Fact Sheet: Juvenile Justice Education

Overview & Synopsis

Research has demonstrated the correlation between lack of educational attainment and involvement in the juvenile justice system and the importance of education in preventing recidivism. In acknowledgment of the importance of education in the juvenile justice system, more than 2,600 residential juvenile justice facilities report providing education services (Hockenberry, Sickmund, and Sladky, 2009). Around the country, the prevalence and type of education services, screening for grade level and academic needs, student participation in education services, perceived quality of education services, and student academic and vocational outcomes vary. This Fact Sheet examines these aspects of juvenile justice education drawing from three data sources: (1) The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention's (OJJDP) Juvenile Residential Facility Census (2006); (2) The U.S. Department of Education's Title I, Part D, Consolidated State Performance Reports (school year 2006-07 through 2008-09); and (3) OJJDP's Survey of Youth in Residential Placement (2003).