The National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD) recently released a report that may be informative for State coordinators and partners in the NDTAC community: Unlocking Futures: Youth With Learning Disabilities and the Juvenile Justice System. This report addresses how youth with disabilities and learning disabilities in particular are disproportionately impacted by, and involved in, the juvenile legal system. As NCLD highlights, students with disabilities are almost three times more likely to be arrested than their nondisabled peers, and are estimated to make up between 30-60% of incarcerated youth. This phenomenon is even more severe for youth with disabilities who come from communities who are black, indigenous, and people of color. The report provides policy recommendations for addressing system challenges.
Safe & Supportive Learning Environments
This section provides information and resources for creating safe and supportive learning environments in which students can engage in their education, regardless of the setting.
Overview
Resources: Behavior Management Strategies
Resources: Dropout & Delinquency Prevention
Resources: Safety
Resources: School Discipline Policies
Resources: Student Support Services
Related Resources
Overview
A safe and supportive learning environment can improve student attendance and achievement—including rates of high school graduation—for students in both community schools and juvenile justice facilities. Such environments and appropriate discipline policies also can assist in reducing juvenile justice system involvement. The pages throughout offer resources to help providers improve learning environments through discipline, behavior and classroom management, student engagement, and school safety.
Featured Resources
Features from the Field is a monthly series of resources compiled by NDTAC in partnership with The Department of Education on topics relevant to Title I, Part D State coordinators. This month's resources cover promoting successful and supportive educational opportunities for children and their families. These resources focus on safe and supportive learning environments, bullying, school climate, trauma and wellness, equity and inclusion, family engagement, and cross-system coordination.
Features from the Field is a monthly series of resources compiled by NDTAC in partnership with The Department of Education on topics relevant to Title I, Part D State coordinators. This month's resources focus on the role of School Resource Officers in schools. These resources focus on the issues surrounding school policing programs and School Resource Officers and offer thoughts and recommendations to improve outcomes for those students who may be impacted by contact with law enforcement.
Website
NDTAC has compiled a list of links to Federal agencies, States, and national organizations that have dedicated webpages with COVID-19 related information. This page attempts to provide a centralized location to access these frequently asked questions and other information relevant to education and the field in general.
This third brief in the professional development (PD) series focuses on fostering a shared understanding of the fundamentals for creating and sustaining safe and supportive learning environments in juvenile justice settings and includes potential ideas for PD offerings that may enhance the conditions for learning plus social and emotional learning opportunities.
This brief, an update to the 2008 version, focuses on the four conditions for learning: 1) safety, 2) support, 3) social and emotional learning, and 4) engagement and challenge.
Behavior Management Strategies Resources
This NDTAC Family Engagement Toolkit provides useful templates for facilities to use to engage families in their child’s education. Tools 1–4 are intended for distribution to students' families, and tools 5-7 are intended for use by facility staff. All tool/templates are customizable to meet the unique needs of each facility and the families it serves.
Website
Features from the Field is a monthly series of resources compiled by NDTAC in partnership with The Department of Education on topics relevant to Title I, Part D State coordinators. This month's resources focus broadly on Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) in at-risk and juvenile justice settings, and cover strategies and recommendations for prevention and intervention within those settings using the tenets of SEL.
This third brief in the professional development (PD) series focuses on fostering a shared understanding of the fundamentals for creating and sustaining safe and supportive learning environments in juvenile justice settings and includes potential ideas for PD offerings that may enhance the conditions for learning plus social and emotional learning opportunities.
This brief reviews the prevalence of mental health issues among youth in the juvenile justice system, including: 1) the types of disorders among youth across juvenile justice settings, 2) the rates of adversity and trauma among these youth, and 3) the impact of these disorders on the system. The brief describes areas where the juvenile justice system can improve mental health supports and services for youth involved in or at risk of involvement in the system, along with recommendations for making such improvements.
