Through her work as a community prosecutor in Riverside County, Debra Máres has proven it is possible for schools, police and prosecutors to create alternatives to suspension, expulsion and incarceration.

Watch Debra Máres trace the link between chronic childhood trauma and the school-to-prison pipeline.

Debra is an attorney, author, social change maker and founder of Women Wonder Writers. She will present a session entitled Pushed Out & Applying to Prison at the School Climate & Culture Forum in Las Vegas.

The School Climate & Culture Forum features practical, real-world initiatives that are successfully transforming the quality, character and personality of schools. It showcases programs, assessments and tools proven to improve school culture and climate. Evidence-based and research-based interventions will be introduced, while the forum also highlights high-potential efforts currently being implemented in the laboratory of everyday school life.