PBIS at DJJ: Eastman RYDC Summer Splash Day

Photos and information provided by Elizabeth Floyd of the Eastman RYDC

The Eastman Regional Youth Detention Center (RYDC) recently held their first water-soluble athletic reward activity they call ‘Summer Splash Day’.  This refreshing outdoor activity was offered as a part of DJJ’s Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) program. Youth who were enrolled in the facility’s ‘Peace Keeper’ program for a significant period of time were eligible to participate in the Summer Splash Day if they were incident-free and had no special incident reports or redirections.  As a reward for youth who met the required behavioral criteria, the DJJ Eastman Team provided them with pizza and popsicle snacks and assembled an improvised water park complete with an 18-foot water slide, a slippery tug of war, and water balloons. The DJJ Team and youth enjoyed the opportunity to cool down and make new friendships in the hot weather.

PBIS is an evidence-based, data-driven framework proven to reduce disciplinary incidents, increase a school’s sense of safety and support improved academic outcomes. More than 23,000 U.S. schools are implementing PBIS and saving countless instructional hours otherwise lost to discipline. The premise of PBIS is that continual teaching, combined with acknowledgement or feedback of positive over-the-counter student behavior, will reduce unnecessary discipline and promote a climate of greater productivity, safety and learning. PBIS schools apply a multi-tiered approach to prevention, using disciplinary data and principles of behavior analysis to develop school-wide, targeted and individualized interventions and supports to improve the school environment for all students.