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10/29/2019
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10/29/2019
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Disability and Juvenile Justice Involvement: Federal Law, Challenges, and Opportunities for
Interagency Collaboration
Mid-Atlantic ADA Center Conference
November 14th, 2019, 3:30 – 5:00 PM
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Presenters
Matthew Saleh, J.D., Ph.D.
Research Associate, Cornell University Yang-Tan Institute
Instructor, Disability Studies
Research contributions by LaWanda Cook and Angela Uribe
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What is Y-TAC?
The Vocational Rehabilitation Youth Technical Assistance Center (Y-TAC) provides training and technical assistance to State VR Agencies
• to help them find and engage youth with disabilities (YwD) who are not in special education; and
• to help them find and engage as well as YwD who are no longer in school and not employed.
Y-TAC Partners: Institute for Educational Leadership (IEL), Cornell University’s Yang-Tan Institute, Boston University’s School of Education
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Learning Objectives
• Learn how federal law (ADA, Section 504, IDEA) applies in the juvenile justice (JJ) context
• Summarize trends in JJ involvement and re-entry for youth with disabilities, including future work, education, and community involvement outcomes
• Discuss issues of intersectional identities for youth with disabilities involved in the JJ system
• Brainstorm interagency collaborations and other innovative approaches to improving outcomes for at-risk or JJ-involved youth with disabilities
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Session Overview
• Trends: Disproportionate representation of disability in JJ setting
• Demographics: Intersectionality of disability and other demographics (race, gender, SES, etc.)
• Federal legal requirements: ADA, Rehab. Act, IDEA, and other laws governing the rights of JJ-involved youth
• Solutions: Summarize re-entry interventions, with outcomes like future work, education, and community involvement outcomes
• Reflection & Group Work: Brainstorm interagency collaborations that can improve outcomes for at-risk or JJ-involved youth
• Q & A
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Key Trends
• Disability an important, often overlooked, intersecting identity in JJ trends
• U.S. incarcerates more individuals than any other country in the world (Institute for Criminal Policy Research, 2016)
• People with disabilities experience incarceration at rates far exceeding their representation in the general population (McCauley, 2017)
• Occupants of state and federal prisons are nearly 3x as likely to have some disability as the general population, and 4x as likely to have a cognitive disability (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2015)
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Key Trends (cont.)
• Multiple marginalized identities can compound social, economic, and environmental barriers associated with having an impairment, increasing the risk factors for JJ involvement
• McCauley (2017): there exists a “statistically significant difference in the cumulative probability of arrest between those without and with disabilities”
• Difference most pronounced in African Americans, where youth/ young adults without disabilities had a 37.3% cumulative probability of arrest by age 28, while those with a disability had a 55.2% probability (McCauley, 2017).
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Key Trends (cont.)2
• National Council on Disability (2015) estimates that 85% of people in detention facilities have some type of learning and/or emotional disability
• Only 37% of whom received the assistance they needed in school (NCD, 2015)
• Estimates for the representation of incarcerated youth with disabilities range from 30% to 70% (U.S. Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, 2017)
• African American youth make up 18.7% of the total population served under the IDEA, but 49.9% of the IDEA population in correctional facilities (IDEA Data Center, 2012)
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Context of JJ-Involvement
“[Many youth] enter correctional facilities with a range of intense educational, mental health, medical, and social needs…have experienced school failure…and are also disproportionately male, poor, minority, and have significant learning and/or behavioral problems.”
- Leone, Meisel, & Drakeford (2002, p. 46)
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Federal Legal Requirements• Stage in the delinquency process matters in determining which disability
issues that should be considered (Geis, 2014): • Referral: Transmission of records (discipline), Behavior as a manifestation of the
disability• Interrogation: Comprehension level/ability (evaluations & IEP), manner of questioning,
Miranda waiver and confession• Charge & arrest: Mitigation/manifestation, intent, discrimination in arrest/charge,
arrest/restraint comports with IEP?• Detention hearing: Facility meets special needs/appropriate services provided for in
IEP? Placement consistent with LRE? Accommodations/assistive services?• Pre-adjudication, Adjudication, Plea: Accommodations and assistive services in the
courtroom, comprehension (evaluations) • Disposition: Ongoing education, developmental, and behavioral needs, services
(education and transition related), LRE• Re-entry: Comport with IEP provisions and review? Ongoing educational evaluation (3
years)? Parent involvement, transition planning. Did placement exacerbate behaviors or educational progress? Were appropriate, IDEA compliant services provided?
