3 Recent Legislative Trends That Will Shape Education for Youth With Justice Involvement

Last year, in 2025, 13 states enacted legislation pertaining to the intersection of youth justice systems and schools.[1] States focused heavily on three areas of policy for improving school safety, education pathways for justice-involved youth, and young people’s transitions from justice facilities back into the community. For state and local leaders working in either youth justice and/or education, this blog illustrates these trends by presenting the most common legislative approaches enacted in 2025.

Trend 1: Balancing school safety with educational continuity

Some states strengthened safety protocols and clarified the roles and responsibilities of law enforcement agencies in schools.

• Court referrals and information-sharing: A North Dakota law now allows school employees to make delinquency referrals to juvenile court but requires schools to first document all previous interventions, with exceptions for serious offenses involving weapons and drugs. Maine now allows law enforcement to notify schools when there is credible evidence of imminent danger—particularly involving firearms or dangerous weapons—and requires them to convene multidisciplinary teams while maintaining confidentiality. And, as a result of 2025 legislation, Arizona will soon require schools (effective June 30, 2026) to notify parents when law enforcement takes a student into temporary custody.
• Reintegration and disclosure protocols: Utah now mandates that school districts create multidisciplinary reintegration plans for students whose arrest or adjudication is reported. When offenses involve school employees or other students, those individuals must receive notice of the plan. Georgia requires parents enrolling students in grades 4-12 to disclose criminal history, with schools informing teachers about students with felony adjudications.
• Officer training and oversight: A law in Illinois (effective July 1, 2026) requires memoranda of understanding between law enforcement and school districts using school resource officers (SROs); it also defines roles for SROs and establishes training requirements and data collection protocols. SROs are prohibited from issuing fines or citations for school rule violations. Arizona established training and certification for school safety officers and expanded safety grants to fund infrastructure, technology, and officer training on interacting with students with disabilities.

Trend 2: Supporting educational pathways for students with justice involvement

In 2025 legislation, states removed barriers to educational success by creating centralized systems to prevent loss of credits and expanding pathways to higher education and career training.

• Centralized records and graduation pathways: Nebraska created a centralized education records system for students under juvenile court jurisdiction to ensure seamless credit transfer and prevent educational disruption. Beginning in the 2026-2027 school year, eligible students who are under court jurisdiction and residing in out-of-home placement at any time during high school can request to graduate from a school in which they were previously enrolled without additional requirements, or request a state diploma from the Commissioner of Education.
• Higher education support: California enacted two bills designed to support students with current or prior justice involvement in higher education: Assembly Bill 123 expanded the Rising Scholars Network to all the state's community colleges, allowing them to provide academic counseling, financial aid, and reentry services. Assembly Bill 243 now allows students to prove financial independence through sworn statements from probation and child welfare agencies, which eliminates the requirement to obtain documentation from family members.
• Career and technical education access: Texas expanded access to career and technical education (CTE) by making juvenile justice entities eligible for their Jobs and Education for Texans grants. These grants fund startup costs for launching or expanding CTE programs, which help students with justice involvement build skills for high-demand jobs and successful community reintegration.

Trend 3: Streamlining educational transitions and records access

Finally, some states chose to address the critical points at which students transition between justice facilities and schools in the community.

• Expanding sponsorship options for charter schools: Oklahoma expanded educational continuity by allowing charter schools to serve students in both county and state custody. Previously, only youth in state correctional custody were eligible, but this expansion includes more students in county juvenile detention facilities.
• State oversight: Other states created formal structures for managing transitions and ensuring service quality. Delaware established a Juvenile Justice Educational Transitions Task Force to study successful transition practices and challenges, examine educational outcomes for youth released from secure facilities, and explore potential modifications to existing schools—including consideration of separate alternative schools for youth transitioning from residential placements. Washington directed its superintended of public instruction to oversee delivery of basic education services for justice-involved youth under age 21 in residential institutions, requiring consultation with organizations serving these students, implementation of research-based recommendations, and analysis of governance structures.

These policies offer potential frameworks for balancing school safety, educational opportunity, and successful transitions. As state and local leaders consider new or revised policies to support court-involved students, they should examine how these policies address local priorities and capacity as they are implemented.