Education: the Key to the Future for Kids in Juvenile Justice?
Published: January 9, 2006
by: Caitlin Johnson
Maya Angelou PCS student at her part-time job. (courtesy Maya Angelou PCS)
"Dumping" Kids into Juvenile Justice
Absent federal requirements and accountability, it's hard to find uniform data on how states are providing education to young offenders. The National Collaboration Project and National Center for Education, Juvenile Justice, and Disability (EDJJ) are among organizations working to collect comprehensive data and paint a state-by-state picture, but the results are not yet in.
Painting a picture of kids in the system—and whether they're getting appropriate education—is increasingly important because the numbers of incarcerated kids are on the rise, even as delinquency caseloads and juvenile crime are down.
From 1993-1999, for example, the juvenile arrest rate for violent offenses dropped by 33 percent while at the same time, the number of young people confined in residential institutions rose 48 percent, according to the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
"What's happening appears to be 'dumping' kids from one system to another," says Joseph Tulman. In his opinion, schools often target their resources to kids with moderate needs, where they see a better chance of success, while those with the most severe needs are not a priority.
"The [hardest-to-serve] kids may get channeled into special education classes, if anything, and if that's not enough for the most severe cases, they drop out. They are pushed into systems that can't reject them, like the delinquency system," says Tulman.
Special Education
Federal laws apply to kids with special education needs. The Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) guarantees appropriate educational services to any student identified as having special needs, in many cases through age 21. It applies equally to eligible kids in juvenile or adult justice system and those in public school.
That doesn't mean incarcerated kids with special needs are necessarily getting the services they deserve, cautions Joseph Tulman, but it does make it easier to demand them, and file suit if they are not adequately provided.
At DC's Maya Angelou school, each student starts with an intake interview. "We spend a lot of time up front figuring out what will work with students and what programs and services we need to put in place to help them be successful here," says David Domenici.
All students participate in group counseling. There are social workers, a fulltime psychologist, and special education coordinators on campus.
In the States: Promising Approaches, but Room to Grow
Several states have begun to change their approach to educating kids in juvenile justice.
A particularly promising program is underway in Indiana. There, the federally funded Safe and Responsive Schools initiative is helping stem the flow of kids from schools to delinquency systems, and giving public schools the resources to address problems before they get out of hand. Intensive in-school interventions and increased special education services have brought a big decline in drop-out rates—at one site where drop-out rates were running about 70 to 80 percent, the rates have dropped by nearly 40 percent after three years.
This December, amidst allegations that it was providing inadequate education to young offenders, the city of Baltimore, Maryland closed its notorious Hicks school. The school's 100 students have been moved to Baltimore City Juvenile Justice Center, where they'll get basic education, life skills, computer literacy and media courses. One of the new agreements: the Center will offer more classes, and will provide weekly education reports to the public defender's office.
Schools like Maya Angelou—which serves students who are involved with the courts for offenses that range from minor to serious, sometimes violent—offer examples of effective alternatives.
The National Center for Education, Juvenile Justice, and Disability (EDJJ) recommends including basic literacy instruction and courses that can transfer to traditional high schools if students choose to return. EDJJ also recommends academic and vocational education that's relevant to students' interests, lives, and communities. Reversing students' sense of disconnection to academic settings is also important.
"With students who've been disengaged, they can't just show up to school and have it feel like the school they used to go to. Especially for kids who have potentially been successful at nonperforming, you've got to convince them that this is different—that there is no 'back of the class' where they can put their heads down on their desks," says Maya Angelou's David Domenici.
Maya Angelou students buck national graduation rate trends: more than 90 percent will graduate in four years, compared with 68 percent across the country (and a dismal 50 percent rate among their urban, minority peers, according to the Urban Institute).
For the past five years, about 70 percent of graduating seniors at Maya Angelou have gone on to college. "Our goal is to help them move up and out of poverty and into higher education," says Domenici.
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