Parenting & Families
General Information
NCD Calls for Changes in Juvenile Justice and Education for Youth with Disabilities
The National Council on Disability (NCD) today released a research study entitled Addressing the Needs of Youth with Disabilities in the Juvenile Justice System: The Status of Evidence-Based Research. The report evaluates the emerging status of key policies and programs that affect children and youth with disabilities who have often been overlooked by service and research programs.
The issues of delinquency prevention and juvenile justice as they relate to children and youth with disabilities are relatively new for policymakers, yet they present some of the most complex and challenging problems that policymakers must grapple with and resolve.
Over the past several years, NCD has recognized that children and youth with disabilities have increasingly become overrepresented in the juvenile justice system. A significant proportion of youth in the juvenile justice system have education related disabilities and are eligible for special education and related services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Factors associated with the disproportionate representation of youth with disabilities in juvenile corrections are complex-but the available information suggests that school failure, poorly developed social skills, and inadequate school and community supports greatly increase the risks for arrest and incarceration. NCD believes, therefore, that delinquency prevention is a critical feature of any service or support system that is used to address the needs of all youth, especially youth with disabilities and special education needs.