Youth transitioning from juvenile justice facilities back to their local public school system are an often overlooked segment of those students at risk of dropping out. Successful transition to a public school, however, does not come easily, as youth reentering their communities need an array of support services to help them get back on their feet. This NDTAC Issue Brief addresses the challenges of transitioning youth highly at risk of dropout, provides readers with advice from the field, and highlights a few innovative practices for successful transition.
Successful reintegration of youth returning to school from correctional facilities and other placements often depends on the effective transfer of student records. This brief explains that efficiently obtaining student records often requires collaborative relationships, communication, and cooperation between and among schools, courts, and agencies. The brief also provides tools necessary for understanding Federal and State legislation affecting privacy and the sharing of student records in order to assure better transitions to schools and other placements for youth who are neglected or delinquent.
Additional Resources
A 2007 NCES study found that about 5 out of every 100 students enrolled in high school in October 2003 left school before October 2004 without completing a high school program. The authors of this report sought to establish what leads to such a sobering statistic. They found that, all too often, children came to school as composites of the broken pieces in their lives—divorce, homelessness, and their own or a family member’s mental illness, complicated by their own learning disabilities, and often coming from homes in which they must become self-sufficient at an early age. Some dealt with crime, drugs, and gangs in their neighborhoods; others suffered abuse and/or neglect from the adults who were their primary caretakers; and some became parents while still children themselves. These problems, the authors argue, must be addressed comprehensively in order to deliver effective services. This Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) Bulletin highlights dropout prevention initiatives with a particular focus on the Communities in Schools (CIS) initiative and its evaluation conducted by the Urban Institute.
This OJJDP Bulletin explores some of the successful State-level strategies for reintegrating youth from juvenile justice system settings back into the educational mainstream, as well as guides youth-serving professionals toward promising programs, practices, and resources. The authors argue that both effective programs within correctional institutions and transitional support for youth leaving confinement are necessary for the success of youth returning to school. The brief states that many students do not have programs like these available to them and asserts that their reentry into the educational system can be facilitated with prerelease information sharing and visits, counseling, and curricular and disciplinary policies that support the reintegration of students into the school system. Several programs’ specific strategies are explored, and the authors conclude that foremost among all of the strategies for helping youth who are delinquent reenter the education mainstream is open communication among agencies and other entities involved in helping these students.
As pressure mounts to do something about the dropout problem, many school systems may be tempted to skip questions about how to predict which students are most at risk of dropping out and simply begin with reforms meant to solve the problem. Leaders might assume that educators can do a fair job guessing which students are at risk of dropping out based on subjective judgments—or they might simply decide not to spend money on data systems but rather invest all of their dollars in interventions and reforms instead. However, as this paper demonstrates, such decisions can have a variety of negative consequences. This white paper’s goal is to provide policymakers with an overview of research about the dropout problem and the best strategies for building an early warning data system that can signal which students and schools are most in need of interventions.
Check & Connect is a dropout prevention strategy that relies on close monitoring of school performance, mentoring, case management, and other supports. The program has two main components: “Check” and “Connect.” The Check component is designed to continually assess student engagement through close monitoring of student performance and progress indicators. The Connect component involves program staff giving individualized attention to students in partnership with school personnel, family members, and community service providers. The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) found Check & Connect to have positive effects on staying in school and potentially positive effects on progressing in school. It was found, however, to have no discernible effects on completing school within 4 years of entering the program.
A 2007 NCES study found that about 5 out of every 100 students enrolled in high school in October 2003 left school before October 2004 without completing a high school program. The authors of this report sought to establish what leads to such a sobering statistic. They found that, all too often, children came to school as composites of the broken pieces in their lives—divorce, homelessness, and their own or a family member’s mental illness, complicated by their own learning disabilities, and often coming from homes in which they must become self-sufficient at an early age. Some dealt with crime, drugs, and gangs in their neighborhoods; others suffered abuse and/or neglect from the adults who were their primary caretakers; and some became parents while still children themselves. These problems, the authors argue, must be addressed comprehensively in order to deliver effective services. This Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) Bulletin highlights dropout prevention initiatives with a particular focus on the Communities in Schools (CIS) initiative and its evaluation conducted by the Urban Institute.
This OJJDP Bulletin explores some of the successful State-level strategies for reintegrating youth from juvenile justice system settings back into the educational mainstream, as well as guides youth-serving professionals toward promising programs, practices, and resources. The authors argue that both effective programs within correctional institutions and transitional support for youth leaving confinement are necessary for the success of youth returning to school. The brief states that many students do not have programs like these available to them and asserts that their reentry into the educational system can be facilitated with prerelease information sharing and visits, counseling, and curricular and disciplinary policies that support the reintegration of students into the school system. Several programs’ specific strategies are explored, and the authors conclude that foremost among all of the strategies for helping youth who are delinquent reenter the education mainstream is open communication among agencies and other entities involved in helping these students.
As pressure mounts to do something about the dropout problem, many school systems may be tempted to skip questions about how to predict which students are most at risk of dropping out and simply begin with reforms meant to solve the problem. Leaders might assume that educators can do a fair job guessing which students are at risk of dropping out based on subjective judgments—or they might simply decide not to spend money on data systems but rather invest all of their dollars in interventions and reforms instead. However, as this paper demonstrates, such decisions can have a variety of negative consequences. This white paper’s goal is to provide policymakers with an overview of research about the dropout problem and the best strategies for building an early warning data system that can signal which students and schools are most in need of interventions.
Check & Connect is a dropout prevention strategy that relies on close monitoring of school performance, mentoring, case management, and other supports. The program has two main components: “Check” and “Connect.” The Check component is designed to continually assess student engagement through close monitoring of student performance and progress indicators. The Connect component involves program staff giving individualized attention to students in partnership with school personnel, family members, and community service providers. The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) found Check & Connect to have positive effects on staying in school and potentially positive effects on progressing in school. It was found, however, to have no discernible effects on completing school within 4 years of entering the program.
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National Evaluation and Technical Assistance Center for the Education of Children and Youth Who Are Neglected, Delinquent, or At-Risk
