Literacy and System-Involved Youth: Strategies for improving outcomes

Slide 1

Literacy and System-Involved Youth:Strategies for improving outcomes

June 23rd, 2008

Evan Elkin - Director of the Adolescent Reentry Initiative & Adolescent Portable Therapy, Vera Institute of Justice

Slide 2 • April 20, 2023

Goals of Presentation

• Scope of the problem: Overview of relevant national and local research findings on literacy and incarcerated youth

• Overview of promising practices and blueprint recommendations in the literacy education field for incarcerated youth

• Snapshot of recent literacy programming developments here in New York City

• Describe a new literacy initiative and pilot program developed by the Vera Institute of Justice in partnership with NYC Council, DOC and the Queens Public Library

• Workshop exercise: generating new recommendations for the field


Criminal Justice System-involved Youth: Key Research Findings

• Youth in correctional facilities on average read at the 4th grade level (Brunner 1993)

• 80% of incarcerated youth read at one or more grade levels below their same age peers (Malmgren & Leone, 2000)

• More than 50% of youth on Rikers Island read below the 6th grade level (Internal statistics, Island Academy)

• Matching national figures, roughly 35% of Rikers youth carry a special education classfication (Internal statistics, Island Academy)


Key Research Findings Cont’d

• Less than 1/3 of youth returning home from NYC jails enroll in school (Fruedendberg, 2000)

• Youth with significant academic delays are twice as likely to recidivate or violate parole (Archwamety & Katsiyannis, 2000)

• High school dropouts are 3.5 times more likely than graduates to be arrested (US DOE, 1994)

• Incarcerated youth were 37% less likely to return to prison if they learned to read at re-entry (Criminal Justice Policy Council, 1998)


The Problem

• Low Literacy is correlated with:• Disengagement from formal education

• Unemployment and lower wages

• Arrest, incarceration & recidivism

• Programming options (GED prep, vocational training etc) for low readers (Below 6th grade) are profoundly limited

• Lack of innovative literacy teaching strategies tailored to the needs system-involved youth and young adults


Vera’s Involvement with Literacy: Developing a set of program recommendations

• ARI program faced the crisis of excluding half of eligible youth because of literacy levels and lack of community programs

• Vera conducted a detailed review of the literature and existing promising programs

• Examined evidence-supported and promising practices through a re-entry lens

• Developed a set of a recommendations

• Assembled NYC stakeholders to reach consensus on a blueprint

• Vera developed and launched a literacy intervention pilot


Recent Developments in NYC

• Deputy Mayor Gibbs’ office and CEO launched a literacy intiative this year

• Based on Vera blueprint

• Drawing on NYC strengths: library systems, literacy providers contracted through DYCD

• Seeks to stimulate innovation and curriculum development

• Multi-site implementation of the CEPS model in NYC • Promising early results

• Will play a coordinating/guiding role with the CEO initiative

• Vera’s Adolescent Reentry Initiative (ARI) launched a pilot of a literacy model for youth returning from adult jail

• Plans to continue to refine and test curriculum and programming approach

• Our goal is to take the program to scale and expand to other populations


Promising Programs

• NYC: Community Education Pathways to Success (CEPS) model• Integrates literacy learning with wraparound youth services in a community based

setting

• Developed by the Youth Development Institute (ydiinstitute.org)

• Uses Ramp Up curriculum

• Oakland CA: Project Choice• Integrates literacy learning with multi-target prison reentry services (pre and post-

release phases

• 34% improvements in recidivism

• Designed and tested their own curriculum

• Yo! Baltimore• “Community center” approach with multiple services including job readiness and

placement, a recording studio and a health club

• Serves criminal justice, child welfare involved youth as well as school disconnected youth

• Modest improvements in recidivism and strong employment outcomes

• Literacy element consists of online and tutoring for GED prep


Promising Curricula

• RAMP Up• Used by CEPS programs

• Strong outcomes for youth reading at 6th grade and above

• Integrates vocational material

• Read 180• Used by Job Corps

• Software driven and bilingual

• Good track record with adults

• Not tested with a system involved youth population

• REWARDS • Success with 2.5 to 4.0 readers

• But its use has been with 4th and 5th graders, not older adolescents, young adults or system-involved populations


Integrating Re-entry Needs of the System-Involved Youth: Lessons from ARI

• History of academic failure leads to very low frustration tolerance and sense of hopelessness about entering an educational program

• The “re-entry window” - where motivation to make changes is high – can close very quickly (nationally - 25% of youth drop out of programs at 30 days post reentry)

• A traditional classroom setting can be daunting for youth who have been disengaged from school

• Rigid rules and excessive structure may be difficult from some youth post-incarceration

• Program attendance = lost wages: The need to earn money can make regular attendance in a program challenging for some youth

• Class/semester schedules don’t line up with release dates


Youth Re-entry Needs Cont’d:

• Rates of substance use, mental health difficulties and family problems among detained and incarcerated youth are very high

• Stigma of criminal justice history makes return to traditional education settings daunting (and often impossible without advocacy)

• Many community programs have little experience and high anxiety about working with incarcerated youth

• Ages 16-18 can cover a broad development spectrum

• Competing with the streets/gangs


Primary Blueprint Recommendations: Program Structure• Comprehensive, holistic and strength-based assessment

• Begin engagement and services pre-release

• Embed programming in a youth-focused, multi-target support environment

• Resistance is the norm: build in assertive and flexible recruitment and retention strategies and expect disruption and disengagement

• Leverage supportive power of the classroom group itself

• Peer led and directed process for engagement and retention

• Stipends

• Individualized attention (eg., CEPS “primary person approach”)

• Pragmatic, fun, flexible atmosphere

• Bridge to next steps


Primary Blueprint Recommendations: Curriculum• Anticipatory strategies: students know what they will learn before

they learn it

• Classroom strategies accommodate multiple learning levels and paces

• Student centered: encourage multiple learning strategies to achieve learning goals

• Culturally relevant and student-driven curriculum content

• Authentic/pragmatic texts

• Reconcile literacy with living: Don’t sidestep issues of criminal justice system involvement, race and priviledge etc. as it pertains to literacy

• Arts and media integration - recognize and build on students literacy with other forms of “text”: print, visual, oral, musical, electronic


Vera’s Literacy Pilot: Goals

• Develop a new literacy teaching curriculum responsive to the “blueprint”

• Embed the literacy learning experience in the re-entry wraparound services provided by ARI

• Implement the program in an accessible community context

• Partner with an organization (QBL) with a strong teaching infrastructure and shared mission to address adult and young adult literacy

• Evaluate implementation process and refine model and curriculum


Key Components of Vera Literacy Model

• Integrating literacy programming with multi-target re-entry intervention: SA, MH, Family, life skills, housing, work readiness

• Ongoing relationship with a case manager

• Integration of vocational, career and higher education goals with literacy programming and with the curriculum itself

• Blending of “authentic texts” with traditional literature

• Arts and media integration - recognize and build on students literacy with other forms: print, visual, oral, musical, electronic

• Structured rolling admission

• Stipends

• Job development services and linkages with further training and education post literacy program


Evaluation, Outcomes, Next steps

• Tracking youth progress• Intermittent formal testing

• Testing and refining the curriculum• Prioritizing youth feedback on what’s working

• Planned series of curriculum revisions

• Development of a teacher training manual for the curriculum

• Process and implementation evaluation• Goal for a more comprehensive evaluation post pilot

• Begin teaching pre-release?

• Bring program to scale and target other youth populations


Breakout Group Exercise

Documents

Literacy and System-Involved Youth: Strategies for improving outcomes