NCJ Number
84952
Date Published
1981
Length
18 pages
Annotation
Although aspects of Title I services and programs may affect how status offenders are treated after placement, Title I appears to have little impact on where children are actually placed.
Abstract
Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act was enacted to provide special compensatory education to educationally deprived children. The size of Title I grants is based on a count of children from low-income families and of children in various out-of-home placements. Status offenders may figure into the count for determining the size of the grant if they are from low-income families, are in foster care, or reside in child-caring facilities. Several reasons have been suggested as to why Title I has such little effect on where children are placed. Most obviously, placement policies for status offenders are the result of State responses to issues that are only remotely related to the issue of where a child will be educated. Compensatory education programs are a minor concern in the debate over deinstitutionalization. Also, the financial incentives to place status offender children in restrictive environments under Title I are not obvious to placement decisionmakers. Further, the compensatory education services funded by Title I are supplemental to a normal educational program and are not services that must be offered. Finally, the educational organization is a completely different system of classifying and treating children than those used by the juvenile justice system and social service providers. Three references are provided.