Program Summary
Purpose
Juvenile court schools are public schools or classes in any juvenile hall, juvenile home, day center, juvenile ranch, juvenile camp, regional youth educational facility or in any group home housing 25 or more children and operating one or more additional sites under a central administration, with acceptable school structures at one or more centrally located sites to serve the single or composite populations of juvenile court school pupils.
Program/Services
Juvenile court schools provide an educational placement for students who are under the protection or authority of the juvenile court system and are referred and incarcerated by the juvenile court system, and include students who have been expelled from their school. County Offices of Education operate the juvenile court schools and provide for the administration of juvenile court schools. Juvenile court schools shall not be closed on any weekday of the calendar year, except those weekdays adopted by the County Board of Education (board) as school holidays or set aside by the board for in service purposes. However, the board may close juvenile court schools when it deems such closing is necessary to accommodate contingencies.
Outcomes
Outcomes include: dropout prevention; recovery of out-of-school youth; increased student graduation rates for students at risk of failure of completing high school; educational, emotional, and counseling services; support for foster youth; diversion from the criminal justice system; and support for pregnant and parenting students.
Funding
Similar to school districts, each county office of education has its own revenue rate for daily funding. Funding is provided from the State General Fund. The minimum school day for juvenile court schools is 240 minutes of instruction. Minimum schooldays shall be calculated on the basis of the average number of minutes of attendance during not more than 10 consecutive days in which classes are conducted. The minimum school day for pupils in attendance in approved vocational education and work experience programs shall be 180 minutes, which shall be calculated on the basis of the average number of minutes of attendance during not more than 10 consecutive days in which classes are conducted.
Students Served
Students served in the juvenile court school are in grades kindergarten through twelve and are wards of the court or have been referred through expulsion by a school district. In 2006-07, 48 of the 58 county offices of education operated juvenile court schools, with an average daily attendance of approximately 16,200 students. Due to high turnover rates in many of these facilities, the actual cumulative annual enrollment would be substantially higher, likely more than 30,000. There were a total of 180 educational facilities in operation, including 84 juvenile halls, 11 ranches, 14 residential/group homes, 19 day centers, 36 camps, and 16 detention centers.
Results
Although the Educational Options Office does not have specific reports on the efficacy of juvenile court schools; it has prepared a research paper and compendium of resources entitled Zero Dropouts for California. This paper contains information regarding the dropout crisis; recommendations for the State, counties, districts, and the California Department of Education; and an extensive bibliography of resources.
Contact Information
The Juvenile Court Schools program is administered by:
California Department of Education
Secondary, Postsecondary, and Adult Leadership Division
Educational Options Office
1430 N Street, Suite 4503
Sacramento, CA 95814
Brian Uslan
Education Programs Consultant
916-323-2562
buslan@cde.ca.gov
