BOSTON — State education officials are being sued over claims that they aren’t providing adequate special-needs services for older, incarcerated youth serving time in county jails.
A lawsuit filed in state Superior Court last week alleges the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education failed to fulfill its statutory obligation to provide special education to youth with disabilities in houses of correction throughout the state, which is depriving them opportunities they are entitled to under state law.
The legal challenge was filed by the Mental Health Legal Advisors Committee and Committee for Public Counsel Services on behalf of several unidentified inmates, who allege that they deprived of services such as speech and language therapy, and little or no access to tutoring from “a grossly understaffed and inadequately monitored” education provider.
“DESE’s failure to uphold its legal obligation to provide adequate education to incarcerated youth is unacceptable,” Phil Kassel, of the Mental Health Legal Advisors Committee, said in a statement.
“Every student, regardless of their circumstances, deserves access to a quality education that meets their individual needs.”
A spokeswoman for the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education said the agency will “review the lawsuit” but declined comment further, citing a policy of not discussing pending litigation. The statement said the agency said it is “committed to seeing that all students with disabilities receive the services they deserve.”
The plaintiffs argue that the failure to adequately provide special-needs services for students increases a likelihood they will not get a high school diploma, which means their prospects after release from jail “are greatly diminished, economically and otherwise.”
“A high school diploma is necessary to have any reasonable chance to compete in today’s job market,” the lawyers wrote.
“Without meaningful employment opportunities, youth are substantially more likely to live in poverty and depend on public benefits as adults.”
“This poverty can exacerbate mental health issues, as well as perpetuate cycles of homelessness and unemployment,” they added.
A report by the group Citizens for Juvenile Justice highlighted what it described as a lack of education opportunities for 18- to 21-year-olds serving time at houses of correction, alleging that the state, county, and municipal officials are violating young peoples’ right to an education under the state constitution.
But the group says the DESE lawsuit is “narrow” in scope and won’t have an impact on the overall problem of educational opportunities for incarcerated youth.
It has called for taking other steps including a proposal that would raise the age of juvenile jurisdiction by the courts to include 18 to 20 year olds.
“Even if it is successful, the needs of general education students in both HOCs and DOC, as well as special education students in DOC, are not addressed by the litigation,” the group said.
“It would be more efficient to raise the upper age of juvenile jurisdiction to ensure a state-wide fix, rather than focus on improving county-by-county programming for young adults in HOCs that are reluctant or outright resistant to do this.”
On Thursday, supporters of the “raise the age” proposal held a rally outside the Statehouse, where formerly incarcerated youth called on lawmakers to approve the legislation.
Christian M. Wade covers the Massachusetts Statehouse for North of Boston Media Group’s newspapers and websites. Email him at cwade@cnhinews.com.