The successful reintroduction of juvenile offenders from
correctional facilities into the communities in which they
live is fraught with challenges. It is, however, an essential
process in which schools play a key role in ensuring the
offender's chances for success and the classroom's status
as a safe environment of learning. In fact, the transition
that a juvenile offender makes from secure confinement to
school will likely shape the youth's transition to the community.
In 1996, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention and the Safe and Drug-Free Schools Program asked
the National School Safety Center to identify strategies
for enhancing services for youth out of the education mainstream.
This Bulletin, one of a series addressing issues related
to that initiative, describes effective approaches to reintegrating
youth from juvenile justice system settings into the education
mainstream and provides information about promising programs,
practices, and resources.
With help from all concerned, juvenile offenders can return
to their communities to lead productive lives. I hope that
the information this Bulletin contains will assist them
in taking the first step -- successful transition to school.
Shay Bilchik
Administrator
