A new Hechinger Report article offers a compelling narrative and social science review of the connection between emotional-behavioral disabilities and prison.  We typically call this the pipeline, which is catchy, but often strikes me as vague or a rough characterization of a conglomeration of statistics (albeit an effective one).   Jackie Mader and Sarah Butrymowicz's article, like others, discusses how children with special education needs are disproportionately involved in the juvenile justice system. Of the thousands of children caught up in the system every year, "[a]t least one in three of those arrested has a disability, ranging from emotional disability like bipolar disorder to learning disabilities like dyslexia, and some researchers estimate the figure may be as high as 70 percent." Moreover, students with emotional disabilities are three times as likely to be arrested before leaving high school than their peers.  Beyond those numbers, however, this article struck me as doing something different--revealing more than just a pipeline from point A to B to C.  Rather, it suggests a systematic approach to special needs and discipline that is ill-equipped to do anything other than drive a substantial portion of special needs students to incarceration.

They point out that "the path to prison often starts very early for kids who struggle to manage behavioral or emotional disabilities in low-performing schools that lack mental health care, highly qualified special education teachers, and appropriately trained staff." The discipline methods many school use can be more harmful than helpful. For many schools, the first step is suspension, which can lead to extended periods of time outside of the classroom, causing students who are already at a disadvantage to fall further behind their classmates.

The article also explains that many "[s]chool discipline policies often do not take into account students with disabilities . . . [which] can lead schools to disproportionately suspend special education students, whose actions may be manifestations of their disability." Another contributing factor is a shortage of specially trained teachers and counselors. Finally, the authors point out that once a student has been arrested, many schools are either resistant or ill-equipped to allow the student back. This leads many students into a cycle of bouncing around from program to program, or special school to special school.