Where Discipline Meets Behavioral Health: Restorative Approaches to Supporting Students Without Exclusion

Exclusionary discipline practices–such as suspension and expulsion–can have lasting impacts on students’ mental and behavioral health, increasing stress, disconnection, and disengagement from school. This webinar explores how centering student behavioral health through a restorative lens can reshape school discipline practices and policies, shifting from removal to connection, and lead to improved academic and wellbeing outcomes. School leaders, behavioral health and student support professionals, and community partners are invited to learn how restorative approaches, aligned with behavioral health supports, can help schools respond differently to student behavior—while also addressing the unintended harms of exclusionary discipline. A moderated panel discussion featuring Dr. Michael Corral (UCLA CTS), Dr. Kathy Do (UCLA SEIS), Dr. Michael Massa (OYCR), and Dr. Sohil Sud (CYBHI) will lift up concrete, state-supported resources, real-world examples, and will emphasize practical, actionable insights for education and health-based practitioners. This webinar is hosted by CalHHS’s Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative and UCLA’s Center for the Transformation of Schools.

Speakers:

Sohil Sud, M.D.
Director, Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative (CYBHI)

Michael Massa, Ed.D.
Chief of Health Policy Division, Office of Youth and Community Restoration (OYCR)

Michael Corral, Ph.D.
Project Director, Center for the Transformation of Schools, UCLA

Kathy Do, Ph.D.
Assistant Project Scientist, California Institute for Law, Neuroscience, and Education; UC|CSU Collaborative for Neuroscience, Diversity, and Learning, UCLA

Adriana Jaramillo Castillo, M.A.
Research Analyst, Center for the Transformation of Schools, UCLA