Introduction to the Special Issue of Behavioral Disorders: Juvenile Justice Issues

* On any given day, almost 93,000 youth are held in secure residential care, nearly 7,000 are held in adult jails, and 2,000 are in adult prisons (National Juvenile Justice Network, 2009). Nearly half of the incarcerated juvenile population has identified educational disabilities (Gagnon, Barber, Van Loan, & Leone, 2009; Quinn, Rutherford, Leone, Osher, & Poirier, 2005), and two-thirds of males and three-fourths of females meet diagnostic criteria for one or more psychiatric disorders, not including conduct disorders (Coalition for Juvenile Justice, 2000; Cocozza & Skowyra, 2000; Teplin, Abram, McClelland, Dulcan, & Mericle, 2002). A multitude of studies report that the educational status of at-risk and incarcerated juveniles (e.g., academic achievement, school attendance, and school completion) falls significantly below that of same-age peers (Gagnon & Richardson, 2008).These statistics should disturb anyone. But they should be even more alarming to professionals in the area of emotional and behavioral disorders (FVBD), for two reasons: (a) youth identified as FVBD are the most highly represented category of youth with disabilities in the juvenile justice system (Gagnon & Richardson, 2008), and (b) the infamous "social maladjustment clause" in the federal definition of emotional disturbance means that many youth in public schools and the juvenile justice system who should be identified and served are not. For these reasons, we think a special issue of this journal devoted to youth who are involved or atrisk of becoming involved with the juvenile justice system is warranted. As an organization, the Council for Children with Behavior Disorders (CCBD) has taken steps to increase its advocacy for at-risk and adjudicated youth. Specifically, it has joined the National Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Coalition, participating in monthly meetings and lobbying Congress for legislation and funding.For this special issue of Behavioral Disorders, we invited researchers, practitioners, and advocates in areas of expertise that affect this population of youth to address important and current topics focused on improving youth academic, social, and transition outcomes as well as directions for the field. If you are not familiar with this area, we hope these offerings will stimulate you to investigate further. If you are familiar, we trust they will offer some level of inspiration to redouble your efforts on behalf of these youths.As a starting point, Gagnon and Barber detail the academic, behavioral, and mental health characteristics of adjudicated youth. Of note, they report that youth with FVBD and learning disabilities are disproportionally represented in the juvenile justice system and are performing grade levels below peers in the areas of reading and math. To confound these facts, correctional education teachers may not be implementing evidence-based practices nor matching intervention to youth needs within juvenile justice school classrooms. They suggest that school-wide positive behavioral interventions and supports and the response to intervention frameworks may be appropriate in improving educational services youth within these facilities receive.Given that many incarcerated youth have experienced school failure or have been removed (or removed themselves) from school prior to being incarcerated, quality educational programming in correctional/detention settings is especially important. Mathur and Schoenfeld cite the lack of research on current instructional practices that correctional educators are implementing in terms of what is effective and what is not in improving youth academic and behavioral outcomes. They advocate a three-pronged approach to improving instructional practices and youth outcomes through (a) the inclusion of evidence-based practices in everyday classroom instruction, (b) purposeful and continual professional development opportunities for correctional educators, and (c) a facility-wide accountability system linked to data-based instructional decisions. …