If there is one group of students with the most to gain from staying in school, it is those minors transitioning out of the juvenile justice system. Yet of the roughly 42,000 youth who attend California’s juvenile court schools each year, only 20 percent successfully reenroll within 30 days of their release from the system.
That success rate, say experts, has little to do with the kids themselves and everything to do with a systems failure rooted in poor coordination and a lack of communication between key county agencies – primarily juvenile probation and county education departments -- responsible for shepherding youth in detention back into the public school system.
A possible remedy exists in AB 2276 (Bocanegra), a new California bill that, if approved, would require county agencies to immediately enroll all students exiting juvenile court schools, which include juvenile halls, day centers, ranches, camps and other county facilities serving youth in detention. The bill, which passed through the state legislature unopposed, is currently pending approval by Governor Jerry Brown.
To read more of this story by Michael Lozano, go to: http://newamericamedia.org/201...to-the-classroom.php
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