Triana Kazaleh Sirdenis

In an effort to reduce child maltreatment recidivism and foster care placement, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) is piloting an in-home, parental education program called SafeCare. SafeCare teaches caregivers skills about how to interact in a positive manner with their children; to create a safe home environment; and to recognize and respond to symptoms of illness and injury. To evaluate the program and build an evidence base that will allow MDHHS to draw on federal funding, the Youth Policy Lab has received a grant from Arnold Ventures to conduct a randomized contr...

Children can face lifelong impacts from their interactions with the criminal justice system. Unlike adults, the State of Michigan has no agency responsible for representation of juvenile defendants, nor standards for indigent youth defense. Currently, whether or not youth receive representation at their first court appearance varies by county. YPL is partnering with the Juvenile Justice Clinic (JJC) at the University of Michigan Law School to evaluate their CAFA pilot intervention in select Michigan counties. Through this pilot, juvenile defendants facing felony charges are offered representat...

Youth Policy Lab has partnered with colleagues at the University of Michigan School of Public Health and the Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention to examine the impact of school cellphone policies in Michigan. This study aims to identify variability in district cellphone policies; understand the barriers to and facilitators of implementation; and estimate their impact on indicators of community violence, including fights in school, school discipline, and police incidents; as well as a range of mental health, wellbeing, and academic outcomes. While school cellphone restrictions may improve y...

Youth Policy Lab is conducting a three-year national study of the impacts of school cellphone policies on academic outcomes and student wellbeing. This initiative was launched at a pivotal moment as districts are rapidly implementing cellphone restrictions. One component of this project involves partnering with Yondr, a company that makes cellphone-blocking pouches for schools, to understand how these pouches affect academic achievement, school engagement, behavioral incidents, chronic absenteeism, and socio-emotional measures.A second component involves partnering with Monitoring the Future (...