Dive Brief:
- The Center for Educational Excellence in Alternative Settings, or CEEAS, will take over education this month at New Orleans’ juvenile detention facility, aiming to transform the education opportunities for students who are with them for as little as two weeks or for almost two years.
- According to a Hechinger Report story republished by The New Orleans Advocate, CEEAS staff plan to update individualized education plans for detainees, many of whom have special education or mental health needs, so that when they go back to their other schools, teachers will have more information about their needs in the classroom.
- Like many education programs in juvenile detention facilities, the New Orleans’ Youth Study Center was long known for its poor educational opportunities for kids, but from 2010 to 2014, major changes came after a lawsuit and negotiated settlement that CEEAS will build upon when it takes over.
Dive Insight:
The Obama administration encouraged juvenile detention centers in 2014 to improve education quality for students detained there. This included reminding centers of their responsibilities to provide equal access to academic coursework and career and technical education, language supports for those learning English, appropriate accommodations for those with disabilities, and open communication with all parents and family members about the education program. Joint guidance from the Departments of Justice and Education also included a package of resources for such programs.
The Every Student Succeeds Act creates more accountability measures to qualify for continued federal funding. Juvenile justice facilities will have to document their procedures for helping students re-enroll in schools in a timely manner and states will have to prove student detainees have access to credit-bearing coursework, steps advocates say are in the right direction but not necessarily enough.