Touro Law Review
Abstract
Correctional facilities across the country are consistently failing to provide adequate special education to disabled children who are placed in solitary confinement due to inadequate funding, untrained staff, and lack of consensus on how to implement a program. This Note compares the special education services that disabled children are entitled to under the Free Appropriate Public Education (“FAPE”) statute with the education they receive during incarceration. This Note also discusses suggestions for implementing meaningful special education when a child is isolated. When disabled children are placed in solitary confinement and deprived of education tailored to their specific needs and abilities, they ultimately leave prison unprepared for the future. Many prisons use a “catchall” approach to special education in solitary confinement and slide worksheets under the door without any regard to grade level and without any guidance on how to complete the work. Despite recent reform on solitary confinement in juvenile facilities, children incarcerated in adult facilities remain suffering from the detrimental effects of solitary confinement, even more so when they have a disability that is not being properly addressed. Every child who enters a prison should be assessed to determine if they qualify for special education services based on their educational abilities. Once assessed, prisons should implement programs specific to each child’s needs and ability. This Note discusses the changes that can be made within prisons, specifically solitary confinement, to provide greater access to special education so that children can continue to learn while incarcerated and their education does not come to a halt upon entering solitary.
Recommended Citation
Edwards, Lauren
(2025)
"Locking Up Potential: Why Children Need Access to Special Education Services in Solitary,"
Touro Law Review: Vol. 40:
No.
1, Article 8.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.tourolaw.edu/lawreview/vol40/iss1/8
