Young adults incarcerated in county jails who are eligible for special education services are the responsibility of the school district where their parents reside, according to a California Supreme Court ruling released earlier this year.
The case involves a student with disabilities, now age 23, who had been transferred from a juvenile detention facility to the county jail when he turned 18. State law makes it clear which entity is responsible for youths in juvenile facilities, but it is silent on responsibility for those in jail. Lawyers for the boy argued that the district in which his mother lived should administer his special education program. The judge, ruling in the boy’s favor, confirmed that youths aged 18-22 in county jail are the responsibility of the “district of residence,” just as that district is responsible for students who are not in jail.
California law makes an exception to this ruling in the case of youth living in foster homes or in state hospitals. Those students are the responsibility of the district in which the foster home or hospital is located.
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