Meeting Special Education Needs of Adolescents in the Arizona Department of Corrections (From Correctional Education - A Focus on Success, 1983, Helen E Pecht, ed. - See NCJ-95891)

• NCJ Number: 95900
• Author(s): C A Karkash
• Date Published: 1984
• Length: 10 pages
• Publication Format: Document
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Interviews with Arizona Department of Corrections administrators and analysis of their programs for adolescents showed that approximately 62 percent of the juvenile correctional population were identified as handicapped in 1981-82, but only 21 percent of this group received special education services.

Abstract

While handicapped students constitute a significant proportion of incarcerated youth nationwide, programs for these offenders have been limited. Of the 220 youth from Arizona's juvenile corrections population identified as needing special education services, 58 percent were classified as emotionally disturbed, 12 percent as learning disabled, 5 percent as educable mentally retarded, and 4.5 percent as speech impaired. Factors contributing to the Department of Corrections' inability to serve this population include lack of funds, inadequate number of facilities, the transitory nature of the population, shortage of qualified personnel, and difficulties in complying with PL 94-142 in relation to obtaining parental consent. The Department estimates that additional discretionary funds will allow it to serve 68 percent of those offenders identified as handicapped in 1982-83. Also contributing to to the problem are limited interagency cooperation, lack of expertise among staff in identifying the need for special education services, and little collaboration between the Corrections Department and the university system to train persons to work with incarcerated juveniles. The paper contains 10 references.