The Lives in the Balance Podcast

Our new host Ben Jones, Director of Legal & Policy Initiatives, explores the issue of Preschool Pushout. Every year, our youngest learners are pushed out of early childhood education settings through formal expulsions, but much more commonly, they are pushed out by informal means. We hear from two experts and a parent on not only the depth and personal impact of the issue, but how we can make...

In this episode of the CPS Podcast, Dr. Ross Greene and Ben Jones discuss the upcoming Children's Mental Health Advocacy Conference, the current issues in children's mental health advocacy, and the opportunities for community involvement. They highlight recent legislative successes and challenges, particularly regarding corporal punishment and restraint in schools, and emphasize the importance of...

Check out the May 2025 episode of the CPS Podcast - Are the Kids OK?   Dr. Ross Greene and Dr. Nirav Shaw explore the question “Are the kids ok?” by unpacking the rising stressors kids face in a rapidly changing world, from social media and school shootings to shifting social roles, while reminding us that many kids are still doing well. They emphasize that mental health struggles are human respon...

This episode dives into the Collaborative & Proactive Solutions Ireland Demonstration Project, which has been making waves across children's disability services in Ireland. Toby Sachsenmaier shares how a grassroots start among a few healthcare professionals snowballed into a national initiative embraced by multidisciplinary teams — and even adult disability services. Anecdotes highlight how CP...

This episode of the CPS Podcast takes a big-picture look at why power struggles dominate our world—politically, socially, as well as in parenting and education—when collaboration could be the real game-changer. We explore how listening, understanding, and solving problems together (instead of fighting to "win") could lead to better outcomes for everyone. Turns out, three simple steps might just be...

Two mothers share their stories about their children's experience with restraint and seclusion in schools to raise awareness and offer hope - there is a different way...

Perhaps especially now, we think it's important to get back to skills -- empathy, appreciating how one's actions are affecting others, taking another person's perspective, resolving disagreements without conflict, and honesty -- that bring out the better side of human nature, and to be helping kids develop those skills as early as possible. Dr. Greene especially homed in on the honesty dimension.....

Dr. Ross Greene and Kim Hopkins explore the definition of grit and the fact that a lot of literature explaining how to teach grit leaves out the important role of problem solving first...

The US Department of Education recently released guidance suggesting that FBAs should be completed on all students.  Dr. Ross Greene and our Director of Legal & Policy Initiatives, Ben Jones, J.D., discuss where this idea falls short, what can be done instead, and how the USDOE became so wedded to PBIS.  We also have time to address one parent's email regarding a 4-year-old who is having diffi...

Don't be late...ask the kid...developmental variability...safety - all key themes of this month's episode tackling the topic of school safety.  Listen now! 

We are back for the 2024-25 school year!  ...and using new technology to hopefully resolve previous audio issues.  In this edition of The CPS Podcast, Dr. Greene responds to a TikTok-er who is spreading misinformation about the CPS Model.  A good listen whether you are a parent, educator, provider or other caring adult! 

There's legislation pending in Massachusetts that would ban suspension for students in grades K-3. An admirable effort, but it drew some very ineresting responses from readers of The Boston Glove, which reported on this effort. Those responses tell us we still have a lot more work to do to ensure that caregivers understand the true factors that cause kids' concerning behaviors...and why a suspensi...

In the March edition of the CPS Podcast, we take a deep dive into Plan C (in the CPS model, Plan C refers to putting an expectation on hold, at least for now). While those familiar with CPS recognize that Plan C is a very important part of prioritizing expectations -- and stabilizing some kids -- putting expectations on hold is frequently misinterpreted as "giving in" and "giving up," and some car...

On this month's program, we took a deep dive into "new" Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and whether its emphasis on assent and compassion really changes anything. Featuring guests Cindy Andree-Bowen and Shani Mandel.

The special topic on today's program was Coping Strategies: Are We Teaching Kids to Be Early or Late? Unfortunately, many of the coping strategies we're teaching kids these days teach them to cope once they're already frustrated. That's late. What should we be empahasizing instead? Teaching kids how to identify, anticipate, and solve the problems that are causing them to become frustrated in the f...

Today's program -- Voices of the Neurodivergent Community: What We Need You to Know -- features an interview with Jenny Hunt, a published multidisciplinary researcher that focuses on medicine, medical law, and ethics. Recently, they shifted their interest to Neurodiversity and go by the online name Autistic Sighentist.  

Our guest hosts, Alex Spencer (formerly principal of the Alternate Learning Centers in the New York City Public Schools) and Ben Jones (Director of Legal and Policy Initiatives at Lives in the Balance) described their personal experience with and data related to the disproportionate use of punitive, exclusionary discipline with Black and Brown students and those with with disabilities.

On the first Tuesday of every month, at 11 am Eastern time, from September through May, Dr. Ross Greene and Lives in the Balance Director of Outreach Kim Hopkins cover a wide range of topics related to how we understand and treat our kids -- especially those with concerning behavior -- and the Collaborative & Proactive Solutions (CPS) model. Whether you're a parent, a grandparent, an educator,...

We had an update from one previous caller (Plan C for the win!), an email about how to use the model with toddlers, and another caller who is worried about her 18 year-old son who seems to have regressed considerably.  Check out the advice given about the CPS Model across a range of ages!  We will be back in September - You can call into the program to get your questions answered or submit them vi...

We were able to clear some of our email backlog in today's episode and talk through how a grandparent could bring up CPS to her daughter who is parenting a challenging child, what to do when solutions don't work, and using the model with a kiddo who appears to be cognitively rigid.  Have a listen!

Interesting discussion about how step 1 - the Empathy Step - of the CPS Model helps us to understand the inner worlds of our children and how they perceive things...which often can be very different from how we adults perceive things.  Important not to skip this step if we are going to help them durably solve problems!  Hear the surprising information our caller learned when she talked with her ch...

Thanks to two callers, we were able to talk through some of the key things that get in the way of Plan B getting off the ground - have a listen!

Happy New Year!  Thanks to a caller, we were able to visit many important aspects of the CPS Model by hearing about an early attempt at Plan B with her 15 year old son.

Amazing discussions with our two callers today, both parents whose kids are struggling with school. We covered many of the nuances of solving problems collaboratively, but it all starts with making sure you're clear on what's making it hard for a kid to meet a particular expectation.  

There's always some detective work to be done when Plan B doesn't go as well as hoped. Our team responded to some inquiries about that on today's podcast, but -- as is often to case with Plan B -- the team needed more info to be maximally helpful. The team was in rare form today...