Research · Measurement · Policy · Practice
The Starlings Institute advances Human-Centered Systems Design through research, measurement, and its Human Systems Architecture methodology.
Featured work
Peer-reviewed research · Frontiers in Public Health
Kevin Starlings co-authored this study of how school routines, available resources, and competing priorities shape student hydration.
Read the peer-reviewed studyInstitute journal · Volume 2, Issue 1
Four articles examine earned time, federal placement decisions, and access to community placement.
Explore the journal issueFoundational Institute report
The Institute’s foundational report connects Educational Architecture and Human Systems Architecture and examines how institutional design and human conditions shape stability.
View report detailsThe Starlings Journal of Human Systems Architecture
Earned time, community access and equitable administration
Volume 2, Issue 1
Published · Revised
Kevin A. Starlings, Founding Editor-in-Chief
Browse the journal archive
Looking for reentry courses or training?
The Starlings Institute. (2026). Federal prerelease placement: Earned time, community access and equitable administration. The Starlings Journal of Human Systems Architecture, 2(1). Revised October 18, 2026.
The Starlings Journal of Human Systems Architecture
Volume 1 · Issue 1 · 2026
Introduces Human Systems Architecture, Human Conditions Theory, and Educational Architecture.
Volume 2 · Issue 1 · 2026
Four articles on earned time, placement decisions, and access to community placement.
View the Volume 2 table of contentsResearch library
Institute report · Human-Centered Systems Design
From Educational Architecture to Human-Centered Systems
The Institute’s foundational report connects Educational Architecture and Human Systems Architecture and examines how institutional design and human conditions shape stability.
Journal article · Volume 1, Issue 1 · Educational Architecture
How Human Conditions Shape Learning Stability
Examines how physical, emotional, environmental, relational, and cognitive conditions shape learning stability.
Journal article · Volume 1, Issue 1 · Education policy
A Human Conditions Framework for Restorative Accountability and Behavioral Stability
Applies a human conditions framework to school discipline, restorative accountability, and student reintegration.
Journal article · Volume 1, Issue 1 · Youth and public safety
A Systems Theory of Youth Stability, Fragmentation, and Coherence
Examines how youth-serving institutions work together and how fragmentation affects young people.
Journal article · Volume 1, Issue 1 · Youth and public safety
A Systems Theory of Violence, Fragmentation, and Public Safety Stability
Presents a systems framework for examining violence prevention, fragmentation, and public safety stability.
Working paper · SSRN · Educational Architecture
Introduces a layered model of learning stability and proposes ways to assess human conditions and system coherence.
Working paper · SSRN · Disability and workforce transition
Examines how workplace placement, vocational instruction, and coordinated supports interact in a field-based transition setting.
Working paper · SSRN · Disability and workforce transition
Analyzes structural barriers to postsecondary preparation and access for students with disabilities.
Preprint · SSRN · Education policy
Examines how crisis-oriented accountability and restructuring affect stability in Virginia schools, with attention to students with disabilities.
Preprint · SSRN · Educational Architecture
Examines how system conditions influence teacher capacity and considers implications for teacher preparation.
Preprint · SSRN · Educational Architecture
Examines how institutional expectations and unstable learning conditions can contribute to emotional disengagement in secondary schools.
Policy brief · ResearchGate · Aquatic safety
Uses Human Systems Architecture to analyze governance and implementation questions in Virginia aquatic safety.
Companion report · ResearchGate · Aquatic safety
A public-facing companion to the Institute’s swim safety policy brief for families, providers, and policymakers.
Selected book chapters · ResearchGate · Aquatic safety
An excerpt from the Institute’s aquatic-safety research portfolio on governance, organizational capacity, and implementation.
Peer-reviewed research · Frontiers in Public Health
Interviews with school and community stakeholders examined how access to resources, school routines, and competing priorities shape student hydration in an urban Virginia school district.
Legal Analysis · The Starlings Journal of Human Systems Architecture
Explains the different legal authorities and administrative steps that shape access to community placement.
Legal pathways and calculation safeguards
Documentary Research · The Starlings Journal of Human Systems Architecture
Reviews national oversight findings and agency changes affecting credit records, referrals, and placement administration.
National oversight findings and implementation history
Policy Proposal · The Starlings Journal of Human Systems Architecture
Proposes common decision standards and practical supports for more consistent access to placement.
Proposed standards for federal prerelease placement
Research Methods · The Starlings Journal of Human Systems Architecture
Outlines a method for comparing similar cases and identifying delays at different stages of placement.
A research method for comparable cases and accountable workflows
Research agenda
The Institute studies how conditions influence behavior and performance, how institutions align or fragment, and how those patterns can be measured over time. Its approach draws on systems thinking, applied analysis, observation, and modeling.
Area of study
Studies how the conditions people encounter within institutions shape performance, stability, and long-term outcomes.
Methodology
Analyzes how human conditions, institutional structures, and environments interact and where those relationships break down.
First applied domain
Examines how the design of learning environments shapes learning and development.
Frameworks & Measurement
The Institute’s theory and models explain how conditions interact. Its measurement tools help examine the stability of those conditions and how well the institutions responsible for them work together.
Foundational theory
Examines how environmental, relational, and institutional conditions shape behavior, regulation, and performance.
Systems model
Examines how conditions spread across organizations and how their interactions influence outcomes.
Measurement tool
The HCI assesses the stability of conditions that influence how people function in a system.
Measurement tool
The CI examines alignment across governance, execution, and environmental conditions.
Applied domains
Education
Studies how classroom environments, educator capacity, and school and district structures shape the conditions for learning.
Explore Educational ArchitectureYouth, community & public safety
Examines how families, schools, community organizations, and public safety and justice agencies shape conditions for young people.
Explore Youth System Stability ArchitectureFounder & Principal Researcher
Kevin A. Starlings, founder of The Starlings Institute and originator of its Human Systems Architecture methodology.
He also originated Educational Architecture, the Institute’s first applied domain within Human-Centered Systems Design.
The Starlings Foundation
Through its Jeremiah Education & Workforce Development service area, The Starlings Foundation delivers education, workforce development, and correctional reentry courses and training. The Foundation issues certificates of completion.
The Starlings Institute supports this work through research and evaluation. Read the Institute’s scholarship in the publications catalog and direct training or enrollment inquiries to the Foundation.
Contact The Starlings Foundation about training