U.S. Department of Education 

Office for Civil Rights

U.S. Department of Education | Office for Civil Rights | December 2, 2016

One of the first steps to successful reentry of youth to the community is ensuring that they have uninterrupted access to high quality education 

while in confinement. The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has made significant efforts to ensure that youth being educated 

in justice facilities that receive Federal funds from the Department – such as correctional facilities, detention centers, jails, and prisons – are not 

subjected to discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin (including status as English learners), sex, or disability.1 The following efforts 

are discussed below:

• OCR’s biennial survey of public schools, the Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC), collected data from approximately 630 justice facility 

educational programs in the 2013-14 school year to measure the educational conditions for youth in confinement.2

• OCR (in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ)) issued guidance in 2014 to justice facilities to remind them that the Federal 

civil rights laws, regulations, and guidance that prohibit discrimination against students in traditional public schools also apply to educational 

services and supports offered or provided to youth in justice facilities.3

• OCR investigates justice facilities to ensure compliance with civil rights laws and enters into strong resolution agreements when violations are 

found.

This document spotlights key data that inform OCR’s understanding of the quantity and quality of educational programs for youth in confinement 

across the country, and summarizes applicable civil rights guidance and a recent resolution agreement related to these issues.

Measuring Educational Conditions in Justice Facility Programs for Youth in Confinement

Although youth in confinement are often the students in the greatest need of academic, emotional, and behavioral supports, the data reported by 

justice facilities to the CRDC regarding the 2013-14 school year indicate that these students often receive less support than their peers who are not 

in confinement.

The number of hours and days of educational programming vary widely in justice facility educational programs.

• On average, justice facilities report offering 26 hours per week of educational programming during their regular school year. But more than one 

in seven justice facilities (15%) offers less than 20 hours per week during the school year – which is less than four hours each day in a five-day 

week. 

• While state requirements for public schools vary, the majority of states require 180 days of school instruction. More than one in five justice 

facilities (21%) reports having fewer than 180 days in a regular school year, and one in 20 justice facilities (5%) reports having fewer than 170 

days. By contrast, 24% of justice facilities report having more than 230 days in a regular school year, reflecting the year-round nature of these 

facilities.

Teachers who work in justice facility educational programs are more likely to be absent than teachers in public schools. While 27% of 

teachers nationally are absent more than 10 school days per year for reasons unrelated to school activities, 35% of teachers at justice facilities are 

absent more than 10 days per year.

Justice facilities are less likely to offer essential math and science courses than public high schools.4

• 65% of justice facilities offer Algebra I, compared to 88% of all high schools.

• 48% of justice facilities offer Geometry, compared to 84% of all high schools.

• 28% of justice facilities offer Algebra II, compared to 78% of all high schools.

• 8% of justice facilities offer Physics, compared to 60% of all high schools.

PROTECTING THE CIVIL 

RIGHTS OF STUDENTS IN 

THE JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM
All Public 

Schools

Justice 

Facilities

Justice 

Facilities 

Boys

Justice 

Facilities 

Girls

0

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

25% 21% 21% 19%

50% 30% 29%

34%

16%

42% 43%

32%

3% 3% 3% 5%

1% 2% 2% 4%

5%

1% 1% 2%

0.4%

1% 1%

4%

■ American Indian or Alaska Native

■ Hispanic or Latino of any race

■ Asian

■ Black or African American

■ Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander

■ White

■ Two or more races

FIGURE 2: Student enrollment for all public schools and justice facility 

educational programs, by race/ethnicity

FIGURE 1: Student enrollment in justice 

facility educational programs, by sex

Boys

Girls

14%

Girls

86%

Boys

2 U.S. Department of Education | Office for Civil Rights 

Gender and racial disparities are apparent in justice facility educational 

programs.5

• Most youth enrolled in justice facility educational programs are boys. Boys 

represent 51% of all public school students nationwide, but 86% of students in 

justice facility educational programs.

• Black girls and boys are disproportionately enrolled in justice facility 

educational programs. Black students represent 16% of enrolled students 

in public schools, but 42% of students enrolled in justice facility educational 

programs.

• American Indian or Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific 

Islander youth are disproportionately enrolled in justice facility educational 

programs. This is true for both boys and girls. American Indian or Alaska 

Native students represented 1% of enrolled students in public schools, but 2% of 

all boys and 4% of all girls enrolled in justice facility educational programs. Native 

Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander students represent 0.4% of enrolled students 

in public schools, but 1% of all boys and 4% of all girls enrolled in justice facility 

educational programs.

• Asian, Hispanic, multiracial, and white youth were not disproportionately 

represented in justice facility educational programs compared to their 

enrollment in public schools.6
U.S. Department of Education | Office for Civil Rights 3

Youth enrolled in justice facility educational programs were 

more likely to be identified as students with disabilities and 

English learners.

• While students with disabilities represent 12% of all 

students in public high schools served by the Individuals 

with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), they represent 23% of 

students enrolled in justice facility educational programs.

• English learners constitute 5% of all students in public high 

schools, but justice facilities reported that 6% of students 

enrolled in their educational programs were English learners.

