The Partnership for People with Disabilities (formerly known as the Virginia Institute for Developmental Disabilities) at Virginia Commonwealth University received a twelve-month contract in October 1999 from the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) under the Juvenile Accountability Incentive Block Grant Program. The purpose of the contract was to conduct a state-wide training needs assessment of personnel who are working with youth in the community who have been identified as serious, chronic, and violent offenders, and who have educational disabilities.

The goal of the assessment was to provide information that will be useful in the future development of training activities for professionals working with youth in the juvenile justice system who have educational disabilities and to raise public awareness of the issues.

The process used to conduct the training needs assessment included the following activities: (1) convening of an advisory council of key stakeholders in Virginia who had knowledge and expertise in juvenile justice, learning disabilities, and/or special education; (2) reviewing of the literature on juvenile justice personnel training needs and special education issues within the juvenile justice system; and (3) conducting a training needs assessment of juvenile detention and court service unit employees on the topic of learning disabilities among juvenile offenders.

The purpose of the advisory council was to serve as a think tank to provide consultation and guidance to project staff with the goals being to identify training needs, to recommend training activities and priorities, and to suggest areas for research. The council met three times over a six-month period. At the third meeting, Dr. Peter Leone, executive director of the National Center on Education, Disability, and Juvenile Justice (EDJJ), provided consultation to the council. The council agreed that there is a great need to address the multiple and complex issues of youth with educational and mental health disabilities in Virginia's juvenile justice system, and that professionals in both the juvenile justice system and in education must have appropriate training to provide effective services to these youth.

The project staff developed a training needs assessment survey instrument that focused on knowledge and opinions about learning disabilities and about interest for training in this area. A proportionate stratified cluster sampling was used to identify detention centers and court service units whose full-time and part-time staff would receive the survey. In general, the survey revealed that the opinion of detention center and court service unit respondents' about the importance of knowledge in the area of learning disabilities were uniformly high, as were respondents' opinions that, in order to perform their job effectively, it is important to have knowledge about learning disabilities. Detention center and court service unit personnel, overall, indicated a high ability to recognize the myths of learning disabilities. However, over one-fourth of detention staff responded that youth with learning disabilities also have a low IQ and that learning disabilities are usually obvious and apparent. Detention center and court service unit personnel reported that they are interested in learning more about the impact of learning disabilities on juveniles. The most preferred method of training is a one-day conference.

The vast majority of detention center teachers who were surveyed reported feeling fairly confident about their knowledge in the area of learning disabilities and indicated a high ability to recognize the myths of learning disabilities. However, two myths seemed more likely to be misunderstood than others, namely, that juveniles who have learning disabilities usually also have low IQ's, and that problems experienced by juveniles with learning disabilities are usually obvious and apparent. They reported that they would prefer to receive training either by attending a one-day or two-day conference.

The following recommendations are based upon the findings from the needs assessment that reflect the knowledge and opinions of the advisory council, a review of the literature, and the results of the survey research.

• Develop a one-day training session on educational disabilities (especially learning disabilities) that incorporates knowledge, assessment, intervention skills, and collaboration among educators and juvenile justice personnel. In addition, the training should include information on rights of persons with disabilities under the Individual with Disabilities Education ACT (IDEA), Section 504 of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act, Americans with Disabilities Act, and Virginians with Disabilities Act. Once established, this training should be systemized within the juvenile justice system to ensure that all new personnel are adequately prepared to work with these youth. Any training that is provided should include technical assistance to assure that knowledge and skills are incorporated into daily practice.

• Offer the above training session on a regional basis to detention center staff, court service unit personnel, juvenile justice corrections staff, Department of Juvenile Justice mental health clinical staff, and educators. Direct services staff, supervisors, and administrators should receive this training.

• Develop a community-based pilot training that focuses on collaboration among juvenile justice, mental health, and education. This training should be evaluated to determine its effectiveness on improving coordination of services to youth who have complex and multiple needs in the juvenile justice system.

• Widely disseminate information on special education rights, Section 504 of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act, Americans with Disabilities Act, and Virginians with Disabilities Act to juvenile justice personnel, parents who have children in the juvenile justice system, and attorneys who represent these youth.

• Develop training about youth with educational disabilities that is specific to the needs of attorneys, guardians ad litem, and juvenile and domestic relations judges.

• Promote community awareness of the need for early identification and intervention with youth who have educational disabilities.

• Conduct research that contributes to the body of knowledge regarding youth who have educational disabilities and who are at risk for, or who are involved in, the juvenile justice system. Specific recommendations are provided in the body of the report.