Episode 6 - Creating Safe Nurturing Environments that Engage Learners and Foster Thriving and Robust Learning

Making Supports and Opportunities Fit—and Work—for Young People

Hacer que los apoyos y las oportunidades se adapten a los jóvenes—y funcionen para ellos

Episode Six of the Knowledge Exchange (consisting of 13 parts) is a series devoted to a practical question: how can what we know about learning and development help us create the conditions in which every young person can learn deeply, experience wellbeing, and thrive?

Across this series, we move between broad ideas and the daily work of practice, asking what equity requires, how relationships and safety shape learning, and what the sciences of learning and development tell us about human potential. We keep one principle in view: knowledge becomes useful only when people can act on it and connect it to the young people, families, communities, and situations in front of them, in a way that respects and addresses them as whole people.

Episode Six takes on the next practical problem. Once we understand that young people differ in their strengths, needs, histories, relationships, and contexts, how do we organize supports so those differences are addressed? How do we keep a school, agency, or community from becoming a collection of disconnected programs? How do we prevent children and families from having to navigate a maze that professionals themselves have not aligned? And how do we make sure coordination is not something done to young people, but work undertaken with them and their families?

The conversations in this episode treat alignment as both relational and organizational. Alignment requires caring adults who stay long enough to earn trust. It requires an accurate understanding of behavior, culture, and context. It requires individualized plans without becoming isolated, and systems that coordinate without becoming rigid. And it requires people who use data to learn, share power, and change the plan rather than blame the child or family when the plan does not work.

We begin with Rey Saldaña, whose own experience as a young person gives this episode a human center. From there, Catherine Bradshaw and John Lochman help us understand why two children who look similar on the surface may need very different support. Eric Bruns takes us inside Wraparound, an approach built for young people with the most complex needs. Kwesi Rollins asks who really holds power in these arrangements. Catherine Bradshaw returns to show how a school builds the operating system that lets good approaches work together instead of competing. And Jane Quinn closes the episode with the community-school strategy: what it looks like when an entire school organizes itself around coherence rather than accumulating disconnected programs.

Please note the transcripts have been generated by AI and contain mismatches between the interview and the transcript.

Introduction and context setting – David Osher

Introduction to Episode 6: From Understanding Need to Organizing Support

De comprender las necesidades a organizar los apoyos

English Transcript From Understanding Need to Organizing Support

Spanish Transcript De comprender las necesidades a organizar los apoyos

Rey Saldaña (two parts): From Being Seen to Changing the System

De ser visto a cambiar el sistema

Interview A The Adult Who Stays

La persona adulta que permanece

Interview B Turning Trust into a Schoolwide Strategy

Convertir la confianza en una estrategia para toda la escuela

English Transcript for Part A The Adult Who Stays

English Transcript for Part B Turning Trust into a Schoolwide Strategy

Spanish Transcript for Part A La persona adulta que permanece

Spanish Transcript for Part B Convertir la confianza en una estrategia para toda la escuela

Catherine Bradshaw & John Lochman (two parts): Looking Beneath and Beyond Behavior: How Understanding Children and Their Contexts—and Adapting Interventions—Leads to More Effective Support

Mirar por debajo y más allá de la conducta: cómo comprender a los niños y sus contextos—y adaptar las intervenciones—conduce a apoyos más eficaces

Discussion C What Lies Beneath and Around Behavior

Lo que subyace a la conducta y lo que la rodea

Discussion D Adapting What Works

Adaptar lo que funciona

English Transcript for Part C What Lies Beneath and Around Behavior

English Transcript for Part D Adapting What Works

Spanish Transcript for Part C  Lo que subyace a la conducta y lo que la rodea

Spanish Transcript for Part D  Adaptar lo que funciona

Eric Bruns (three parts): Whatever It Takes: One Young Person, One Family, One Plan—and Shared Responsibility

Lo que sea necesario: una persona joven, una familia, un plan—y responsabilidad compartida

Discussion E - One Young Person, One Family, One Plan

Una persona joven, una familia, un plan

Discussion F The Human System Behind the Promise

El sistema humano que sostiene la promesa

Discussion G  Care That Does Not Give Up or Exclude

English Transcript for Part E One Young Person, One Family, One Plan

English Transcript for Part F  The Human System Behind the Promise

English Transcript for Part G Care That Does Not Give Up or Exclude

Spanish Transcript for Part E Una persona joven, una familia, un plan

Spanish Transcript for Part F  El sistema humano que sostiene la promesa

Spanish Transcript for Part G   Un cuidado que no abandona ni excluye

S. Kwesi Rollins: More Than a Place in the Room: Turning Participation into Influence and Shared Power

Más que un lugar en la sala: convertir la participación en influencia y poder compartido

