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 progress in the name of kids.

"What a tragedy it is, right at very beginning of a child's educational career to be told that school isn't the right place for them at three years old. Can you imagine that? And yet that happens all the time. Every single year we expel enough children to be able to fill up Yankee Stadium and Medlife Stadium and still have children standing in the parking lot without a place to sit." - Dr. Gilliam.

Interviewees:
Walter S. Gilliam, Ph.D., Executive Director of the Buffett Early Childhood Institute.
Alejandra Jaramillo, a parent of a young student who was pushed out of preschool.
Shantel E. Meek, Ph.D., Founding Director of the Children's Equity Project at ASU.

Lives In The Balance:
Visit our Action Center to join in the movement.
Register for our 2026 Annual Summit - Between Alarm and Opportunity: Kids in the Digital Age - presented virtually on May 20, 2026.

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 grassroots advocacy efforts. The conversation underscores the need for continued advocacy and legislative change to protect children's rights and well-being.  You can register for the CMHAC here and be sure to check out our advocacy Take Action page here.

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 responses to stress and that it’s hard to pin down single causes, given the layered and nuanced nature of these challenges. They caution that correlation (e.g., social media user with anxiety) does not equal causation – and that involving kids in identifying solutions will likely be more successful than mandates. This was a special live presentation arranged by Freeport Speech, Meetinghouse Arts, and Freeport Community TV3.

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 CPS helps both kids and adults feel truly heard, often solving long-standing challenges with surprising ease. With hundreds trained and research underway, this project is showing just how impactful CPS can be in multiple settings and varied populations.

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 the secret to a less aggrieved and more cooperative world!

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...for the unfamiliar, here are two links to bring you up to speed on what he was talking about:
https://cpsconnection.com/why-the-name-change/
https://cpsconnection.com/disinformationormisinformation/

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 difficulty with the word "stop."

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!