Special Ed in Detention Facilities

Obviously, there is no quick fix. What is the solution? This worries me a great deal too. I have become a “big sister” to a poor inner city girl, trying to save one at a time. It is a program called Matchpoint, religious. What else do you suggest?
MG

I have had a great interest and concern about this for some time. We finally quit burning mentally ill people at the stake but to me this is still in the same family. I have no idea what to do about all this.

I get so scared when I read about gullible adhd or ld kids who are in jail for things it is obvious a manifestation of their disability, or that they frequently aren’t guilty of at all but perhaps said what they thought would make the cops let them go home ( I don’t put it past the cops to take advantage and say just that to them).

How about the mentally retarded man in jail for killing a baby that all the docs said couldn’t have possibly even existed because the retarded woman was unable to have kids? Not to mention the adhd folks, kids especially, who aren’t given their medicine in jail and then get in further trouble, put in max security prison from minimum. Both true stories I have read. It is so incomprehensible to me.

Any ideas anyone?

Amy

Wel;l, for anyone that doubts the scale of the problem, let them speak with a knowledgeable Special Ed Teacher, parole officer, probation officer, school counselor or jail employees.

What can we do? Many kids need an advocate–here locally we have “CASAs” that is Court Appointed Special Advocates for kids that do not have a parent to go in to the IEP meetings and check that the IEP is done properly at least.

We especially need help in the cities and among people of color, in my opinion. Lobby your school districts that they are running good programs for “probation kids,” (these kids attend schools which are closely monitored by probation officers) special ed kids, the Severely Emotionally Disturbed programs, and the detention facility schools. Some cities have schools for kids growing up homeless.

These schools need good teachers and good paraprofessionals. Many of these kids are saved by coming to school and spending time with a positive, caring, well adjusted adult, in the person of their teacher, the paraprofessional, the administrators, the secretary, and other school staff.

It is outrageous and a crime against the children of the state of California that there is a budget crisis that means we will be laying off teachers! Oakland has to let go hundreds of teachers! Why don’t we find the money from Gray Davis’ salary and that of some other government employees?

People that are concerned can also volunteer at a local court school. There are many of them in the community. Some of them are located in tucked away, hard to notice places, in a strip mall, in a big mall, sometimes downtown in a big city. Many of these kids could benefit from instruction in computer skills, writing, reading, drawing…so many things that they could learn. Many of them are very normal, average kids that are starving for attention.

My theory is this. Many, many of these kids in Special Ed programs are not only at risk of not learning to read and do math, but are also in danger of becoming gang members, drug addicts, prostitutes, drug dealers, and other similar outcomes.

My theory is that what they need most is emotional support and to know that someone cares about them. You would not believe how many of them are starved for attention and positive reinforcement.

So, go find a kid and be his friend.

John

What we first need is for schools to adopt programs that actually teach a child to read, write and math skills. Whole language and whole math should be forever put to rest and teachers retrained to actually teach. This is the basis for the ‘Leave No child Behind’ and the overhauling legislation for IDEA. I have taught these kids in a school for the severely emotionally disturbed and they are not your ‘normal’ kids. Too much abuse and neglect can change a person’s brain make-up and leave them very deficient in the social behavior area. This is also backed by brain research.

Yes, John, it is a huge problem that we educators have not been the cause of. If you are in CA then you work in the same circumstances as I. We do our best, but our state has so very many poor, so many immigrants and times are tough for many people. What do you want us to do?

LD kiddoes from middle and upper middle class are probably no more likely to end up in juvenile hall than their peers. I have taught many, many nice LD kids who will never land in jail or participate in gang activities.

Now, if you were to add that huge numbers of these youth who are detained are ADHD, then I will agree. If we also consider that when we combine severe ADHD with familial dysfunction, etc. we usually have kids who don’t learn a heck of a lot, I’ll agree. What to do?

Well, in dentention they need to receive counseling, education and take medication (if they are diagnosed as ADHD). A prison doctor published a paper a while back where he determined that 60% of the population was ADHD. He medicated them and continuing to take medication was part of the parole contract. The recidivism rate dropped enormously for this population.

Good point, if they are ADHD and can’t focus or process information and they only way for them to even be remotely successful at this process is through medication - then yeah you’re giving them a chance. Too bad many parents of younger youth don’t subscribe to this same theory -

Our society is in a mess and unwilling to financially/morally intervene. One group refuses to fund - the other refuses to believe in standards that are the base of our entire culture. A disorder does not cause delinquency it only exacerbates it. Some evidence indicates the inability to read leads to social dysfunction which leads to anti-social (often delinquent) behaviors.

A legal system more interested in clearing the docket than in intervening appropriately is also to blame. When kids “get away with” crimes, expect crimes to increase. Our inept punishment driven systems only have increased criminal activities, many facilities being training camps for crime.

Answers? One kid at a time. Never allow “whole language” approaches in our schools again. Never sacrifice children to faddish, inappropriate theory.

Ken Campbell - Executive Board Member - Florida’s Council for Children with Behavior Disorders

So how do you feel about juvenile boot camp instead of incarceration?

Boot camps work for some. What is needed is a change of environment. Hope is also needed. “When you ain’t got nothin’ you got nothin’ to lose.”

These aggressive, violent children involved in criminal activities need resocialization. That involves more investment than boot camp. It also does not impy the need for excuse-making Freudian psychoanalysts.
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