This issue brief from NDTAC defines foundational concepts related to the implementation of multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) in residential juvenile facilities. It describes promising research and provides steps and considerations to review when making adaptations during the planning and implementation of an MTSS in facilities. It also highlights three programs that exemplify key concepts covered in the brief, such as obtaining youth and staff buy-in and measuring outcomes.
Website
The Technical Assistance Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) provides capacity-building information and technical assistance related to identifying, adapting, and sustaining effective schoolwide disciplinary practices.
This brief provides an overview of the link between student behavior and traditional school discipline responses and how both affect academic achievement. The brief also highlights PBIS as one alternative behavior management approach demonstrating promise for public schools and institutional settings.
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Website
The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) Model Programs Guide is a database of over 200 evidence-based programs.
Dropout & Delinquency Prevention Resources
This brief is designed to help State Coordinators, grantees involved in data collection or analyses, and personnel involved in the design of funded programs learn how to access, assess, and use their program data to achieve the outcomes that they have set for youth within their State or locality.
Website
This brief is intended to assist district leaders and school administrators -both at the district and school level- who are seeking to implement strategies designed to help students find meaning and build a lasting connection to their education. NDTAC is focused and committed to engagement in the classroom so every student can find educational success and acceptance.
This brief, an update to the 2008 version, focuses on the four conditions for learning: 1) safety, 2) support, 3) social and emotional learning, and 4) engagement and challenge.
Website
This fact sheet from the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Safe and Healthy Students provides information and related resources for schools on the topic of human trafficking.
Website
The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) Model Programs Guide is a database of over 200 evidence-based programs.
Safety Resources
Features from the Field is a monthly series of resources compiled by NDTAC in partnership with The Department of Education on topics relevant to Title I, Part D State coordinators. This month's resources focus on juvenile justice and COVID-19 and cover safety, learning and technology, and support services in facilities.
Website
NDTAC has compiled a list of links to Federal agencies, States, and national organizations that have dedicated webpages with COVID-19 related information. This page attempts to provide a centralized location to access these frequently asked questions and other information relevant to education and the field in general.
Website
NDTAC has compiled a list of links of state education agencies’ (SEA) webpages on COVID-19. Many SEAs have developed dedicated webpages for updates and frequently asked questions where they are attempting to centralize all COVID-19 related information. SEA pages are listed alphabetically below.
Website
Schools and communities contend with many factors that impact the conditions for learning, such as bullying, harassment, violence, and substance abuse. The Safe and Supportive Schools Technical Assistance Center is funded by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Safe and Healthy Students to help address such issues.
Website
Bullying, particularly among school-age children, is a major public health problem.
Website
This fact sheet from the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Safe and Healthy Students provides information and related resources for schools on the topic of human trafficking.
School Discipline Policies Resources
This NDTAC Family Engagement Toolkit provides useful templates for facilities to use to engage families in their child’s education. Tools 1–4 are intended for distribution to students' families, and tools 5-7 are intended for use by facility staff. All tool/templates are customizable to meet the unique needs of each facility and the families it serves.
NDTAC and the Supportive School Discipline Community of Practice produced this guide to help State, regional, and local organizations and agencies respond collaboratively to school discipline. The guide outlines nine essential steps for planning a summit focused on school discipline and includes links to numerous resources as well as a detailed planning worksheet. The guide is most useful for those who have not planned such a summit or who are in the early stages of summit planning.
Student Support Services Resources
The National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD) recently released a report that may be informative for State coordinators and partners in the NDTAC community: Unlocking Futures: Youth With Learning Disabilities and the Juvenile Justice System. This report addresses how youth with disabilities and learning disabilities in particular are disproportionately impacted by, and involved in, the juvenile legal system. As NCLD highlights, students with disabilities are almost three times more likely to be arrested than their nondisabled peers, and are estimated to make up between 30-60% of incarcerated youth. This phenomenon is even more severe for youth with disabilities who come from communities who are black, indigenous, and people of color. The report provides policy recommendations for addressing system challenges.
