OJJDP Family Listening Sessions: Executive Summary - Office of ...

labeled. They reported that race often played a role in mislabeling a youth. Family members
thought that the system should focus more attention and resources on youth receiving appropriate
education while in the juvenile justice and other systems. Participants also voiced the concern
that too often, their family did not meet the income or other requirements to qualify for services
or receive the treatment needed.
Key Comments/Highlights
• My son was able to obtain his GED while incarcerated. However, this was due mostly to his
persistence in getting the facility to provide him with the resources to get his GED. No one
was really advocating for him behind the walls to get his education or counseling him on the
importance of education.
• In eighth grade, my son received counseling that worked really well for him. Years later,
while locked in a detention facility, my son recognized he needed therapy and requested it.
He was told that they could provide him with counseling once a month. We all understand
that for therapy to be effective, it needs to occur more than once per month. I believe if my
son were given the proper counseling when he asked for it, he would not be struggling with
some of the issues he has today.
• My son didn’t feel challenged, and the teachers weren’t taking any steps to provide him with
further challenges. When he started to get in trouble at school, I had him evaluated. We
learned that he was impulsive, and while he was able to do the schoolwork, he was not able
to control his impulsive behaviors. Our education system needs to be better prepared to work
with kids like my son and not automatically label them as troublemakers.
• The system was so quick to label him and others like him as “bad” kids. The schools are too
quick to jump to inconclusive assumptions, and they are sent to behavioral schools. Through
my research, I’ve seen that behavioral schools are proven not to work. In fact, it appears
they set them up for criminal behavior. And, you’ll likely see mostly African American and
Hispanic children in behavioral schools.
Question 5—Educational Goals
Can you share one example of something that happened or that someone did while your
child was in the juvenile justice system that helped in terms of achieving educational goals
Family members placed a lot of value on fostering strong parent-child relationships while their
children were involved with the juvenile justice system. Family engagement was the number-one
factor in making sure youth got the education services they needed and in helping youth break
negative cycles. Family members talked about the need to actively support and encourage family
engagement, including engagement of stepparents and other family members, to eliminate
barriers to family/parent advocacy for youth in the system, and to encourage family engagement
throughout a young person’s involvement with the juvenile justice system. Family members also
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