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Federal Legal Requirements: ADA
• Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990
• Requires that youth with disabilities involved in JJ access equivalent services and treatment as youth without disabilities
• Under the ADA, child welfare agencies can’t deprive a youth with a disability family- or community-based placement, independent living services, permanency planning, or other services available to youth without disabilities
• Therefore, case workers, service providers, and JJ settings must make reasonable accommodations to allow full access to services and programming
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Federal Legal Requirements: ADA (cont.)
• Youth with disabilities in JJ settings are often relegated to more restrictive settings, separated from the community and services they need…ADA does not allow this (Juvenile Law Center, 2017)
• Examples of services/programming that may require reasonable accommodations (Juvenile Law Center, 2017):
• Hearing-impaired child may need an interpreter to attend financial literacy classes
• Teen with cerebral palsy may need a wheelchair ramp to access a foster family’s home
• Youth with an anxiety disorder may need one-on-one support to practice basic life skills
Source: https://jlc.org/news/powerful-tool-change-child-welfare-and-justice-systems-americans-disabilities-act
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Federal Legal Requirements: IDEA
• JJ youth with disabilities are more likely to have gaps in school completion, post-school employment, and entry to higher education institutions (National Evaluation and Technical Assistance Center, 2014)
• They also often enter JJ settings with lower academic and social outcomes, grades, attendance rates, diploma completion, as well as communication-skills deficits (NETAC, 2014)
• Many youth involved in JJ have education-related disabilities and are eligible for special education and related services under the IDEA
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Federal Legal Requirements: IDEA (cont.)
• IDEA Part B applies to states, state educational agencies (SEAs), and public agencies (including local educational agencies (LEAs), and responsible non-educational public agencies
• Except where there is a specific exception, all IDEA protections apply to students with disabilities in JJ settings
• “Supporting effective and accountable education for incarcerated and at-risk youth can result in cost savings to the public and enable troubled youth to obtain an education and enhance their future employment options and life choices” (U.S. DOE, OSERS, 2014)
• The fact that a young person is charged/convicted of a crime doesn’t diminish their IDEA substantive rights or procedural safeguards and remedies
Source: https://sites.ed.gov/idea/files/idea-letter.pdf
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Federal Legal Requirements: IDEA (cont.)2
• The IDEA system of identification, evaluation, service delivery, and review has important relevance to JJ professionals
• Shared purpose of providing individualized services designed to meet the needs of young person under the purview of a government agency
• Enhanced behavioral intervention and transition service needs requirements in the 1997 IDEA amendments, as well as documentation of service needs and ongoing assessment of progress
• Important to be mindful of IDEA and FERPA overlap in transmission of special education and disciplinary records to authorities during a criminal justice referral
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Federal Legal Requirements: IDEA (cont.)3
• IDEA requirements during disposition phase (U.S. DOJ, 2000)
• Education is one of the most important services the JJ system offers; importance for re-entry and transition outcomes
• Where special education needs are evident, they should guide disposition orders, and disposition planning should be coordinated with education professionals, Child Find required
• Court/administrative decisions have applied IDEA protections to youth in juvenile detention centers and training schools and those in jails and prisons (Youth Law Center, 1999)
• Court oversight is often essential at disposition phase
Source: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/179359.pdf
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Federal Legal Requirements: IDEA (cont.)4
• For out-of-home placements, courts have discretion to seek assurances that facilities meet IDEA educational requirements. LRE placement might also consider setting and disability-specific issues
• Where a disposition plan needs to be modified, changes should be coordinated with the youth’s IEP team…if a current placement is not meeting educational needs, courts should order changes or even terminate juvenile court jurisdiction where necessary
• “Dozens of decisions, rulings, and consent decrees address a range of issues, including identification of youth with disabilities, access to educational records, evaluation, IEP development, service delivery, staff qualifications, and timelines for compliance with required components in the special education program” (U.S. DOJ, 2000)
Source: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/179359.pdf
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Federal Legal Requirements: IDEA (cont.)5
• Challenges to providing special education services to youth in custody:
• Length of stay
• Location of facility and parent involvement
• Physical layout of a facility (and movement between facilities)
• Security issues
• Interagency communication
• Screening/Child Find by Staff, Probation Officers, Regular Education Staff…common problem in short-term facilities is insufficient staffing or requisite qualifications to perform evaluations (should coordinate with LEA in such instances)
