NJ Agrees To Improve Special Ed For Young Prison Inmates

PRINCETON, NJ — The New Jersey Department of Corrections (NJDOC) will drastically improve special education services for prison inmates, according to a recent settlement approved by the U.S. District Court.

The settlement agreement comes four years after a class-action lawsuit was filed by three students who alleged they were denied special education in prison by NJDOC and the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE).

The agreement will overhaul special education services in New Jersey state prisons by implementing new policies and providing programs comparable to those available in public schools. The three student inmates were represented by the ACLU in the landmark lawsuit.

“After years of negotiations, special education services will now be meaningfully accessible to people in New Jersey prisons,” ACLU-NJ Legal Director Jeanne LoCicero said in a public statement.

“The changes achieved by this settlement drastically improve special education services for students in prison and put in place a comprehensive plan for monitoring the provisions of those services for years to come.”

The agreement sets a five-year term during which NJDOE, with support from a court-appointed External Monitor, will observe NJDOC’s special education and related services. The NJDOE will also prepare corrective action plans outlining remedial measures for the NJDOC to implement.

The settlement agreement relates to inmates who are 21 years old or younger who are serving time in NJ’s adult prisons since 2015. The state’s juvenile programs are not included.

In the lawsuit, the three men in their late teens said they suffered mental health and behavioral disorders prior to being incarcerated. Once in jail, all support was stopped. They said they suffered a lot, especially in solitary confinement.

"Education in administrative segregation frequently consists of worksheets dropped off at the student’s cell, with no direct instruction at all,” read the lawsuit. “For young people with disabilities, who struggle to read and grasp new concepts, this educational method of providing worksheets without instruction results in frustration rather than meaningful education.”

The lawsuit alleged that “administrative segregation” or solitary confinement “does not allow students with disabilities to continue to participate in the general education curriculum.”

“Other students leave their cell to attend classes in a structure enclosed on all sides by bars, essentially a cage. The students sit in the center of the cage, while a teacher stands outside of the cage and monitors the students while they complete their worksheets,” said the lawsuit.

The settlement includes various provisions for student inmates which are otherwise provided in schools statewide. Incarcerated students will now be provided with at least four hours of instructions a day in a classroom setting and the use of worksheets as a primary method of instruction has been prohibited. Certified teachers will now be available to student inmates and interpretation and translation services will be provided to those who are not fluent in English.

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