This cluster-randomized efficacy trial evaluated the impact of the Ready for Wages intervention, a classroom-based social skills program designed to improve the employability of youth living and being educated in juvenile justice settings. Fifteen juvenile justice facility schools participated. Data were collected from 118 classrooms: 59 treatment…

Research indicates that meditation-based programs can be rehabilitative for incarcerated populations. Specifically, these programs can help promote positive well-being, reduce recidivism, and help with relapse. This article reviews the effectiveness of existing research on meditation-based programs in correctional populations. The results of…

While trends show that overall rates of delinquency among youth have decreased nationwide, the rate of incarcerated girls has decreased at a much slower rate compared to boys. Once incarcerated, the disciplinary patterns found in four juvenile correctional facilities in a midwestern state show that girls are disciplined more often than boys as…

This autoethnographic work was written after the author had heard that teaching in the prison environment was challenging and difficult. Although she had previously worked in that environment for five years, she had not read the literature about being a prison educator and the comments made about prison being a difficult place to work were quite…

There is a significant gap in our knowledge and understanding regarding how to most effectively support incarcerated parents (particularly incarcerated fathers) to ensure that they can be the most effective parents they can possibly be. Currently, there is relatively little understanding regarding the specific factors that can facilitate change in…

This article presents findings from a participatory evaluation of alumni groups--Think Tanks--affiliated with the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program. Think Tanks are cocurricular settings wherein participants develop and apply skills and capacities valuable within and beyond the context of meetings. Data come from nine focus groups convened in…

Reentry, also referred to as transition, is a critical component in preparing at-risk youth in juvenile justice facilities for successful postrelease outcomes. However, successfully preparing these youth for reentry into the community and back to traditional K-12 schools is still difficult for many justice facilities. With the continued calls for…

The pandemic created significant barriers to delivering education services and programs in prison, prompting many correctional administrations to consider the use of tablet-based education. The present study accordingly used a tablet-based survey to explore the tablet-based education experiences among people who are incarcerated. The present study…

Few juvenile justice group experimental and quasi-experimental literacy-focused studies document fidelity of implementation (FOI). Even fewer of those studies consider the psychometric properties of the FOI instrumentation used. The aim of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of a brief FOI instrument used with English language…

Many juvenile offenders have reading difficulties, but provision of successful reading interventions in youth facilities is lacking. The reading difficulties are often related to the poor schooling backgrounds of the juvenile offender, who consequently has not developed good reading skills. The computerized flash-card method is based on the theory…

This study sought to determine whether criminal thinking possessed by offenders in prison would be significantly reduced through the implementation of motivational curriculum amid a broader menu of treatment and educational programming. This study utilized the Criminal Thinking Scale (CTS) as a pretest and posttest measure of criminal thinking…

Emotional regulation (ER) is essential for youth in juvenile justice facilities (JJFs) so that they can be equipped to identify, process, and resolve complex emotions and stress. Emotions such as anxiety, anger, depression, jealousy, resentment, and disappointment are difficult emotions for any youth to identify and acknowledge, but these emotions…

The authors report findings on reading and IQ from a contemporary study of 145 individually tested incarcerated men and women in two maximum-security prisons in Louisiana. To their knowledge this study is the first to use the definition of dyslexia from the First Step Act (FSA) and the first to incorporate an IQ measure to differentiate those with…

Youth within juvenile justice facilities (JJFs) are often some of the most vulnerable and marginalized population in our communities. These youth often have experienced trauma, social-emotional learning (SEL) issues as well as difficulties in school. Many of these youth have had little opportunity to express their voice in positive and healthy…

Youth served within juvenile justice facilities are to be afforded the same educational benefits as their peers in nonsecure educational settings, including transition supports. Transition supports include the purposeful delivery of strategies and interventions to build a wide variety of skills based on youth interests and preferences regarding…