Juvenile Justice and Special Education
Project Description:
With funding from the Arc of Washington Trust Fund, this study will look at the relationship between disciplinary actions in public education and school-related arrest or referral to law enforcement for youth with intellectual/developmental disabilities. The study has two components as described below.The first phase will explore the relationship between school discipline and juvenile justice by analyzing currently existing national data that has been collected by the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) in the Federal Department of Education. The Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) reports enrollment and placement information including specific data on race, ethnicity, sex, disability, and Limited English Proficiency (LEP) as well as suspension and expulsion. It also includes details of disciplinary actions related to students with and without disabilities, incidence of harassment and bullying on the basis of disability, and the use of seclusion and restraint. Further data about the number of school related arrests and police referrals for students with disabilities are also detailed. This OCR report will allow us to examine Washington State schools data specifically from 2000, 2004, 2006 and the most recent survey from 2009-10. The second phase of the study uses a qualitative research methodology to explore the special education history prior to the time youth with intellectual/developmental disabilities enter Juvenile Rehabilitation Administration (JRA) facilities, as well as services during their current incarceration. We will review five to ten special education files of youth currently incarcerated in JRA facilities in Washington State. These reviews will allow us to note any factors or patterns that may help explain the relationship between special education and the juvenile justice involvement. Although this is a very small sample, it should give us much needed information to help inform future research.
Core Function(s):
Performing Research or Evaluation
Area of Emphasis
Education & Early Intervention, Health-Related Activities
Target Audience:
Professionals and Para-Professionals, Family Members/Caregivers, Adults with Disabilities, Children/Adolescents with Disabilities/SHCN, Legislators/Policy Makers, General Public
Unserved or Under-served Populations:
None
Primary Target Audience Geographic Descriptor:
National
COVID-19 Related Data:
N/A
