§ 42-72.6-2. Duties of director.
The director of the department of 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.