More to do in underage offenders’ education, two say

A decade after the U.S. Justice Department identified serious problems, Arkansas juvenile-justice officials say they are doing a better job of educating the state’s juvenile offenders. But lawmakers should keep pushing for improvements, two term-limitedlawmakers said Monday.

“Hold their feet to the fire,” departing Rep. Johnnie Roebuck told youth advocates and education officials Monday about changing how the state educates its incarcerated youth.

Lawmakers, advocacy groups and representatives for multiple state agencies sataround a conference table at the Capitol to discuss what has improved so far and what happens next.

Roebuck, D-Arkadelphia, and Rep. Bubba Powers, DHope, have pushed the groups to work together over the past few years. In less than a month, their terms expire and they leave the Legislature.

“Somebody is going to come forward and say that they will take up this work. We’re still waiting on that person to step forward,” Roebuck said. “It has to be a real passion if you’re going to make a difference. These are our forgotten children.”

In 2002, the U.S. Department of Justice found shortcomings with the education and special-education systems at the Alexander Youth Services Center and stated in a letter to the governor that “certain conditions at Alexander violate the constitutional and statutory rights of residents at the facility.” It also cited a lack of good teachersand textbooks. The Alexander facility is now called the Arkansas Juvenile Assessment and Treatment Center.

In August 2012, the department agreed that the division had met all of the requirements for protecting students’ constitutional rights.

In 2011, Roebuck and Powers sponsored an interim study on the educational system of the Division of Youth Services. Released in September, the report lists 37 recommended improvements they say can still be made by school districts, the Department of Education, Juvenile Court, the Division of Youth Services and the General Assembly.

Powers said it will take courage, focus and money to make the changes.

Three other lawmakers attended Monday’s meeting: Rep.-elect Deborah Ferguson, D-West Memphis; Rep. Kim Hammer, R-Benton; and Sen. Linda Chesterfield, D-Little Rock, who has been involved with legislation to help that group of children before. Roebuck said other legislators have indicated they are interested in the topic.

Children are committed to the division’s custody if they are at least 10 years old and have broken the law. About 300 youths are housed in a division facility at any given time, according to the legislative report.

The study describes the average offender in the facilities as being 16 years old, in the ninth grade and with an IQ of 88. It showed the average offender reads slightly below a sixth-grade level and has math skills slightly below a sixthgrade level.

At Monday’s meeting, the division distributed a report of improvements that have been made. They include:

49 percent of former offenders return to school, get their diploma or obtain a General Educational Development diploma upon leaving a division facility. In 2009, 16 percent did.

Students now receive education instruction within two days of intake at a division facility.

The division now offers vocational classes at all facilities and can grant high school diplomas.

The division can now access the Arkansas transcript network used by all education facilities.

The division now contributes to the Arkansas public school computer network, or APSCN.

Ongoing issues include:

Many schools place all students returning from a division facility directly into an alternative learning environment without evaluating whether the child improved behaviorally or academically while in the division’s custody.

Division Director Ron Angel said he can’t force schools to act differently.

“I can’t call the principal up or the superintendent of the school and say you will take them back. I don’t have that authority,” Angel said.

Students do not participate in the statewide Arkansas Comprehensive Testing, Assessment and Accountability Program. Districts have testified they are worried the scores would drag down their averages.

Angel said the Department of Education has said the testing is not required and won’t be done. He said the division’s teachers are trained to administer the test in case the department changes its mind.

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 7 on 12/18/2012

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