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Project researchers include, front row from left: Loukia Sarroub, Alex Mason and Sarah Staples-Farmer. Back row from left: Randy Farmer, Natalie Koziol, Debbie Minter and Eric Buhs.
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Ethical and Equitable Reintegration: Transitioning Youth from Out-of-Home Placement to the Mainstream Classroom
Research Team
Principal Investigator: Alex Mason
Co-Principal Investigators: Loukia Sarroub
Funding Information
Funding Agency: UNL Grand Challenges Catalyst Competition
Award Date: Aug 1, 2024
End Date: Apr 30, 2025
Abstract
More than 25,000 youth reside in detention facilities on any given day in the United States, and about two-thirds of those youth do not successfully re-engage with school upon their release, largely due to an absence of effective transition supports, including for those students who have been expelled.
Racially and ethnically minoritized youth are overrepresented in the juvenile justice population and their school failure is a key driver of the “school-to-prison pipeline,” estimated to cost taxpayers $35 billion annually.
Although Nebraska enjoys an 89% high school graduation rate, the suffering experienced by the remaining 11% is staggering and is disproportionate for minoritized youth, who are overrepresented in detention and expulsion programs.
Researchers aim to help UNL to take leadership in ameliorating the racially biased “school-to-prison pipeline” and be the national distribution hub for effective supports for school success and recidivism reduction in juvenile justice-involved youth.
Although states are required to provide school-coordinated services to transitioning youth, no standardized transition programs are available to educators. Schools typically provide minimal support for these youth, and inequitable practices — including zero tolerance policies — are common.
Researchers aim to address this critical need by developing sustainable, effective programming that enables schools and teachers to support young people transitioning from detention and other out-of-school placements (e.g., expulsion) back into the community and by promoting positive adjustment, school success and reducing recidivism. Programming will promote academic success and well-being and reduce critical disparities in educational and mental health outcomes for this severely underserved group.
This project will plan, implement and evaluate for the next phase, then enact multi-site implementation and evaluation plans and establish a UNL-based distribution hub for ongoing training and technical assistance with national reach. During the nine-month planning period, researchers will build a multi-disciplinary team to complete the six-step Intervention Mapping Process, culminating in a school transition program for diverse juvenile justice and expelled youth.
The outcome of both phases will be a research-informed, culturally sensitive juvenile justice school transition program with sustainable nationwide dissemination.
The long-term goal is to promote equity in school success (e.g., via literacy education) and reducing recidivism (e.g., via mental health supports, social-emotional skill development) among all young people transitioning out of the justice system and expulsion programs.
Project researchers include, front row from left: Loukia Sarroub, Alex Mason and Sarah Staples-Farmer. Back row from left: Randy Farmer, Natalie Koziol, Debbie Minter and Eric Buhs.