During a recent juvenile justice education conference in Maryland, an audience member asked a panel of youths if there was anything they wanted to say to the adults who attended. A 15 year-old offender raised his hand.

“You should not give up on us,” he told the adults.

Joseph Gagnon, Project Leader of the Day, Residential, and Juvenile Correctional Schools Project (DRJC), a nation-wide research and dissemination project that investigates multiple aspects of juvenile education, took this comment seriously.

“I could tell that this kid understood he had his entire life ahead of him,” Gagnon says.

Gagnon was inspired by the youth, and fueled by a three-year grant from the U.S. Department of Education, he started a research-based initiative, collecting data about juvenile education programs from correctional facilities across the country.
After completing the first phase of the program, the DJRC discovered a discrepancy. Research indicated the education juveniles receive in correctional facilities didn't match what they were expected to know in the schools they return to after they are released. And although some facilities address this issue, a larger percentage of facilities have not.

“Maybe a fourth of our juvenile facilities actually have a link between regular expectations of a high school and expectations in their particular juvenile education program,” says Gagnon. “Otherwise, the issue has not really been explored.”

The research, which is funded by the U.S. Department of Education, focused on four areas of juvenile education: curriculum, state assessments, accountability for assessment report results and special education. Following analysis of his initial research, Gagnon found that although budget problems are a large part of the juvenile education issue, it is still clear that juvenile education standards needs to be addressed. Gagnon also says that the release of this data might prompt legislators to create new requirements for juvenile education in correctional facilities across the country.

A Two-Folded Problem

According to Gagnon, the problem with the current state of juvenile education in corrections is two-fold. First, a number of facilities do not administer required state assessment tests, leaving many juveniles to fall behind in work appropriate to their age-levels. Second, there is an obvious challenge in making the transition back to a traditional education setting. Many juveniles become so frustrated while they are re-entering traditional high schools that they fail classes, become discouraged and then, re-offend.

“We have information, tons of information,” Gagnon says. “It is shown over and over again that kids who have high school diplomas have lower recidivism rates, make more money, and are employed more often. All of these things are linked very closely to their level of education.”

While many facilities do not offer high school diploma programs, they do offer vocational courses and GED programs. Gagnon says this option is fine for some offenders – but not all.

“Let's say there is a group of juveniles who are maybe 17-years old when they enter [the correctional facility] and they only have two high school credits, maybe they weren't going to class.” Gagnon says. “For those particular individuals, it makes sense for them to have a vocational option – which many states offer. The problem comes when that is all the state has to offer. It is an issue when you have a 14 or 15 year-old kid that really has the opportunity to get their degree and do not have that option.”

Possible Policies and Solutions

Gagnon hopes that once DJRC research is completed and published, policy makers and legislators will realize that juvenile education needs to be addressed. For one thing, he hopes legislation will be created that requires each facility to have an education budget.

“It's understandable, to a point, that some of these facilities do not have the budget and the staff for this type of program,” Gagnon says. “The prison system in general is under-funded as it is. Education is competing with other valid components of the facility, like sanitation. Even if a juvenile facility has the best of intentions, it takes an outside budget and policies to really get these programs going. Teachers in these facilities are underpaid too, and that needs to be addressed as well.”

Gagnon adds that regardless of the results of his research, it will take collaborative efforts to provide an education framework for correctional facilities to work within.

“This process is going to have to happen between facilities, district and state departments of education,” Gagnon says. “There are juveniles that definitely want this program, that definitely want their high school diplomas. They don't realize this is an option, because it's not being offered.”

To Gagnon, the benefits of addressing these educational standards, and changing the current juvenile education program in most facilities, are also two-fold.

“When I go into a facility that has a really strong school program,” Gagnon says, “I find that kids are getting pulled in to the education. When these kids get into a program and are given a chance to actually read for the first time, and experience success – it opens the doors up amazingly for these juveniles. They don't just get an education. They get new opportunities when they are released.”