SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- As students across Indiana begin the new school year, some communities are reevaluating the need for police officers in schools.

In recent decades, the percentage of schools across the nation with a police presence on campus increased from less than 1% to nearly 60%.

Indiana doesn't disclose the numbers of police officers in schools, but in the last few years, between 900 and 1,200 students were arrested on school property.

Darryl Heller, director of the South Bend Civil Rights Heritage Center and assistant professor of women's and gender studies at Indiana University-South Bend, pointed to data that show Black students are arrested at more than twice the rate of white students.

"We know that Black and brown students will get punished harsher and more frequently for exactly the same behaviors that white students do," Heller observed. "So, that disparity is a deep cause of concern."

He added the disparity often leads to criminalizing behaviors that are really just kids acting up. He urged the South Bend School District to remove its five School Resource Officers. In Heller's view, a new agreement between the district and police department is long overdue, and could be an opportunity to put resources to better use.

Heller argued community members who want officers in schools may think it improves student safety, but research shows otherwise. He would like to see the current funding for School Resource Officers go instead toward more nurses and counselors on campuses.

"We're willing to spend millions of dollars a year to pay police to be in our schools, when we could actually be using that money to pay for more social workers, or more restorative justice practitioners or others, who I think would make our environment in schools much safer than a mere police presence," Heller contended.

A bill in Congress, the Counseling Not Criminalization in Schools Act, would prohibit the use of federal funds for law enforcement officers in schools. Nationwide, more than 14 million students attend schools that have police officers on duty.

Young people who have run-ins with the juvenile justice system are more likely to end up in the adult system. The Michigan Task Force on Juvenile Justice Reform has approved a set of recommendations this week to change that.

The goals are to improve community safety, reduce disparities and improve outcomes. The recommendations range from expanding diversion programs and funding community-based alternatives to incarceration, to creating a statewide juvenile public defense system and increasing data collection to identify racial disparities, said Jason Smith, executive director of the Michigan Center for Youth Justice.

"We are extremely happy," he said, "that the recommendation to eliminate fines and fees - juvenile court fees that impose huge immense burdens on young people and families - that that was included in the recommendations and voted on unanimously, including by judges and prosecutors."

Smith noted that the task force was comprised of court administrators, judges, prosecutors and defense attorneys, advocates, and young people and their families. He said he hopes legislators will make these recommendations into law as soon as possible.

Other recommendations include creating an advisory board of young people and their families to guide changes in the future, as well as strengthening standards for probation and residential programs.

State Sen. Sylvia Santana, D-Detroit, said the goal is to keep young people in the juvenile-justice system from entering the adult system when they are old enough.

"I think whatever we can do as a legislative body to make sure that we are putting in the necessary tools and supports to redirect that behavior," she said, "but also redirect them towards a path forward, versus a proverbial cycle of being part of the criminal-justice system."

She said investing in youths while they are young will save Michigan money in the long run. One study shows keeping just one child from dropping out of school, using drugs and entering the system can save more than $2.5 million.

The start of the fall semester is just around the corner for Illinois students. As children return to class, one advocate is urging school administrators to consider alternatives to traditional disciplinary measures.

Michelle Day, founder and CEO of Nehemiah Trinity Rising, a nonprofit helping organizations build and implement restorative-justice practices, has worked extensively with schools in the Chicago area. She encouraged other school systems across the state to consider adopting restorative-justice approaches in lieu of traditional punitive discipline programs.

"And when you do that, then you can have a restorative environment that engenders the type of behaviors and type of results that improve not only the safety of the school but the education for the children," Day asserted.

Restorative justice can take many forms, but most commonly it is based on reconciliation and constructively addressing the harm one student may have caused another without resorting to traditional punishments, such as suspension or detention. The Chicago Public School system offers a free online restorative justice guide to help teachers and administrators apply the principle.

Day explained integrating restorative justice into schools should be a top-down, holistic process, and everyone from cafeteria workers to school administrators should understand how it works. She added school leaders should not feel discouraged if they do not see immediate results.

"It takes approximately three to five years to change a school environment," Day acknowledged. "But when you do, the results are astounding."

According to the National Education Policy Center, restorative-justice programs could help reduce racial disparities in school discipline. A 2021 study from the University of Pittsburgh revealed Black students were "grossly overrepresented in rates of school suspensions for minor disciplinary infractions."

Los Angeles County, the nation's most populous county, is revamping its approach to juvenile justice, launching a new Department of Youth Development, which will take a more supportive, less punitive approach.

The agency made its debut July 1, and aims to divert teens away from the justice system and toward social services.

Vincent Holmes, interim director of the Department, said more kids with low-level offenses will bypass the courts, incarceration and probation.

"Instead, you're going to be referred to a community-based organization that understands the dynamics and the culture of your community," Holmes explained. "That agency is going to engage with you and your family unit, to do an assessment and determine exactly what types of services you may need, what type of care plan needs to be created for you."

Youths may be offered counseling, or make amends via a restorative justice program. The county's previous diversion programs operated via a patchwork of agreements with local police agencies, serving just 700 youths last year, according to Holmes. But he pointed out about 85% of youth who are arrested in Los Angeles are accused of crimes making them eligible for diversion programs; about 6,500 a year as of 2018.

Holmes noted the first order of business is to expand the diversion program countywide. Part of the goal is to reduce the number of youths of color caught up in the juvenile justice system.

"We believe that's certainly one way that we'll be able to address the disparate, disproportionate representation that we see Black and brown young people in our justice system," Holmes contended.

A 2021 study from the Sentencing Project found Latino youth were 28% more likely than their white peers to be detained or committed to juvenile facilities, which is a big improvement over 2021, when Latino youths were incarcerated 80% more often than white youths.