§ 42-72.6-2. Duties of director. The director of the department for children, youth, and families shall, with full and reasonable staff and community participation, prepare a detailed comprehensive educational plan for providing adequate and appropriate educational services to all residents, without exception, of RITSY, as provided by state law. This comprehensive plan shall include, but not be limited to, the following elements:

(1) A mission statement, in strict conformance with state and federal law, which clearly delineates the goals and objectives of the RITSY educational program, and provides an effective guide for the employment of resources, and for expectations of the youth, parents, professional staff, the judiciary, and the citizens of the state of Rhode Island about their roles and responsibilities in the system;

(2) A system of governance for the educational program, which delineates the chain of authority, provides adequate and appropriate decisional authority to the administrative, educational, custodial, social service and other professional staff, and which defines and coordinates their roles in the effective operation of the system;

(3) A state of the art educational program which comprehends the profound and diverse needs of incarcerated youth and includes, but is not limited to, the following elements:

(i) Programming for youth who have not graduated from secondary school including: academic, vocational, technical, computer, life and career skill development;

(ii) Programming for students who have completed a secondary school program or who have obtained a general equivalency diploma (GED), including: college courses, vocational and technical courses, life and parenting skills, and job readiness;

(iii) Programming as above for students with limited English proficiency or other special needs;

(iv) Educational programming that provides special educational programming to residents in conformance with their needs, as well as state and federal law, but which does not limit the RITSY school curriculum to special educational services;

(v) A "total programming" approach, which places the educational service component in the context of a youth centered rehabilitative program, which concentrates on the development of educational and social competence in residents;

(vi) A plan for obtaining accreditation through an appropriate form or model for the educational program; and

(vii) The creation of a forum which provides an inclusive, cooperative model for involving the other state departments, as appropriate, members of the state's business community, religious community, voluntary services community, and social service community in advising and devising programming, in supporting and advocating for the residents as they attempt to build new and successful lives in the community.

History of Section. (P.L. 1993, ch. 269, § 1.)