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Positive Youth Outcomes Committee Education Series

Blueprint for Change: Education Success for Youth in the Juvenile

Justice System

Guidelines and Housekeeping

• Audio through phone – use pin #

• Everyone muted

• Type questions anytime. Questions will be answered during the Q&A session at the end of webinar

• Webinar is being recorded – link to audio recording and Power Point presentation will be sent following the webinar

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Executive Leadership

Peter J. Forbes, CommissionerMassachusetts Department of

Youth ServicesPositive Youth Outcomes

Committee (Chair)

Mike Dempsey Executive Director CJCA

Presenters / Panelists

Nadia Mozaffar, Staff Attorney, Juvenile Law Center

Kate Burdick, Staff Attorney, Juvenile Law Center

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Presenters / Panelists

Phil Harris, Temple University Simon Gonsoulin, American Institutes for Research

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Why provide quality education services to youth in custody?

• All incarcerated youth are entitled to quality education services by law.

• Education is crime prevention.

• Education provides economic stimulus.

• Higher levels of education are associated with more positive adult outcomes.

• School connectedness is related to resilience in adolescents.

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• Survey disseminated to all 50 states

• 3 main questions:– What services are provided?

– What outcomes are collected?

– What supports are provided for transitions?

• Findings, recommendations, and examples

2015 National SurveyCouncil of State Governments

https://csgjusticecenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/LOCKED_OUT_Improving_Educational_and_Vocational_Outcomes_for_Incarcerated_Youth.pdf

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What types of programs are available to youth in custody?

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• Most incarcerated youth do not have access to the same educational and vocational services as their peers in the community and do not attend schools that have the same rigorous curriculum and student performance standards as traditional public schools.

• Most states do not collect, track, and report student outcome data for incarcerated youth in all facility schools.

• Policies and practices employed in most states make it especially challenging for youth released from incarceration to make an effective transition to community-based educational or vocational services.

Key Findings

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Research: Recidivism of adult inmates

• Based on analysis of 17 studies of academic education programs and four studies of vocational education programs administered to adults, Aos found that participants have lower rates of recidivism than their nonparticipant peers.

• Academic program participation was associated with a 7 percent reduction in recidivism, and vocational program participation was associated with a 9 percent reduction in recidivism.

Aos, Miller, & Drake, Evidence-Based Adult Corrections Programs: What Works and What Does Not, Olympia, Wash.: Washington State Institute for Public Policy, #06-01-1201, January 2006.

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Research: Education effects

• In 2013 RAND researchers conducted a meta-analysis of 58 eligible evaluations of educational interventions implemented within adult correctional facilities

• This study (mainly focusing on adult offenders) reported between 13% and 43% of offenders who participated in correctional education programs lowered their odds of recidivating

Davis, Bozick, Steele, & Saunders, (2013). Evaluating the Effectiveness of Correctional Education: A Meta-Analysis of Programs that Provide Education to Incarcerated Adults. Santa Monica: RAND

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Research: Achievement effects, Juveniles

• Youth with above average academic achievement while incarcerated were significantly more likely to return to school post-release, and youth with above average attendance in public school were significantly less likely to be re-arrested in the 1-year post-release period.

• The preventive effects of school attendance were similar across sex and race.

• Blomberg, Bales, & Piquero, (2012). Is Educational Achievement a Turning Point for Incarcerate Delinquents Across Race and Sex. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 41, 202-216.

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RESEARCH: Specific Methods, Juveniles

• Found only 18 eligible studies; note difficulty conducting experimental research in juvenile correctional settings

• Outcomes: academic performance in reading or mathematics, diploma completion, post-release employment and post-release recidivism

• Findings:

1. computer assisted instruction raised reading comprehension

2. personalized learning improved diploma completion and post-release employment

• Personalized Learning involves academic instruction, vocational learning opportunities, continuity in mentoring between residence and reentry

Steele, Jennifer L., Bozick, Robert, & Davis, Lois M. (2016). Education for Incarcerated Juveniles: A Meta-Analysis. Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk, 21(2), 65-89.

