Addressing the Unmet Educational Needs of Children and Youth in the Juvenile Justice and Child Welfare Systems

• NCJ Number: 230844
• Author(s): Peter Leone; Lois Weinberg
• Date Published: May 2010
• Length: 74 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: American Institutes for Research; Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative
• Corporate Author: Center for Juvenile Justice Reform
• Sale Source: Center for Juvenile Justice Reform
• Publication Format: Document
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This paper intends to foster more collaboration among child-serving agencies (child welfare and juvenile justice agencies) in order to improve educational outcomes for children who are neglected, delinquent, and at risk for such conditions.

Abstract

The introductory chapter provides an overview of the status of education and well-being among adults, children in the foster care system and juvenile justice system, and "crossover" youth, along with the Nation's obligation to these youth. This is followed by a chapter that reviews educational and other outcomes for the following categories of children and youth in the foster care and juvenile justice systems: young children, school-age children, children in special education, and children who drop out of school. This chapter also discusses associations among race, ethnicity, poverty, and school quality. The third chapter identifies barriers to improving school performance for foster care and delinquent youth. Barriers identified include mobility in these systems, the lack of coordination and collaboration across agencies, the lack of communication and collaboration in juvenile detention facilities, and inappropriate school services. The fourth chapter reviews legal and policy reforms in recent years that have impacted educational services for children and youth in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. These reforms are categorized under Federal legislation, State legislation, litigation, and voluntary initiatives. Chapter 5 describes various evidence-based interventions to improve educational outcomes for young children and school-age children and youth. This is followed by a chapter that describes emerging options and alternatives for Federal and State-level collaborative efforts as well as other collaborative efforts intended to improve education services for foster care and delinquent children and youth. The concluding chapter proposes ways to address the education needs of vulnerable children and youth and how to design education systems that more adequately serve vulnerable youth. Approximately 200 references