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Federal Legal Requirements: IDEA (cont.)6
• Need for staff trained to recognize students who may have disabilities, take immediate steps to initiate referral for evaluation
• Issues of parental consent for evaluation (and honoring requests for reevaluation), information relevant to identification/referral gathered at one facility should be forwarded to next placement
• Length of stay does not make a facility exempt from eval. requirements
• Interim services and IEP implementation: existing/new IEP in accordance with federal law; same as a school district would have to do; if IEP is modified, comparable interim services must be provided; IEP implemented as soon as possible, some states have maximum allowable time for interim services; existing IEP is strong evidence that youth is eligible for services…if IEP is no longer appropriate, a new program must be developed ASAP
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Federal Legal Requirements: IDEA (cont.)7
• Transition service needs implemented in IEP beginning at least by age 14 (or younger if determined appropriate) and should be coordinated with planning for parole or release
• Where appropriate must include plans for employment or future education
• Positive behavioral intervention requirements
• Extended school year services if needed ensure FAPE under IEP
• LRE requirement (no generic special education program), cannot discriminate by making students choose between special education services and other programming (e.g., vocational courses)
• Continued use of procedural safeguards (e.g., manifestation determination)
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Federal Legal Requirements: WIOA
• WIOA places renewed emphasis on meaningful collaboration among the workforce development system, VR, and others to ensure that “a full range of services is available, regardless of disability or cultural background” (U.S. Dep of Ed, 2017)
• Challenges exist in coordinating workforce development with VR, juvenile justice, foster care, and MH
• Youth exiting these systems are most likely to experience service gaps, due to school dropout (Kirk & Sampson, 2013; Hook & Courtney, 2011), aging out of particular systems or services (Geenen & Powers, 2007), homelessness (Fowler, Toro, & Wallace, 2009), and systems avoidance
• Importance of interagency communications and collaborations
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Strategies for Serving JJ-Involved Youth
• National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for Youth’s Guideposts for Success
• School-based preparatory experiences
• Career preparation and work-based experiences
• Youth development and leadership
• Connecting activities
• Family involvement and supports
2008 Practice Guide: Making the Right Turn: A Guide about Improving Transition Outcomes for Youth Involved in the Juvenile Corrections System
2018-2019 Updated Research Briefs based on the guide: Incarcerated Youth, Post-Exit Supports, Prevention and Diversion,
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School-Based Preparatory Experiences
• Secure care facilities need highly qualified general and special education teachers compensated at the same rate as teachers in public schools
• Juvenile correctional schools should collaborate with the local school district and state department of education to ensure that the curriculum, materials, and instruction are compatible with local/state standards
• Schools within juvenile correctional facilities must also be held accountable for providing a FAPE
• For youth with disabilities, individual transition plans should be developed, specific and individual learning accommodations ought to be accessible, and highly qualified transitional support staff should be provided
Source: ncwd-youth.info/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/making_the_right_turn.pdf
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Career Preparation & Work-Based Services
• JJ-involved youth can benefit from comprehensive vocational programming Appropriate, individualized career and technical education programs should be developed and implemented within the juvenile correctional facilities
• Career preparation and work-based experiences may be provided on and off facility grounds via collaborations with correctional officers, local community organizations, educators, and employers
• Graduated release programs permit youth to leave the facility during the day and start to transition back to school on a part-time basis and ensuring the availability of tutorial services and enrichment programs; if partial release is not feasible, technology can be used to establish a virtual career exploration and simulation of the work environment in order to teach job skills
• Job development specialists could help the youth attain needed training with regard to the access of resources for work upon release
Source: ncwd-youth.info/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/making_the_right_turn.pdf
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Youth Development & Leadership
• Adult-youth and peer-to-peer mentoring activities could establish important relationships for justice-involved youth
• In particular, older youth transitioning from juvenile corrections back to the community, school, or employment can serve as positive role models
• Additionally, each youth should be provided with a highly individualized transition upon entry to a juvenile correctional facility
• Such a plan must be developed with input from the youth in order to consider his or her unique needs
Source: ncwd-youth.info/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/making_the_right_turn.pdf