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Research: Special Education

• Special education prevalence rates (38.15%) in juvenile facilities are disproportionate when compared to students with disabilities in public schools

• Students with emotional-behavioral disorders and learning disabilities comprised an overwhelming majority of the students with disabilities

• However, principals in juvenile facilities overwhelmingly reported an emphasis on helping students attain a high school diploma and place little emphasis on vocational education

• Other research has shown that those students who completed vocational training or a GED program while confined were twice as likely to be employed six months after their release

Gagnon J, Barber B, Van Loan C, Leone P. Juvenile Correctional Schools: Characteristics and Approaches to Curriculum. Education & Treatment Of Children [serial online]. November 2009;32(4):673-696. Available from: Academic Search Complete, Ipswich, MA.

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US DOJ/DOE Correctional Education Guidance Package 2014

• Right to high quality education services

• Special Education services

• Guidance on the use of solitary confinement andthe right of youth in restrictive housing to full-time education services

• Use of Pell Grants for postsecondary education

• https://ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/correctional-education/index.html

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Guiding Principles for Providing High Quality Education in a Secure Setting

• Principle One

• A safe, healthy facility-wide climate thatprioritizes education, provides the conditionsfor learning, and encourages the necessarybehavioral and social support services thataddress the individual needs of all youths,including those with disabilities and Englishlearners.

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Guiding Principles for Providing High Quality Education in a Secure Setting

Principle Two

• Necessary funding to support educational opportunities for all youths within long-term secure care facilities, including those with disabilities and English learners, comparable to opportunities for peers who are not system-involved.

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Guiding Principles for Providing High Quality Education in a Secure Setting

Principle Three

• Recruitment, employment, and retention of qualified education staff with skills relevant in juvenile justice settings who can positively impact long-term student outcomes through demonstrated abilities to create and sustain effective teaching and learning environments.

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Guiding Principles for Providing High Quality Education in a Secure Setting

Principle Four

• Rigorous and relevant curricula aligned with state academic and career and technical education standards that utilize instructional methods, tools, materials, and practices that promote college- and career-readiness.

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Guiding Principles for Providing High Quality Education in a Secure Setting

Principle Five

• Formal processes and procedures – through statutes, memoranda of understanding, and practices – that ensure successful navigation across child-serving systems and smooth reentry into communities.

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US DOJ/DOE Transition Guidance Package 2016

• The Transition Toolkit 3.0 for practitioners and policymakers, Meeting the Education Needs of Youth Exposed to the Juvenile Justice System

• A website for educators, families, facilities, and community agencies, Improving Outcomes for Youth With Disabilities in Juvenile Corrections

• A resource guide designed for incarcerated youth reentering the community after leaving a juvenile justice facility, You Got This: Educational Pathways for Youth Transitioning from Juvenile Justice Facilities

• A fact sheet describing new data on correctional education from the Civil Rights Data Collection

• https://www.ed.gov/jjreentry

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NDTAC’s Transition Toolkit 3.0

• NDTAC’s Transition Toolkit brings together strategies, existing practices, and updated resources and documents on transition to facilitate high-quality transition services for children and youth moving into, through, and out of juvenile justice education programs.

• http://www.neglected-delinquent.org/sites/default/files/NDTAC-TransitionToolkit30FINAL.pdf

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Blueprint for Change: Education Success for Youth in the 

Juvenile Justice System

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Legal Center for Youth Justice & Education

The Legal Center for Youth Justice and Education (LCYJE) is a national collaboration of 

◦ Southern Poverty Law Center

◦ Juvenile Law Center,

◦ Education Law Center‐PA, and the 

◦ American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law. 

Our mission is to ensure that all youth in and returning from the juvenile and criminal justice systems can access a quality education. We build collaborations among juvenile justice and education professionals, highlight innovative strategies, and work to reshape federal, state, and local policies.

