Correctional education is a fundamental component of rehabilitative programming offered in juvenile justice confinement facilities, most American prisons, and many jails and detention centers. Correctional populations are over-represented with individuals having below average levels of educational attainment. Education "behind bars" presents an opportunity for the incarcerated to prepare for success upon release. The Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education has funded numerous initiatives designed to improve educational opportunities for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated initiatives. Information about two of these initiatives is below.
OCTAE Contacts
Young Adult Diversion: Connecting Justice-Involved Young Adults to Education and Training
The Young Adult Diversion Project helped state and local partnerships provide their justice-involved young adult population with alternatives to prosecution and/or incarceration, including special education, career and technical education, and other workforce development opportunities.
Technical Assistance to Young Adult Diversion Providers
THE CHALLENGE
Young adults (ages 16-24) are involved with the criminal justice system in disproportionate numbers compared to other age groups. A growing body of research shows that this population is closer developmentally to teenagers than to older adults and, therefore, it is more effective to address their criminal behavior with age-appropriate treatments, including diversion programs.1 Diversion programs redirect individuals, typically youth and first-time offenders, from prosecution and/or incarceration to community-based programming, case management, and supports.2
OUR RESPONSE
In 2017, the U.S. Department of Education, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Justice, funded a 3-year technical assistance initiative that is helping 16 state and local partnerships provide their justice-involved young adult population with alternatives to prosecution and/or incarceration, including special education, career and technical education, and other workforce development opportunities.
Technical Assistance Partnerships
- Tuscaloosa, Alabama
- Alameda County, California
- Los Angeles County, California
- Orange County, California
- Florida
- Kentucky
- Hampden County, Massachusetts
- Kent County, Michigan
- Hattiesburg, Mississippi
- Reno, Nevada
- Camden, New Jersey
- Ocean County, New Jersey
- New York
- Portland, Oregon
- City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Utah
TOOLS AND RESOURCES
- An online toolkit has been developed and is available at: https://cte.ed.gov/yadiversion
1Ishida, Kanako. February 2015. Young Adults in Conflict with the Law: Opportunities for Diversion. Evanston, IL: Juvenile Justice Initiative. Accessed February 7, 2019. http://www.modelsforchange.net/publications/799; and Mulvey, Edward. March 2011. Highlights From Pathways to Desistance: A Longitudinal Study of Serious Adolescent Offenders. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Accessed February 7, 2019. https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/230971.pdf; and Schiraldi, Vincent, Bruce Western, and Kendra Bradner. 2015. Community-Based Responses to Justice-Involved Young Adults. New Thinking in Community Corrections Bulletin. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice. Accessed February 7, 2019. https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/248900.pdf.
2U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. February 2017. Diversion from Formal Juvenile Court Processing. Accessed February 7, 2019. https://www.ojjdp.gov/mpg/litreviews/Diversion_Programs.pdf.