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Connecting Activities
• Collaboration, clear description of roles, and ongoing communication between agencies (e.g., mental health, education, youth development, parole officers)
• Especially crucial for youth with emotional disabilities, as the support they receive can have a meaningful impact on recidivism and participation in school or work upon release
• Recommends that youth be given the opportunity to go back to their home public school (e.g., Virginia has a comprehensive plan to help youth transition for juvenile corrections to schools with a re-enrollment plan, re-enrollment team and coordinator, procedures for sharing academic information, a timeline outlining when procedures will be completed, and support following re-enrollment)
• To help ease this transition, juvenile correctional facilities and public schools should collaborate to develop an exit document that summarizes the student’s academic progress for public schools
Source: ncwd-youth.info/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/making_the_right_turn.pdf
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Family Involvement & Supports
• JJ-involved youth need well-informed family members/caregivers who can advocate for them
• Facilities and programs committed to engaging families in rehabilitative services, and constant opportunities for family participation and input at every step in the juvenile justice process
• Following IDEA guidelines for parental involvement
• Strategies for situations where parents/family members are less engaged
• Due to the challenges of detention, correctional facilities must allow and promote alternative means of involvement for families, especially in decision-making processes
Source: ncwd-youth.info/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/making_the_right_turn.pdf
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Strategies for Re-Entry
• Office of Special Education Programs (n.d.) prioritizes collaboration between LEAs & JJ system; creative approaches to ensuring family participation & consideration of foster care involved youth
• OSEP suggests that re-entry planning begin as soon as youth arrive at a juvenile facility and ought to outline transitions issues including academic, career, and educational goals
• Focus on youth outcomes, including those specified in IEP; outcomes planning is not a one-off event, but should be continuously revisited in order to reflect youth’s ongoing strengths, needs & challenges
• Individualized Transition Plan’s (ITP) that focus on successful outcomes like school or work attendance, avoiding recidivism, and positive engagement with family and the community; should identify necessary services for the transition incorporating community, school, peers, family, teachers, and IEP
Source: osepideasthatwork.org/jj
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Interagency Collaboration
• Youth with disabilities will likely be served by various agencies; collaboration between correctional facilities and those agencies is essential for successful community reentry
• Correctional facilities ought to use interagency agreements to specify the responsibilities of the wide range of agencies involved in providing services
• Interagency agreements can help facilitate the exchange of information between correctional facilities and education agencies; for instance, interagency agreements can be used to address the financial responsibility of each agency, expedite transfer of records, resolve any disputes between the agencies, and deliver special education services
Source: osepideasthatwork.org/jj
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Programs Around the Country
• US: “Project Forum,” federally-funded project relying on best practices for serving court-involved youth with learning and behavioral disabilities, combining evidence-based strategies to aid youth with and without disabilities to successfully reenter their communities; recommendations included:
• Individualized transition plans with progress monitoring
• Direct academic instruction
• Vocational and life skills training
• Social skills training
• Timely transfer of records
• Implementation of behavior management systems, and cognitive therapy
Source: heath.gwu.edu/files/downloads/reentryprogsforswdinthejunvenilejusticesystem_fourstateapproaches.pdf
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Programs Around the Country 2
• Oregon: “Project Parole SUPPORT” gives youth with disabilities pre-released training and coordinated planning to support the youth’s transition back to the community; goal is to increase engagement in employment or school enrollment and decrease recidivism; transition specialist works closely with the youth and parole officers to develop plan that complements the parole plan, collaborating with VR counselors, treatment managers, parole officers, facility and community education staff
• Oregon: Also, “Project STAY OUT” focuses on self-determination skills, competitive employment, educational opportunities, instruction of social skills, and immediate service coordination access upon release
Source: heath.gwu.edu/files/downloads/reentryprogsforswdinthejunvenilejusticesystem_fourstateapproaches.pdf
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Programs Around the Country 3
• Arizona: “Arizona Secure Care Education Consortium” includes representatives from county juvenile detention facilities, the Supreme Court, Department of Juvenile Corrections, and Department of Corrections; created professional learning communities at 14 detention schools that focus on prerelease strategies to ensure successful transitions out of correctional facilities.
