What We Do
The National Center on
Education, Disability and Juvenile Justice
The disproportionate representation of incarcerated youth with disabilities
is increasingly recognized as an urgent national problem. In 1997,
an expert panel convened by several federal agencies recommended
a series of actions to the Coordinating
Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention concerning
the relationship between disability and involvement in the juvenile
court and correctional systems. An outcome of that work was the
National Center on Education, Disability and Juvenile Justice (EDJJ),
established in 1999 through a five-year grant from the U.S. Department
of Education, Office
of Special Education Programs (OSEP), and the U.S. Department
of Justice, Office of Juvenile
Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). EDJJ was organized
as a collaborative project of the University of Maryland, Arizona
State University, University of Kentucky, American Institutes for
Research and PACER parent advocacy center.
EDJJ focuses on assisting practitioners, policymakers, researchers and advocates
to identify and implement effective school-based delinquency prevention
programs, education and special education services in juvenile correctional
facilities, and transition supports for youth re-entering their
schools and communities from secure care settings.
In August 2004, EDJJ received additional grant funding from OSEP
to continue and expand our work. Currently, we are focusing on improving
the poor literacy skills that are common among incarcerated youth
by developing and disseminating evidence-based educational interventions
specifically tailored for use in juvenile correctional facilities.
Additional information about our research,
training activities, publications
and other resources is available on our website.
In August 2006, federal support for EDJJ activities ended. EDJJ continues as an affiliation of individuals involved in the original project as well as those interested in supporting quality education for incarcerated youth and those at-risk for incarceration. Faculty and staff at the University of Maryland and Arizona State University will maintain the website, disseminate information, and continue to promote prevention, appropriate services for incarcerated youth, and transition and support as youth return to their communities.
EDJJ conducts research, provides technical assistance and disseminates
resources based on the best available evidence. EDJJ provides consultation
and professional development to education, court and corrections
personnel at the state and local levels. The unifying goal of EDJJ
activities in each of these areas is to improve educational and
related outcomes for court-involved and at-risk youth, and to change
perceptions about their capacity for achievement and success. Toward
that end, EDJJ also maintains a national network of practitioners,
administrators, policymakers and parents to help promote more effective
and appropriate policies, responses and accommodations for youth
with disabilities in education and correctional settings.
At least three to five times as many youth with disabilities are
involved with the courts and corrections compared with the general
public school population. The overrepresentation of youth with disabilities
in juvenile corrections is associated with school failure and dropout,
poorly developed social skills, and inadequate school and community
services. While a number of theories have been developed to explain
overrepresentation, there is a limited knowledge base to enable
professionals, parents and policy makers to systematically respond
to this problem. EDDJ will develop, analyze and disseminate data
to inform policy and practices concerning youth with disabilities
at-risk for or already involved in the juvenile justice system and
ultimately, reduce the absolute number and percentage of youth involved
EDJJ will conduct research, policy analysis, training and technical
assistance activities designed to minimize the involvement of youth
with disabilities in juvenile courts and correctional facilities.
Among other initiatives, EDJJ will:
Clarify factors that contribute to the substantial overrepresentation
of youth with disabilities.
Examine the association between and the consequences of school
failure, school exclusion and incarceration among youth with
Identify and disseminate more effective educational interventions
for youth with disabilities who are at-risk for involvement
with the juvenile courts, and for incarcerated youth with
disabilities, with emphasis on improving literacy skills.
Establish criteria for implementing promising education, special
education and transition practices in correctional settings.
Produce and widely disseminate blueprints of effective practices
for local replication.
Provide training and technical assistance to national, state,
regional and local systems and agencies concerning delinquency
prevention and intervention.
Evaluate state and local policies that promote or impede the
development of effective juvenile correctional educational
Mobilize a national commitment to ensure adequate services
for students with disabilities in the community and in juvenile
email EDJJ with any questions and/or comments
University of Maryland, 1224 Benjamin Building College Park, MD 20742
Phone (301) 405-6462 Fax (301) 314-5757
about the website or to be linked to EDJJ,
email the webmaster.