Features from the Field is a monthly series of resources compiled by NDTAC in partnership with The Department of Education on topics relevant to Title I, Part D State coordinators. This month's resources focus on juvenile justice and COVID-19 and cover safety, learning and technology, and support services in facilities.
Website
Features from the Field is a monthly series of resources compiled by NDTAC in partnership with The Department of Education on topics relevant to Title I, Part D State coordinators. This month's resources focus broadly on Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) in at-risk and juvenile justice settings, and cover strategies and recommendations for prevention and intervention within those settings using the tenets of SEL.
Website
This brief is intended to assist district leaders and school administrators -both at the district and school level- who are seeking to implement strategies designed to help students find meaning and build a lasting connection to their education. NDTAC is focused and committed to engagement in the classroom so every student can find educational success and acceptance.
This resource is the third in a series of three NDTAC Tipsheets that aim to address transition for youth who are incarcerated during COVID-19. This tipsheet will provide a summary of the main barriers to successful transitions and IEP implementation during the pandemic, as well as related strategies that may be useful to staff within juvenile justice facilities and local education agencies (LEAs) when supporting transitions for students with disabilities now and during future emergencies. Please additionally see Tipsheet #1: Effective Transition Back to School During COVID-19 and Tipsheet #2: Youth Who are Incarcerated: Transitions and Technology Use for additional information.
This NDTAC COVID series Tip Sheet, Justice-Impacted Youth Transitions and Technology Use, expands on prior ED/DOJ guidance for providing high-quality education in juvenile justice secure care settings as the Tipsheet underscores the importance of integrating technology to enhance digital learning opportunities that may lead to positive transition/academic outcomes for youth.
This resource is the second in a series of three NDTAC Tipsheets that address Transition for Youth who are Incarcerated During COVID-19. Please additionally see Tipsheet #1: Effective Transition Back to School During COVID-19 and Tipsheet #3: Incarcerated Youth Transitions and IEP Implementation.
NDTAC is pleased to announce the release of its latest issue brief, Substance Use, System-Involved Youth, and Our Educational System. Recent advances in neuroscience have broadened our understanding of adolescence, particularly during a time of heightened neuroplasticity in which the brain is highly malleable. This may be particularly true for youth involved in child welfare and juvenile justice systems, and presents both challenges and opportunities for parents, guardians, caring adults, educators, and professionals working within those systems.
This brief reviews the prevalence of mental health issues among youth in the juvenile justice system, including: 1) the types of disorders among youth across juvenile justice settings, 2) the rates of adversity and trauma among these youth, and 3) the impact of these disorders on the system. The brief describes areas where the juvenile justice system can improve mental health supports and services for youth involved in or at risk of involvement in the system, along with recommendations for making such improvements.
This issue brief from NDTAC defines foundational concepts related to the implementation of multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) in residential juvenile facilities. It describes promising research and provides steps and considerations to review when making adaptations during the planning and implementation of an MTSS in facilities. It also highlights three programs that exemplify key concepts covered in the brief, such as obtaining youth and staff buy-in and measuring outcomes.
Access to high-quality education for youth is critical to their long-term success as adults. Youth in juvenile justice secure care facilities, however, too often do not have access to the high-quality education and related supports and services that they need, particularly youth with disabilities residing in such facilities.
Website
The National Center provides training and technical assistance to grantees of the Safe Schools/Healthy Students and Project LAUNCH programs in order to strengthen their capacity to achieve their goals. Staff work with school districts and communities on initiatives that foster resilience, promote mental health, and prevent youth violence.
Website
Schools and communities contend with many factors that impact the conditions for learning, such as bullying, harassment, violence, and substance abuse. The Safe and Supportive Schools Technical Assistance Center is funded by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Safe and Healthy Students to help address such issues.
Related Resources
