Secretary Duncan and Attorney General Holder visited The Northern Virginia Juvenile Detention Center School to announce this new guidance on December 8, 2014.


### Letter to Chief State School Officers and State Attorneys General

- **December 8th letter from Attorney General Holder and Secretary Duncan on the importance of providing high-quality correctional education**
For a PDF version of the letter, please go here.

- A set of **Guiding Principles for Providing High-Quality Education in Juvenile Justice Secure Care Settings** from the U.S. Department of Education (ED) and U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) identifies promising practices for improving education programs in juvenile justice facilities, as well as areas in which Federal legal obligations apply.
- A **Dear Colleague Letter on the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act for Students with Disabilities in Correctional Facilities** from ED’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services clarifying State and public agency obligations under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to ensure the provision of a free and appropriate public education to eligible students with disabilities in correctional facilities.
- A **Dear Colleague Letter on the Civil Rights of Students in Juvenile Justice Residential Facilities** from ED’s Office for Civil Rights and DOJ’s Civil Rights Division clarifying that those juvenile justice residential facilities that receive Federal funding, like all other public schools, must comply with Federal civil rights laws that prohibit discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sex, religion, and disability.
- A **Dear Colleague Letter on Access to Pell Grants for Students in Juvenile Justice Facilities** for campus financial aid professionals (HTML available here), question and answer document for institutions of higher education, and factsheet for students (also in Spanish) from ED’s Office of Postsecondary Education clarifying that otherwise eligible youth who are confined in juvenile justice facilities are eligible to receive Federal Pell Grants, subject to the modified cost of attendance statutory provisions that apply to incarcerated students.

- **Press release**Press announcement from ED highlighting the release of the guidance package, and recent actions taken by federal agencies to address juvenile justice reform.
- **Frequently Asked Questions****[FAQs]**Questions and answers describing the contents of the guidance package, how to get more information about the content of the package, and what the guidance package means for policymakers, district and school leaders, teachers, students, families, and community members.
- **Fact Sheet on the Correctional Education Guidance Package**A two-page brief outlining the contents of the Correctional Education Guidance Package and quick statistics on the importance of providing education services to youth in confinement. download filesEnglish [PDF, 823K]  | En español [PDF, 841K]
- **Fact Sheet on Federal Student Aid Eligibility for Students Confined in Adult Correctional or Juvenile Justice Facilities**Questions and answers, for students, on how being incarcerated in an adult correctional facility or committed to a juvenile justice facility affects your eligibility for federal student aid for college or career school.download filesEn español [PDF, 74K]
- **Federal Pell Grant Eligibility for Students in Juvenile Justice Facilities**Questions and answers for institutions of higher education.

### Where  can I find technical assistance to help schools reduce student entry into the  juvenile justice system?

The U.S. Departments of Education (ED) and  Justice (DOJ), and the technical assistance centers they fund can provide  states and school districts with direct, tailored assistance to address  exclusionary discipline practices to decrease the likelihood of student contact  with the juvenile justice system and generally improve school climate. Some of  those resources are listed below.

- In  January 2014, ED and DOJ issued a School Discipline Guidance Package,  which included: 1) a Dear Colleague Letter that outlined how public elementary  and secondary schools can meet their legal obligations to administer student  discipline without discriminating on the basis of race, color or national  origin; and 2) a “Guiding Principles” document that describes three key  principles and related action steps that can guide efforts to improve school  climate and school discipline.
- ED  funds the National  Center for Safe Supportive Learning Environments (NCSSLE),  which helps schools, districts and states improve conditions for  learningâ€”through effective program implementation and school climate  measurementâ€”in a variety of settings, so that all students have the opportunity  to realize academic success in safe and supportive environments.
- ED  funds the Technical Assistance Center on  Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports which provides school  districts and states with information, tools and resources for identifying,  implementing, adapting and sustaining effective school-wide discipline  practices.
- ED  funds 10 regional Equity  Assistance Centers that provide direct training and technical  assistance in the areas of race, gender and national origin at the request of  public school districts and other responsible governmental entities. The  centers often develop a memorandum of understanding with the districts they  serve and generally provide services from six months to a year or longer, if  needed.
- ED  funds the Center for Great Teachers  and Leaders to support state efforts to develop effective educators and education leaders.  The center provides technical assistance to states on how to incorporate  techniques that reinforce positive student behavior and student engagement into  professional development, evaluation and other workforce management efforts.
- DOJ  funds a National  Resource Center on School Justice Partnerships to provide access to  research, training and technical assistance that will assist partners in  developing new policies and practice geared towards diverting youth from the  juvenile justice system.

