Employment is a defining aspect of adult life as well as a protective factor for youth involved in the juvenile justice system, but employment rates for juvenile-justice-involved youth are substantially lower than for their noninvolved peers. Interventions have been developed to increase employment for juvenile-justice-involved youth, yet few…

For youth with disabilities within the juvenile justice system, transition is multifaceted and can constitute movement from facility to facility or education placement to placement. However, within a juvenile justice context, transition is also a legal term of art that derives from a set of interrelated laws, policies, and procedures that guide…

We implemented a rapid protocol to train teachers in a school for detained juvenile offenders to implement the Good Behavior Game, an empirically supported group contingency procedure, in their classrooms. Data were collected on both teacher (i.e., two measures of treatment integrity) and student behavior (i.e., disruptive behavior). Results…

The positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) framework has been applied for over two decades in public schools throughout the country. More recently it has been adopted, or is being considered for adoption, by an increasing number of states and facilities providing residential or secure care for juvenile offenders. During…

Children and youth in juvenile corrections have statutory rights to education services of comparable quality to those found in the public schools. However, during the past 40 years in many states, access to education services that meet state and federal requirements under IDEA and state regulations has been inconsistent and inadequate for youth in…

Based on our research over the past ten years, we have identified six evidence-based transition practices that are critical for promoting youth success after release from secure care. Success, however, also relies heavily on the engagement of community partners and stakeholders who receive these youth after release. To further understand the…

Coaching is one component used to facilitate implementation of positive behavior intervention and supports (PBIS) with fidelity, and to help bridge the gap between training and implementation in real-world settings. This exploratory survey examined elements related to PBIS coaching as support for developing and implementing a statewide PBIS…

The positive behavior interventions and supports (PBIS) framework is currently implemented in over 18,000 schools in the United States. Schools implementing PBIS with fidelity report school level benefits including decreases in problem behavior, increases in academic engaged time, and improved perceptions of school safety. While potential benefits…

One of the main purposes of alternative education, residential facilities and our nation's juvenile justice restrictive settings is to provide the youth who find themselves in these settings an opportunity to redirect their lives and receive the supports and skills they need to have successful and productive futures. While this has not always…

The pace of implementation of PBIS in restrictive settings for juvenile offenders is accelerating. Recommendations for future research include the following: examine effects of PBIS on preventing entry into the school-to-prison pipeline, identify factors that influence PBIS implementation, develop the capacity of restrictive settings to engage in…

This article provides a rationale and guidelines for the adoption and implementation of positive behavior interventions and supports (PBIS) in secure juvenile justice settings, including benefits for youth and staff members. The rationale for extending PBIS to juvenile justice settings based on the authors' collective work in numerous states and…

This study explores the effect of basic versus enhanced transition services on the recidivism of youth with disabilities in juvenile detention. The article describes the transition services provided and shares the results of a year-long, randomized, single blind, quasi-experimental study of post-release recidivism. Results indicate that youth with…

School-wide positive behavior interventions and supports (SW-PBIS) is a framework for creating safe and effective learning environments and cultivating a positive educational climate. Researchers show that SW-PBIS can improve behavioral outcomes, while demonstrations of a causal relationship between improvements in students' academic achievement…

Research suggests that girls receiving special education services for Emotional Disturbance (ED) may have unique characteristics and needs. Similarly, juvenile justice research has identified unique characteristics of court-involved girls. This study examined characteristics of girls with ED and a history of arrest. Additionally, classroom-based…

The purpose of this study was to examine the differences in the perceptions of juvenile justice teachers in Georgia, Louisiana, and Ohio. Juvenile justice teachers (n = 542) completed an extensive attrition and retention survey with a 98% response rate. Comparisons were made between states, type of facility (short or long-term), gender, and…