- The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction is investigating claims that disabled students at the Durham County Youth Home were denied legally required schooling and sometimes confined to cells for up to 24 hours a day.
The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction will investigate claims that disabled students at the Durham County Youth Home were denied legally required schooling, and were sometimes confined to cells for up to 24 hours a day.
The investigation follows a complaint filed December by the ACLU of North Carolina and the Duke Children’s Law Clinic. The complaint alleges that Durham Public Schools failed to provide special education services beginning in February 2025. During a facility-wide lockdown, students reportedly received no more than 30 minutes of instruction at a time. Advocates say the restrictions continued even after the lockdown was lifted, and students continued to receive only brief periods of instruction.
Youth homes detain young people while their cases move through the juvenile legal system. Many of the residents have identified disabilities that require special education services. Advocates say the combination of confinement and interrupted instruction poses serious developmental and mental health risks…