NAMI Ask the Expert: Collaborative & Proactive Solutions: Ending Punitive Disciplinary Practices and Disproportionality OD027

An on-demand video and transcript of the presentation are available here [opens in new tab].

About The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)

The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness. They are an alliance of more than 650 local Affiliates and 49 State organizations who work in your community to raise awareness and provide support and education to people with mental illness and their loved ones. Through awareness, advocacy and education, NAMI is committed to building stronger communities and a better future for everyone affected by mental illness.

Course Summary

Practice Level: Intermediate

This course, based on the Ask the Expert webinar series by NAMI, introduces Dr. Ross Greene’s Collaborative & Proactive Solutions (CPS) model as a practical, evidence-informed framework to replace punitive and exclusionary discipline with collaborative problem-solving. Learners examine the five CPS paradigm shifts (e.g., focusing on unsolved problems rather than behaviors), proactive assessment via the ALSUP, and structured Plans B/C to build skills such as flexibility, frustration tolerance, and emotion regulation. The learning material addresses the disproportionate impact of restraint, seclusion, and exclusionary discipline on Black and Brown students and highlights policy and systems-level strategies to reduce disproportionality. Concrete tools and examples illustrate how CPS is implemented across schools, families, and clinical settings to prevent crises and improve outcomes.

The course, with an intended audience of social workers, psychologists, marriage and family therapists, and counselors, then presentshow CPS supports equitable, trauma-informed, and developmentally responsive practice across school, family, and community systems by centering collaborative problem-solving and measurable skill-building.

Course Format

This course contains a participant guide, practice test, and on-demand video. When you’re ready, purchase the course by clicking the “Add To Cart” or “Enroll” button. This will let you take the test, complete the course evaluation and receive your certificate for CE credits.

Learning Objectives

1. Describe the Collaborative Problem Solving (CPS) paradigm shifts. 
2. Identify the implications for reducing punitive and exclusionary discipline.
3. Identify components of the Assessment of Lagging Skills and Unsolved Problems (ALSUP) and steps to prioritize unsolved problems for proactive intervention.

Course Syllabus

• From Behavior Modification to Problem-Solving
• Proactive Assessment Using the ALSUP
• Implementing Plans B and C
• Equity, Disproportionality, and Policy Context

Current References

Bell, C., & Craig, M. O. (2023). Suspended, restrained, and secluded: Exploring the relationship between school punishment, disability, and Black and White parents’ health outcomes. Children and Youth Services Review, 153, Article 107119. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2023.107119[opens in new tab]

Camacho, K. A., Fenning, P. A., Hyzer, R. H., Green-Robinson, K., & Chakkalakel, S. (2025). Advocating for disciplinary reform through a systematic review of school discipline laws and state guidance across the United States. School Psychology Review, 54(3), 382–397. https://doi.org/10.1080/2372966X.2024.2369496[opens in new tab]

Greene, R. W., & Winkler, J. L. (2019). Collaborative & Proactive Solutions (CPS): A review of research findings in families, schools, and treatment facilities. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 22(4), 549–561. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10567-019-00295-z[opens in new tab]

Greene, R. W. (2023). Collaborative and proactive solutions. In L. J. Farrell, R. C. Murrihy, & C. A. Essau (Eds.), Handbook of child and adolescent psychology treatment modules: Personalized care in behavior and emotion. Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-99613-6.00007-7[opens in new tab]

Graves, K. A. (2024). Restraint and seclusion: A review of practices and policy. Intervention in School and Clinic, 59(5), 347–353. https://doi.org/10.1177/10534512231179099[opens in new tab]

Huang, F. L., Gregory, A., & Ward-Seidel, A. R. (2023). The impact of restorative practices on the use of out-of-school suspensions: Results from a cluster randomized controlled trial. Prevention Science, 24(5), 962–973. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-023-01507-3[opens in new tab]

Ingles, K. E., Dulas, H. M., Peña, H., Jr., Nichols, S., McFarlane, E., Benzel, M., & Bowman-Perrott, L. (2025). Seclusion and restraint: A scoping review of the peer-reviewed published literature since the GAO congressional hearing of 2009 through the end of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of the American Academy of Special Education Professionals, 53–87. https://doi.org/10.64546/jaasep.576[opens in new tab]

Sabol, T. J., Kessler, C. L., Rogers, L. O., Petitclerc, A., Silver, J., Briggs-Gowan, M., & Wakschlag, L. S. (2022). A window into racial and socioeconomic status disparities in preschool disciplinary action using developmental methodology. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1508(1), 123–136. https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.14687[opens in new tab]

Tiippana, N., Korhonen, T., Reinius, H., & Hakkarainen, K. (2025). Research–practice partnership as a school development method: Educators’ experiences on collaborative school development process and outcomes. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 36(1), 1–26. https://doi.org/10.1080/09243453.2024.2432333[opens in new tab]

Tomkunas, A. J., Wink, M. N., & LaRusso, M. D. (2026). Why do students misbehave? An exploration of teacher and administrator perceptions of elementary school students’ problem behavior. Psychology in the Schools, 63(1), 23–36. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.70075[opens in new tab]

Welsh, R. O. (2023). Up the down escalator? Examining a decade of school discipline reforms. Children and Youth Services Review, 150, Article 106962. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2023.106962[opens in new tab]

Instructors

Ross Greene, PhD

Ross W. Greene, PhD, is a clinical psychologist and the originator of the innovative, evidence-based approach called Collaborative & Proactive Solutions (CPS), as described in his influential books The Explosive Child, Lost at School, Lost & Found and Raising Human Beings. He also developed and executive produced the award-winning documentary film “The Kids We Lose,” released in 2018. Dr. Greene was on the faculty at Harvard Medical School for more than 20 years and is now founding director of the non-profit Lives in the Balance. He is currently adjunct professor in the Department of Psychology at Virginia Tech and adjunct professor in the Faculty of Science at the University of Technology in Sydney, Australia. Dr. Greene has worked with thousands of children with behavioral challenges and their caregivers, and he and his colleagues have overseen implementation and evaluation of the CPS model in hundreds of schools, inpatient psychiatry units, and residential and juvenile detention facilities, with dramatic effects, including significant reductions in recidivism, discipline referrals, detentions, suspensions, and use of restraint and seclusion. Dr. Greene lectures throughout the world and lives in Freeport, Maine.

Nicole Errickson, LCSW

Nicole is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) in the state of Georgia. She brings over 19 years experience in the social work field, primarily working in school systems as a school social worker and with the McKinney-Vento grant. Over her career, Nicole has had several opportunities to help develop and execute professional development events. Nicole has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of South Alabama and a Masters in Social Work from the University of Alabama.

Accreditation Approval Statements

CE4Less.com is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. CE4Less.com maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

CE4Less.com, provider #1115, is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: 8/8/24-8/8/27.

Social workers completing this course receive 1 cultural competence continuing education credits.

We are committed to providing our learners with unbiased information. CE4Less never accepts commercial support and our authors have no significant financial or other conflicts of interest pertaining to the material.