help/ideas for my work with at-risk kids

Dear Jeffrey,

I am writing to seek your help and advice on the work that I am doing with at-risk children — a heterogeneous population ranging in age from 4-21, and with a mix of clinical and developmental challenges. As you know, for the past few years I have been working with a growing number of programs that function to make the mental and physical health of at-risk children better. What started out in 2013 as work with one school and about 80 children, has grown to a few thousand kids, dozens of schools, and not only in Massachusetts, but other parts of the US and even abroad (Costa Rica). Interest in both my software and consulting is growing strongly. The reason for the success is, I believe, twofold. First, the software we have built has radically reduced the time programs invest in data entry, while providing them with more sophisticated and useful analyses. Secondly, the interventions we have developed, based on the mind and brain sciences, have led to significant gains in time on learning, while also reducing highly disruptive behaviors, including violence.

Here's the irony of this entire story. Despite the fact that these children often place the largest financial burden on public school districts, communities, and our country, the amount of investment into these programs is extremely low. When you look at the billions of dollars going into education, very little of it is focused on special education. This is not only sad, but economically and socially backwards. Take one simple example. Consider adolescents with criminal self-control records. A 2007 study showed that those adolescents were five times more likely to end up as career criminals. Career criminals cost society about $1.5 million. Since the sciences have uncovered a great deal about individual differences in self-control and the capacity to strengthen it, programs focused on this capacity, early in life, are likely to make substantial contributions to not only individual welfare, but the economics of our country.

When I approach schools to take advantage of our software and our approach to strengthening capacities to learn and make good decisions, including self-control, their budgets limit what is possible. In brief, the interest and desire to collaborate is strong, but financial limitations minimize what is possible.

What I am looking for are ways to find funds to offset costs to these programs, effectively providing them with the software and consulting at no cost so that we can do something at a large scale and show the power of this approach. We have the evidence: in schools where we have worked, our interventions have led to 50% increases in time on evidence-based learning, lowered levels of violence, improved self-control, and dramatic increases in the sophistication of the software and techniques for improving learning and decision-making. I strongly believe that if I can get these programs off the ground by providing them with the software and techniques for improving learning and decision-making, that this approach will rapidly grow. There is considerable interest among the public, alternative education programs within Massachusetts, known as Collaboratives. I am working with 25% of the Collaboratives, and all know about our work. I am confident that we could put in place the software and methods across these programs, and create a model for how to help children in special education.

I am thus reaching out to you for ideas and help. Let me know if there is a time that we might talk further.

Best,

-- Marc