### Where can I find technical  assistance to help improve correctional education?

Technical assistance for acting on the Guiding Principles  for Providing High-Quality Education in Juvenile Justice Secure Care Settings is available through the following federally supported technical assistance  centers:

- The National Evaluation and Technical       Assistance Center for the Education of Children and Youth Who Are       Neglected, Delinquent or At Risk (NDTAC) serves as a national resource       center to provide assistance to States, schools, communities, and parents       seeking information on the education of children and youth who are       considered neglected, delinquent, or at**-**risk.       The education of youth involved in the juvenile justice system is a       primary focus of NDTAC. NDTAC works with State and local administrators of programs       operated under Title I, Part D of the Elementary and Secondary Education       Act (ESEA), as well as service providers, to:
- Ensure youth who are neglected or delinquent have the opportunity to meet the        same challenging state academic standards that all children are expected to meet;
- Improve  educational services for children and youths who are neglected,        delinquent or at risk of involvement with the juvenile justice system;
- Provide children and youth who are neglected or delinquent with the services        needed to make a successful transition from institutions to schools  and/or employment;
- Prevent        youth who are at risk of academic failure from dropping out of school;        and
- Provide        children and youth who have dropped out of school or who are returning to        school after residing in an institution, with a support system to ensure        their continued education.
- The Office       of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention’s (OJJDP) Center for Coordinated       Assistance to States (CCAS), formerly known as the State Training & Technical       Assistance Center), receives and responds to requests for training and       technical assistance from states, territories, tribes and local       communities that receive funding from OJJDP, either through the Title II       Formula Grants Program or through the Juvenile Accountability Block Grant       Program. CCAS aims to strengthen state, territory, tribal and community       capacities and competencies to improve their overall service delivery,       enhance their data collection efforts and increase their implementation of       evidence-based programs.
- OJJDP’s National Training and Technical Assistance       Center (NTTAC) is a central source for accessing OJJDP’s training and technical       assistance (TTA) resources, and a one-stop shop for requesting the full       array of TTA services offered by OJJDP. The center provides multifaceted       services to the juvenile justice field, including TTA capacity       development, systemic coordination of TTA and virtual TTA delivery.
- OCR provides       technical assistance to districts to help them achieve voluntary       compliance with civil rights laws and works with districts to develop       approaches to preventing and addressing discrimination. A district       should contact the OCR       enforcement office serving its jurisdiction for technical assistance.

### Where can I find technical assistance to help improve  reentry services for confined youths?

The DOJ’s Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA)  administers 
The  National Reentry Resource Center (NRRC) which provides education, training and  technical assistance to states, tribes, territories, local governments, service  providers, non-profit organizations and corrections institutions working on  reentry.

### Does ED or DOJ provide financial assistance to improve  education services in juvenile justice residential facilities?

Yes.  ED administers the “Prevention and Intervention Programs for Children and Youth  Who Are Neglected, Delinquent, or At-Risk” under Title I, Part D of the ESEA,  which includes a State agency program (Subpart 1) and a local agency program  (Subpart 2). Under the Subpart 1 State agency program, ED makes formula grants  to State educational agencies (SEAs), which in turn award subgrants to State  agencies that operate educational programs for children and youth in  institutions and community day programs for neglected or delinquent children  and youth and youth in adult correctional institutions. Every SEA has at least  one juvenile justice or corrections agency subgrantee, but the funds may not  serve all facilities under the agency due to program eligibility requirements  and need. Under the Subpart 2 local agency program, with funds generated under  Title I, Part A on the basis of the number of children and youth residing in  locally operated institutions for delinquent children and youth, SEAs make  subgrants to local educational agencies (LEAs) to serve children and youth in  locally operated juvenile correctional or neglect facilities, as well as to  operate school-based prevention and transition programs. Program managers for  every SEA can be found here.

SEAs  also can provide funding to their juvenile justice agencies serving eligible  youth with disabilities under Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities  Education Act (IDEA). For more information about the availability of such  funding, please contact your SEA. A list of special education directors,  by state, can be found here.

Public  school career and technical education programs are partially federally funded  through the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education (CTE) Act  administered by states. These programs are sometimes provided in juvenile  justice residential facilities. Extensive information about this funding is  available here.

Most  state agencies employ an education director who manages CTE programs and other  federal and state education programs, and funding for youths in confinement.

OJJDP  also administers many grants authorized under both the Juvenile Justice and  Delinquency Prevention Act, and the Second Chance Act. The grants are awarded  to state juvenile justice and other public agencies, including school districts  and non-profit organizations. Many of the grants provide educationally related  support services. A current list of grants and grantees can be found here.

### Where can I find data on  juvenile justice residential facilities?

Annual  state performance data for Title I, Part D programs are available in a few  different formats. Customized State, regional and national longitudinal reports  can be made through ED Data Express at www.eddataexpress.ed.gov.  Annual State Performance reports are available at http://www2.ed.gov/admins/lead/account/consolidated/index.html (Title I, Part D is in Part II, Section 2.4). NDTAC provides State Fast Facts  pages, along with graphs and charts, at http://www.neglected-delinquent.org/State-and-national-fast-facts. In  addition, the on-line Civil Rights Data Collection has reports on secure care  facilities for juveniles available at http://ocrdata.ed.gov/ (click on additional search options). ED’s Office of Special Education Programs  publishes annual data reported by States on the number of youths with  disabilities served in correctional facilities by disability category.  This data can be accessed at www.IDEAdata.org,.

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency  Prevention makes census and performance data available at Easy Access to the Census of Juveniles in  Residential Placement. This site was developed  to facilitate independent analysis of national data on the characteristics of  youth held in residential placement facilities, including detailed information  about the youth's age, sex, race/ethnicity, placement status, length of stay,  and most serious offense. OJJDP’s Frequently Asked  Questions (FAQs) provide the latest answers to the most commonly asked questions about juveniles  in corrections. Here you can learn about the number and characteristics of  juveniles in residential placement nationwide and in each state. You can also  learn about the facilities where these juveniles reside.

|Last Modified: 01/07/2015
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