they are also free.

“All you have to do is show up,” said Clay. “We just want to pour into you what’s been poured into is so that our youth can be more successful.”

Impact’s next training will be November 1 from 9-11 a.m. and November 6 from 9 a.m.-2 p.m.