New York City students in juvenile detention often show up with deep learning challenges and frequently don’t get the support they need to catch up, according to a new analysis of city data.

Court-involved youth held in juvenile detention facilities and group homes managed by the Administration for Children’s Services, the city’s child welfare agency, are entitled to schooling through an Education Department program called Passages Academy.

Those programs tend to receive little public scrutiny, though they serve some of the city’s most vulnerable students. In 2023, City Council passed a law requiring officials to release a trove of data about the program. A report released Monday by Advocates for Children, a group that helps families navigate the school system, includes the first detailed analysis.

“Too often these young people continue to struggle to access the educational services and supports that could help them succeed, both while in detention or placement and after returning home,” the report says.

Here are five takeaways from the report about New York City juvenile detention:

Black Boys Are Overrepresented, and So Are Students with Emotional Disabilities

Over the past two school years, 1,850 students enrolled in Passages Academy. More than 60% were Black, more than 92% were boys, and virtually all were from low-income families, according to an enrollment snapshots from October 2023 and 2024. (About a quarter of all children in middle and high school are Black and 78% come from low-income families.)

Nearly half of all students in Passages had a disability, more than twice the rate across the school system.

Students in juvenile detention were also far more likely to be classified with an emotional disability: 18% of students enrolled at Passages received that classification compared with just 1% for students in middle and high schools across the system, according to the report.

Students Arrive with Significant Learning Challenges

When students arrive in juvenile detention, they are often far behind their peers in reading and math. On average, students at Passages who were assessed in reading scored in the 10th percentile in 2023-24 and the 18th percentile the following school year. Math scores were similarly low.

Read the full article about New York City juvenile detention by Alex Zimmerman at Chalkbeat.