SJP’s Executive Director & Co-Founder Claire Blumenson Confirmed as Mayoral Appointee to Students in the Care of DC Coordinating Committee 02.15.23
In December 2022, SJP’s Executive Director & Co-Founder Claire Blumenson was confirmed as a Mayoral Appointee to the Students in the Care of DC Coordinating Committee. This Committee is charged with ensuring that students involved in the juvenile and criminal legal systems, as well as the child welfare system, have access to high-quality educational and workforce development opportunities. The legislation that created this coordinating committee came out of a 2018 working group that SJP was heavily involved with convened by former DC Councilmember Grosso. The full set of recommendations from this working group is available here.
Blumenson’s confirmation testimony is available here. The SCDC Coordinating Committee will begin its quarterly meetings in March 2023. Members include designees from all DC Government agencies involved in education for court-involved students, as well as a set of representatives from community-based organizations, and parents/students who have had direct experience with agency-involvement. The SCDC Coordinating Committee website states that, as outlined statutorily, the SCDC Coordinating Committee will serve the following functions:
· Provide leadership in the development of strategies and policies that guide the implementation of the District’s policies and programs to improve educational outcomes for students in the care of D.C.
· Assess current efforts in place to educate students in the care of D.C.
· Cooperate with and support members in fully implementing all relevant agreements and memorandums of understanding.
· Review existing data collection and sharing efforts within and across agencies and make recommendations regarding the exchange and sharing of data for students in the care of D.C.; provided, that all such recommendations comply with local and federal law.
· Establish an effective system for monitoring the progress of general education and special education for students in the care of D.C.
· Determine educational outcomes for students in the care of D.C., build capacity to track and measure outcomes, and implement strategies in accordance with the strategic plan.
· Foster collaborative relationships with agency counterparts in Maryland and Virginia for students in the care of D.C. who are placed outside of the District.
· Make recommendations concerning the coordination of the activities, implementation of practices, strategies, or programs, and the mobilization of the resources of member agencies to improve educational outcomes for students in the care of D.C.
Blumenson looks forward to working with the other members to improve access to education for court-involved students in DC.