Discussion Part H More Than a Place in the Room: Turning Participation into Influence and Shared Power

Más que un lugar en la sala: convertir la participación en influencia y poder compartido

English Transcript for Part H More Than a Place in the Room: Turning Participation into Influence and Shared Power

Spanish Transcript for Part H Más que un lugar en la sala: convertir la participación en influencia y poder compartido

Catherine Bradshaw: Beyond One More Initiative or Program: Moving from Unaligned Programs to a Coherent System

Más allá de una iniciativa o un programa más: pasar de programas desarticulados a un sistema coherente

Discussion Part I Beyond One More Initiative or Program: Moving from Unaligned Programs to a Coherent System

Más allá de una iniciativa o un programa más: pasar de programas desarticulados a un sistema coherente

English Transcript Part I  Beyond One More Initiative or Program: Moving from Unaligned Programs to a Coherent System

Spanish Transcript Part I  Más allá de una iniciativa o un programa más: pasar de programas desarticulados a un sistema coherente

The Three parts by Jane Quinn will be added on or about August 24^th.

Bios

Eric Bruns is a Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences in the University of Washington School of Medicine. Dr. Bruns's research focuses on public child-serving systems and how to maximize their positive effects on youth with behavioral health needs and their families. He co-directs the National Wraparound Initiative and the National Wraparound Implementation Center and directs the UW Wraparound Evaluation and Research Team. Dr. Bruns has led multiple federally funded research and intervention-development projects (NIMH, SAMHSA, CMS) to define and evaluate the impact of intensive care coordination models. He is also Associate Director of the UW SMART Center, where he leads the Center's Technical Assistance Core and directs its Institute for Education Sciences (IES)-funded Post-doctoral Research Training Program.

Catherine P. Bradshaw, Ph.D., M.Ed., is a university professor and the senior associate dean for research and is a faculty fellow with the University's vice president of research. She was previously an associate professor and the associate chair of the Department of Mental Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Her primary research interests focus on the development of aggressive behavior and school-based prevention of behavioral and mental health problems. Her research focuses on bullying and school climate; emotional and behavioral disorders; and the design, evaluation, and implementation of evidence-based prevention programs in schools. She has led more than 10 federally funded randomized trials of school-based prevention programs. She has published more than 335 peer-reviewed articles and chapters. She is currently the editor of the journal Prevention Science and senior associate editor for Social and Emotional Learning: Research, Practice, and Policy. She is an elected member of the National Academy of Education.

John E. Lochman, PhD.; ABPP, received his PhD from the University of Connecticut. Dr. Lochman is the Doddridge Saxon Chair of Clinical Psychology at The University of Alabama. He has primary research interests in examining the short- and long-term effects of prevention programs provided to high-risk aggressive children, and treatment programs for youth with externalizing disorders. These school- and community-based programs (Anger Coping Program; Coping Power Program; Fast Track Program) use cognitive-behavioral, social problem-solving, and social-skill training approaches with children, and behavioral parent training with parents. Ongoing grant-funded multi-site prevention research projects are examining the components of interventions, the additive effects of universal and indicated (targeted) interventions, and comprehensive interventions designed to prevent conduct disorder, substance use, and delinquency. Dr. Lochman’s graduate teaching responsibilities include child psychotherapy and basic practicum supervision. Dr. Lochman serves on grant review committees at NIMH and at several private foundations.  He is the editor of the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, is an associate editor for Behavior Therapy, and is on the editorial board for the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.

Rey Saldaña, MS, is the President and CEO of Communities In Schools® (CIS®), the national organization that surrounds students with a community of support, empowering them to stay in school and achieve in life. Saldaña is a CIS alumnus who served as the Regional Advocacy Director for the Raise Your Hand Texas Foundation and the Chair of the San Antonio Metropolitan Transit Agency-VIA. Before that, he served four terms on the San Antonio City Council, where he was first elected at age 24, becoming the youngest council member in the city's history. Saldaña holds a master's degree from Stanford University's Graduate School of Education. In 2023, Saldaña was awarded Stanford University's President's Award for the Advancement of the Common Good.

Kwesi Rollins, MSW, guides the Institute for Education Leadership's portfolio of programs designed to develop and support leaders with a particular emphasis on Family and Community Engagement, Early Childhood Education and Community-based Leadership Development. Kwesi directs the District Leaders Network on Family and Community Engagement and Leaders for Today and Tomorrow. He has years of experience working with local communities and state agencies to improve cross-sector collaboration and service delivery systems supporting children, youth and families. He has been recognized as the Big Brother of the Year in the District of Columbia. He holds an MSW degree from the University of Maryland at Baltimore School of Social Work.

