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• Despite calls for greater prevention and early intervention initiatives in schools and the juvenile justice system, there is little evidence that past, current, or proposed laws will suffice to create this change or to overcome the many conflicting perspectives about youth with disabilities or young offenders. Any challenges to implementing disability law in schools are magnified in the juvenile justice system, where there is little understanding of disabilities or disability law and where few resources exist to adequately address the needs of youth with disabilities. Most sources suggest that many schools are not providing legally required services to youth with disabilities. The needs/services gap appears to be even greater in the juvenile justice system, where the primary focus is on sanctioning youth for their delinquent behavior, not on providing services. Systematic, empirical documentation of these gaps does not currently exist or is not readily available. There are many opportunities for improving both research and practice. However, the existence of such opportunities by themselves is insufficient to result in a change in the levels and quality of programming and enforcement of juvenile justice and disability law. Some research and anecdotal evidence suggests that as schools have become more restrictive and punitive (e.g., zero tolerance approaches to misbehavior), they have increasingly pushed greater numbers of youth with disabilities into the juvenile justice system. Many observers speculate that the failure of many schools to fully and consistently implement federal law, especially the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, has contributed to this process. Few local, state, or national organizations maintain consistent or reliable records of the types and levels of services or funding of programs that focus on youth with disabilities who are at risk of entering or involved in the juvenile justice system. Despite calls for significant prevention and early intervention efforts in schools and the juvenile justice system, there is little evidence that such efforts are widespread. The absence is notable because research suggests that such programming may be the only effective method for reducing the involvement of youth with disabilities in the juvenile justice system, especially in the “deeper end” of the system (e.g., correctional facilities).
• Racial/ethnic minorities, including Native American youth, are overrepresented at most stages of the juvenile justice system and among the population of youth with disabilities. Yet, there is little evidence that juvenile justice systems are providing appropriate disability-related programming for this population, or that they have developed culturally appropriate approaches for these youth.

• Students come to school more often when they are involved in service-learning. There are less suspensions and trips to visit the principal when students are involved in service-learning. Students care more about what other people think about them. Students “want” to be in school. Students have changed their behavior for the good so that they can be a role model to younger children. Students see themselves as a citizen in their local community, not just a special education student.
• Students have greater respect for authority, including police officers.

From the report, Service-Learning: An Education Strategy for Preventing School Violence(http://www.csuchico.edu/psed/servicelearning/
images/subpages/SL_AnEducationStrategy.pdf):