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Blueprint for Change

Education Success 

for Youth in the Juvenile Justice System

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About the BlueprintPresents 10 goals that set forth the broad framework for promoting education success for young people involved in the juvenile justice system

Correlating Benchmarks for each Goal that, if achieved, would indicate progress toward improving educational outcomes

Examples of resources & promising policies, practices for each goal

Available as a searchable website at www.jjeducationblueprint.org

Goals and Benchmarks available as a pdf: http://jlc.org/sites/default/files/publication_pdfs/YouthJusticeBlueprintGoals_6‐27‐17.pdf

General Resources: https://www.jjeducationblueprint.org/general‐resources

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Overview of the Blueprint 10 Goals

1: Youth Voice

2: Adult Support

3: Educated in Community

4: Full Opportunities in Community

5: Quality Education in Facilities

6: Supportive School Environments

7: Career Pathways

8: Post‐Secondary Access

9: Smooth Transitions

10: Protecting Especially Vulnerable Youth

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Blueprint Goals, 1 ‐ 51:  Youth are informed and entrusted to make decisions about their own education and future.

2:  Youth have adult support in their education before, during and after involvement in the juvenile justice system.

3: After being charged or adjudicated delinquent, youth remain in the same school whenever feasible or enroll in a new school in their home community.

4:  Youth involved in the juvenile justice system who are educated in the community receive access to the full range of educational opportunities and supports.

5:  Youth in juvenile justice placements receive a high quality educational experience that enables them to stay on track academically.

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Blueprint Goals, 6‐106:  Youth in juvenile justice placements are educated in a supportive, positive school environment where they feel safe and have a voice.

7:  Youth have access to high quality career pathways programs, especially in juvenile justice placements.

8:  Youth receive supports to prepare for, enter, and complete post‐secondary education and training.

9:  Youth have smooth transitions between home schools and schools in juvenile justice placements and receive effective reentry planning and supports.

10: All marginalized youth – and particularly youth of color, youth with disabilities, girls, LGBQ youth, gender expansive and transgender youth, English Language Learners, youth who are involved with both child welfare and juvenile justice systems, and those with intersectional identities – are educated in their home schools rather than being disproportionately assigned to juvenile justice placements, and receive the services, support and protections they need to address their unique barriers to educational success.

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5:  Youth in juvenile justice placements receive a high quality educational experience that enables them to stay on track academically.

•Benchmarks: https://www.jjeducationblueprint.org/goal‐5‐quality‐education‐in‐facilities

•Benchmark Themes• Assessing youth educational needs upon entering juvenile justice facilities and providing programs and services that are responsive to the needs

• Obtaining records immediately; at beginning of placement and at transfer

• High quality academics and state‐aligned curriculum as provided in traditional public schools

• Appropriate educational supports based on student need (special education, ESOL instruction, remedial education, credit recovery, access to AP/IB classes, gifted education). 

• Year‐around education in placement settings

• No denial of education because of disciplinary reasons

• Access to technology; internet 

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5:  Youth in juvenile justice placements receive a high quality educational experience that enables them to stay on track academically.

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5:  Youth in juvenile justice placements receive a high quality educational experience that enables them to stay on track academically.

The Missouri Approach

• MO Department of Youth Services is fully accredited as a  free standing school district

• Youth receive educational services guided by personalized educational plans developed by DYS staff with parents and youth.

• Youth attend school full‐time, twelve months per year in small classes with individualized learning. 

• Students recover academic standing and units of high school credit

• Transition supports

• Intensive aftercare planning prior to release and staff monitor and mentor youth closely following release and work to reenroll them in school

National – State Correctional Education Self‐Assessment, Center for Parent Information and Resources

• Tool for self‐assessing a state’s existing special education and related services provided to youth with disabilities in juvenile detention facilities. The SCES also helps states develop and track necessary next steps for improving and expanding their educational programs. 

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Contact Information

Kate Burdick, Esq.Juvenile Law Center1315 Walnut StreetPhiladelphia,  PA215‐625‐0551 

kburdick@jlc.org

Nadia Mozaffar, Esq.Juvenile Law Center1315 Walnut StreetPhiladelphia,  PA215‐625‐0551 

nmozaffar@jlc.org