Defying the ODDs: How Indiana Schools Should Implement Multisystemic Therapy to Reduce the Rate of Juvenile Incarceration for Children with Oppositional Defiant Disorder

Abstract

Under Indiana Code Section 20-35-4-1.5, schools have a duty to educate students with a disability. 1 However, due to ineffective disciplinary measures in schools, students with debilitating behavioral health disorders are not receiving the education they are due. This Note will explore why Indiana should adopt legislation like New York’s ‘Timothy’s Law’ to allow for insurance coverage of Multisystemic Therapy to be implemented in schools as an alternative to other disciplinary actions for students diagnosed with disruptive behavioral disorders, and in particular, Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD). Specifically, this Note will begin with a hypothetical scenario of a young child diagnosed with ODD who did not receive proper treatment of his disorder. This Note will then outline what ODD is, its history, and discuss how it is currently treated. Next, this Note will outline how schools are affected by Oppositional Defiant Disorder and how this directly contributes to juvenile incarceration rates.

This Note will then propose a solution to juvenile incarceration rates of children with ODD by proposing that schools implement multisystemic therapy programs, modeled after a Californian logic model. During this proposal, this Note will discuss what Multisystemic Therapy is and how it would look in a school setting. This Note will further outline the cost of implementing the program and analyze how Indiana legislation currently has passed some legislation that can off-set the cost of the program. Finally, this Note will recommend further legislative changes like New York’s “Timothy Law” that will allow for insurance coverage of the therapy.