• Georgia: “Think Exit at Entry,” which involves youth in long-term correctional facilities; four phase program (intake review, ongoing activities, release review, exit) collaborative partnerships with Workforce Investment Board, VR, Technical Colleges, and employers)
• New York: “Y-RECONNECTS,” new initiative to create county-level communities of practice run through Cornell University’s Yang-Tan Institute, funded by the NYS Developmental Disabilities Planning Council.
Source: heath.gwu.edu/files/downloads/reentryprogsforswdinthejunvenilejusticesystem_fourstateapproaches.pdf
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Programs Around the Country 4• Arizona: “Project RISE” (Reentry Intervention and Support for Engagement) Two
key features: (1) hiring key personnel such as a Transition Specialist who is an expert in providing community resources to youth post-release, and Project Coordinator who is well-versed in community partners and employment agencies; (2) establishment of individualized goals for each youth
• Minnesota: “MAP Project” (Making a Map – Finding My Way Back); framework consists of five domains, including interagency collaboration, team planning, educational services, supporting youth’s life skills, and maintaining continuity during and after transition
• Arkansas: “Juvenile Education Initiative” aims to enhance educational services to youth in JJ facilities, especially those with disabilities; utilizes a web-based educational program that focuses on math and literacy skill development for youth aged 10-18; provides instructional guidelines to educational staff
Source: heath.gwu.edu/files/downloads/reentryprogsforswdinthejunvenilejusticesystem_fourstateapproaches.pdf
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Programs Around the Country 5
Multi-Site Model: The Right Turn Career-focused Transition Initiative led by the Institute for Educational Leadership, provides a career development process for youth with and without disabilities who are involved with or at risk of becoming involved with the juvenile justice system. Funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration (DOL-ETA), Right Turn is focused on serving high-crime and high-poverty communities across the country. Services are provided through collaborations involving non-profit and local organizations with expertise in career development, education, mentoring, youth development, juvenile justice, and disability. Sites currently operating in Los Angeles, CA; Houston, TX; Lansing, MI; and Nashville, TN.
Learn more: http://iel.org/rightturn
Source: heath.gwu.edu/files/downloads/reentryprogsforswdinthejunvenilejusticesystem_fourstateapproaches.pdf
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Reflection Question & Group Work
• What kind of collaborations can we think of that may be overlooked in the literature? Ones that weren’t mentioned in the presentation?
• What might these collaborations look like? Features, formal agreements, action planning, requirements for information and resource sharing?
• Break into small groups and come up with a plan with 5 action items.
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CONTACT US
For more information, contact us at
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.y-tac.org
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Sign up for our Y-TAC Newsletter!
Learn more about Y-TAC and stay up to date on the latest news and resources in the VR world!
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The Y-TAC is a project of the Institute for Educational Leadership, supported by the U. S. Department of Education's Rehabilitation Services Administration.
This document was developed by the Vocational Rehabilitation Youth Technical Assistance Center (Y-TAC), funded by a grant/contract/cooperative agreement from the U.S. Department of Education, Rehabilitation Services Administration (Award # H264H150006). The opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of the U.S. Department of Education. Nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply the endorsement by the U.S. Department of Education.
Note: There are no copyright restrictions on this document. However, please credit the source and support of Federal funds when copying all or part of this document.
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