Jane Quinn, Ph.D., is a social worker and youth worker with over five decades of professional experience, including direct service with children and families, program development, fundraising, grantmaking, research, and advocacy. From 2000 through 2018, she served as the Vice President for Community Schools at Children's Aid, where she directed the National Center for Community Schools. She was the principal author of the 1992 Carnegie study entitled A Matter of Time: Risk and Opportunity in the Nonschool Hours and the co-author of three books on community schools, including the 2023 volume entitled The Community Schools Revolution: Building Partnerships, Transforming Lives, Advancing Democracy. Jane has a master's in social work from the University of Chicago and a doctorate in urban education from the City University of New York.

References related to Episode 6

Bruns, E. J. (2008). The evidence base and wraparound. In E. J. Bruns & J. S. Walker (Eds.), The resource guide to wraparound. National Wraparound Initiative. https://nwi.pdx.edu/NWI-book/Chapters/Bruns-3.2-(research-base).pdf

Bryk, A. S., Sebring, P. B., Allensworth, E., Luppescu, S., & Easton, J. Q. (2010). Organizing schools for improvement: Lessons from Chicago. University of Chicago Press.

California Educator. (2021, October 12). The six pillars of community schools.

Chetty, R. (2025, December 15). New research proves personalized student supports improves academic performance and long-term earnings. Harvard Graduate School of Education. https://www.gse.harvard.edu/ideas/news/25/12/new-research-proves-personalized-student-supports-improves-academic-performance

Communities In Schools. (n.d.). William Milliken. https://www.communitiesinschools.org/leadership/profile/william-milliken

Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group, Rothenberg, W. A., Lansford, J. E., Godwin, J., Dodge, K. A., Copeland, W., Odgers, C., McMahon, R., & Goulter, N. (2022). Intergenerational effects of the Fast Track intervention on the home environment: A randomized control trial. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.

Covello, L. (1958). The heart is the teacher. McGraw-Hill.

Covello, L. (1967). The social background of the Italo-American school child. Brill. (Republished 1972, Rowman & Littlefield.)

Delpit, L. (2006). Other people's children: Cultural conflict in the classroom. The New Press.

Dennis, K. W., Lourie, I. S., & Jordan, D. (n.d.). Everything is normal until proven otherwise: A book about wraparound services.

Fast Track Project. (n.d.). Fast Track Project. https://fasttrackproject.org

Goldman, B., & Gracie, J. (2025). When resources meet relationships: The returns to personalized supports for low-income students. Opportunity Insights. https://opportunityinsights.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/CIS_FullPaper.pdf

Hobbs, N. (1982). The troubled and troubling child. Jossey-Bass.

Karoly, L. A., Kilburn, M. R., & Cannon, J. S. (2005). Proven benefits of early childhood interventions (Research Brief RB-9145). RAND Corporation. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB9145.html

Kendziora, K., Bruns, E. J., Osher, D., Pacchiano, D. M., & Mejia, B. X. (2001). Wraparound: Stories from the field. In Systems of care: Promising practices in children's mental health, 2001 series.

Learning Policy Institute. (2024). Key practices for community schools transformation.

Lochman, J. E., & Bradshaw, C. P. (Eds.). (2026). Cognitive behavioral interventions for children with aggressive behavior: Applying Coping Power in school and clinical settings. Routledge.

Maier, A., Daniel, J., Oakes, J., & Lam, L. (2017). Community schools as an effective school improvement strategy: A review of the evidence. Learning Policy Institute.

Milliken, B. (2022). The last dropout: A model for creating educational equity (Rev. ed.). Hay House.

Milliken, B. (n.d.). 5 Basics [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/XecU0DSsvZA

National Wraparound Initiative. (n.d.). Innovations Institute unveils PEARLS: A new model for parent peer support. https://nwi.pdx.edu/innovations-institute-unveils-pearls-a-new-model-for-parent-peer-support/

Rogers, J. S. (1998). Community schools: Lessons from the past and present. UCLA Institute for Democracy, Education, and Access.

VanDenBerg, J., Vermillion, J., Little, T., & [fourth author not identified]. (n.d.). "Whatever it takes": The evolution and enduring impact of wraparound. National Wraparound Initiative. https://nwi.pdx.edu/NWI-book/Chapters/VanDenBerg-1.3-(history-of-wraparound).pdf