Issuing Guidance on the Rights of Youth 

in Justice Facilities to Equal Educational 

Opportunities and Enforcing Those Rights

The 2014 OCR and DOJ guidance addressed various issue 

areas that impact youth involved in the juvenile justice system, 

including:

• Providing equal access to academic coursework and 

career and technical education;

• Meeting the needs of English learner students so they 

can participate meaningfully in educational programs;

• Providing a free appropriate public education (FAPE) to 

all eligible students with disabilities (see Enforcement 

Spotlight);

• Avoiding discriminatory discipline on the basis of race, 

color, national origin, sex, or disability (see Enforcement 

Spotlight);

• Responding promptly and effectively to violence and 

harassment based on race, color, national origin, sex, or 

disability; and

• Providing auxiliary aids and services to ensure effective 

communication for students with hearing, vision, or 

speech disabilities. 

OCR Enforcement Spotlight: San Bernardino 

County Office of Education 

After an investigation, OCR found in 2016 that the San Bernardino 

County Office of Education had unlawfully discriminated against 

students with disabilities in alternative and juvenile court schools. 

OCR found the county neglected to provide an adequate system for 

identifying and evaluating students suspected of having disabilities, 

failed to implement specialized instruction and related services 

required in students’ Individualized Education Programs (IEPs), and 

relied on paraeducators instead of special education teachers to 

provide specialized instruction to students with disabilities. 

OCR also found that the county provided a predetermined amount 

of specialized instructional time a student would receive rather than 

basing the amount on the individualized needs of the student, and 

it failed to train staff on aiding and accommodating students with 

disabilities under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

OCR and the county entered into a resolution agreement under 

which the county agreed to ensure that students suspected of having 

a disability are appropriately identified and evaluated; to develop 

a comprehensive monitoring system for the provision of special 

education and related services; and to review existing IEPs or Section 

504 plans of current students to assess whether IEPs/504 plans were 

changed without following proper procedures and/or without making 

an individualized determination about student needs. The county 

also committed to hire a project manager to help develop a needs 

assessment and action plan for addressing the issues identified in the 

investigation; implement a recordkeeping system for timely provision 

of records for students entering and exiting its schools; and conduct 

training for paraeducators regarding their duties and responsibilities.

In the same investigation discussed above, OCR identified a concern 

that students with disabilities who were not provided with necessary 

services and supports to address disability-related behavioral issues 

may be susceptible to suffering unfair exclusionary school discipline. 

The county agreed to develop a system to ensure that students with 

disabilities are not being referred for discipline, removed, suspended 

or expelled on the basis of disability, or more frequently receiving 

harsher punishments than students without disabilities, and that they 

are receiving positive behavior intervention and other restorative 

alternatives to maximize their time in class.7
Endnotes

1 Students with limited English proficiency (LEP) are referred to as English learners in this document.

2 For purposes of the CRDC, justice facilities are short- and long-term public or private facilities (including correctional facilities, detention centers, 

jails, and prisons) that confine (before or after adjudication or conviction) juveniles under 18 years of age, adults who are 18 years of age and 

older, or both; however, the CRDC included data only from justice facilities confining individuals up to 21 years of age. For more information 

about the CRDC, please visit crdc.ed.gov. Although OCR seeks to identify all schools serving justice facilities and have them report accurate 

data, the CRDC may not include all educational programs in juvenile justice facilities. DOJ estimates there were approximately 60,000 young 

people in juvenile justice residential facilities on October 23, 2013. See U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile 

Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Juveniles in Residential Placement, 2013, 3 (National Report Series Bulletin, May 2016), www.ojjdp.gov/

pubs/249507.pdf. The CRDC, however, counted only 41,000 enrolled in justice facility educational programs.

3 www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/correctional-education/cr-letter.pdf.

4 When noted, this document compares justice facility education programs to public high schools because 95% of justice facility education programs report offering grades 10, 11, or 12, or are ungraded but have mainly high school age students.

5 The gender and racial/ethnic population reported to the CRDC in justice facility educational programs is roughly consistent with gender and 

racial/ethnic breakdowns in the confined juvenile population reported to DOJ. See U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office 

of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Juveniles in Residential Placement, 2013, 11-12 (National Report Series Bulletin, May 2016), 

www.ojjdp.gov/pubs/249507.pdf.

6 DOJ reports that Hispanic youth are disproportionately represented in residential placement facilities compared to white youth, as are black and 

American Indian and Alaska Native youth. See U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency 

Prevention, Juveniles in Residential Placement, 2013, 13 (National Report Series Bulletin, May 2016), www.ojjdp.gov/pubs/249507.pdf. DOJ did 

not report similar comparisons for multiracial or Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander youth.

7 The full text of the resolution letter and agreement are available at http://www.ed.gov/ocr/docs/investigations/more/09145002-a.pdf and 

http://www.ed.gov/ocr/docs/investigations/more/09145002-b.pdf.

NEW RELEASE FOR 2016 

4 U.S. Department of Education | Office for Civil Rights 

United States Department of Education 

John B. King, Jr., Secretary 

Catherine E. Lhamon, Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights 

Lyndon Baines Johnson Building

Department of Education 

400 Maryland Avenue, SW , Washington, DC 20202-1100 

Telephone: 800-421-3481 | FAX: 202-453-6012 

TDD: 877-521-2172 

Email: OCR@ed.gov | www.ed.gov/ocr

U.S. Department of Education 

Office for Civil Rights