Racial Justice in Education: Intersection of Systems Involvement and Children with Disabilities Part 2: Over and Underrepresentation of Children of Color in Child Welfare, Special Education, School Discipline, and Adultification of Black Girls

NACC Member Webinar

May 2, 11:00am – 1:30pm MT / 1:00pm – 3:30pm ET

In the second installment of this two-part series, attendees will explore the: (1) over-representation of children of color and children with disabilities in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems; (2) the over- and under-representation of children of color and children in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems in special education; and (3) the over-representation of children of color and systems-involved youth in school discipline. Attendees will receive tips and tools to help effectively counter racial bias in special education testing. The adultification of black girls will also be explored including discussion of the phenomenon from a clinical perspective as well as from the lived experience of a prior systems-involved youth.    

Presenters:

Alexus R. Ramsey holds a JD from Loyola Law School. Prior to law school, Alexus graduated from California State University Los Angeles, where she earned a BA in Political Science and minored in Philosophy. She is committed to advocating for minority communities as well as children impacted by the foster and juvenile criminal systems. During law school, she represented young clients in Loyola’s Juvenile Justice Clinic, which reinforced her interest in youth advocacy. Currently, Alexus is an education staff attorney at the Alliance for Children’s Rights. As an education attorney, she assists clients with getting access to comprehensive assessments and services they need to reach developmental milestones and excel in school.

Jill Rowland is an expert in every area of education impacting foster youth, including early intervention, special education, general education, school discipline, and interrupting the school-to-prison pipeline. Jill’s vision has grown the Alliance’s Education Program in response to the needs of our clients: from pioneering legal representation for early intervention services to addressing the unique trauma-related education needs of foster youth. Her collaborative approach led to the creation of the Foster Youth Education Toolkit and its Court Companion, the training of thousands of school district and foster/probation system personnel (including social workers, probation officers, attorneys, and judges), and improved foster youth policies put into practice in multiple school districts. Jill is passionate about providing foster and probation youth with an equitable education, so they can succeed in college, work, and life. She earned her JD at UCLA School of Law, specializing in Critical Race Studies. She majored in Communications and Sociology at UC Santa Barbara.

Elana Zada holds a JD from Southwestern Law School. As a law student, she interned at the Children’s Rights Clinic, providing representation to low-income children in the areas of school discipline, special education and other education-related issues. This internship solidified her decision to pursue a career in special education as an attorney representing the most vulnerable children. Prior to law school, she earned her BA in Political Science & Legal Studies and minor in Business Administration from California State University, Chico.

This webinar is FREE for NACC Members. Members, please log in with your member ID when you register for this event. This webinar is $45 for non-members.

This course is accredited by the Colorado Board of Continuing Legal and Judicial Education for a maximum of 3 units of credit (50-minute hour), including a maximum of 3 units of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusivity credit and 0 units of Legal Ethics credit.