EBD Blog

In “Juvenile prison system needs reform, lawyers say: Advocates urge a judge to appoint a receiver to take over a system they say remains broken despite long-standing promises to fix it,” Michael Rothfeld reports that lawyers told a judge that long-standing problems with prisons for California youth apparently have failed and more drastic action is needed. Published in the Los Angeles (CA, US) Times 18 February 2008, Mr. Rothfeld’s report includes specific concerns about students with disabilities, many of whom are likely to have Emotional and Behavioral Disorders.

Mr Rothfeld’s article includes some recognition of these problems:

* Students do not attend classes the required four hours a day; they often are removed from classrooms for misbehaving, for work assignments or for counseling. At one prison school, 347 classes were canceled between August and October last year because there were not enough substitute teachers.

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* A plan to accommodate youths with disabilities suffered from a lack of leadership and funding. Staffers never received disability sensitivity training, and working groups that were to integrate programs for the disabled with other services were never convened. In two facilities, accessible visiting areas for the disabled were supposed to be in place in 2006, but were not.

Although many people probably have little sympathy for juveniles who have been convicted of crimes and incarcerated, education—especially those with disabilities—is fundamental to any reasoned hope of their rehabilitation. Furthermore, students with disabilities, including those in prisons, are legally guaranteed a free and appropriate public education. So, all of our usual concerns should apply to these schooling situations.

Having observed education services in one such institution, I have heightened concern about problems in juvenile justice system. I saw many failures to provide appropriate services. To be sure, some of them were linked to failure to adopt the kinds of methods discussed on Teach Effectively, but others were simple and clear failures to meet the letter and spirit of laws such as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

• Link to Mr. Rothfeld ’s article.
• Some of the other materials available regarding this case: Second (June 2006) and Fifth Report of Special Master(October 2007; Donna Brorby, Special Master and Cathleen Beltz, Monitor).
• National Center on Education and Juvenile Justice
• Some academic references:
  • Howell, K. W., & Wolford, B. I. (2002). Corrections and juvenile justice: Current education practice for youth with learning and other disabilities. Washington, DC: U. S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency. Available on-line at http://www.edjj.org.
  • Leone, P. E., Zaremba, B. A., Chapin, M. S., & Isili, C. (1995). Understanding the overrepresentation of youths with disabilities in juvenile detention. District of Columbia Law Review, 3, 389-401.
  • Malmgren, K., & Leone, P. E. (2000). Effects of a short-term auxiliary reading program on the reading skills of incarcerated youth. Education and Treatment of Children, 23, 239-247.
  • Murphy, D. M. (1986). The prevalence of handicapping conditions among juvenile delinquents. RASE: Remedial & Special Education, 7(3), 7-17.
  • Quinn, M. M., Rutherford, R. B., Leone, P. E., Osher, D. M., & Poirier, J. M. (2005). Youth with disabilities in Juvenile Corrections: A national survey. Exceptional Children, 71, 339-345.
  • Snowling, M. J., Adams, J. W., & Bowyer-Crane, C. (2000). Levels of literacy among juvenile offenders: The incidence of specific reading difficulties. Criminal Behaviour & Mental Health, 10, 229-241.
  • Robinson, T. R, & Rapport, M. J. K. (1999). Providing special education in the juvenile justice system. RASE: Remedial & Special Education, 20(1), 19-26.
  • Tulman, J. B. (2003). Disability and delinquency: How failures to identify, accommodate, and serve youth with education-related disabilities leads to their disproportionate representation in the delinquency system. Whittier Journal of Child And Family Advocacy, 3(1), 3-76.