December 20, 2019
ELC is very pleased to
announce
that today the U.S. district court
denied
nearly all of the multiple motions to dismiss filed by defendants in our
Glen Mills
case, allowing the case to move forward.
Last April, we filed this
class action lawsuit
— along with Juvenile Law Center and Dechert LLP — over the horrific abuse, lack of medical care, lack of adequate education, and culture of intimidation and violence that boys suffered at Glen Mills Schools, a residential facility located in Delaware County.
By allowing our education-related claims to move forward, the court recognized the clear responsibility of the Pennsylvania Department of Education, Chester County Intermediate Unit, and Glen Mills Schools to be held accountable for the deprivation of an education to youth who were forced to languish in an inferior computer-based credit recovery program or denied any high school education at all.
Importantly, the court specifically upheld the right of children with disabilities to receive an individualized program of special education services and to be free from discrimination and abuse based on their disabilities. Our case challenges a systemic and wholesale failure to provide special education services to potentially hundreds of minors placed at Glen Mills.
The court’s ruling upheld the rights of youth in the juvenile justice system to receive an appropriate and meaningful education. It is the right decision: these children must have a path to a remedy for the physical, emotional, and educational harm they suffered — all of which have lifelong consequences.
We look forward to moving this case forward and to holding Glen Mills and our state officials accountable.
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to help support our impactful legal team and our work to help children and families who have been so unfairly treated. Thank you! We will continue to keep you updated on this important case.
