51ºÚÁÏ

With a focus on rehabilitation, education and small, community settings, the “Missouri Model� has been held up for the nation to emulate. The dormitory-like settings are depicted as schools, not prisons.

“The old corrections model was a failure; most kids left us worse off than when they came in,� Mark Steward, former director of DYS, said in a 2004 article in the Los Angeles Times. “So we threw away that culture, and now we focus on treatment, on making connections with these guys and showing them another way. ... It works.�

DYS on its home page links to the article, headlined,

But a new lawsuit suggests that long-advertised model might be in jeopardy.

Nickolas Moore, a 51ºÚÁÏ County man who used to be in DYS custody, alleges in his lawsuit that the agency did not provide accommodations for his disabilities, like he received in the public school system. Moore suffers from autism, reactive attachment disorder and attention deficit disorder, among other issues, according to the lawsuit.

Moore was adopted from Russia as an infant and grew up in the Lindbergh School District. He had an individual educational plan and received services for his disabilities from the Special School District. He ended up in DYS custody in 2023. At one point, he was living at Bissell Hall, in north 51ºÚÁÏ County. But DYS didn’t treat his disabilities, says his attorney, Sarah Jane Hunt, even after she obtained a consent order for them to be provided.

Hunt is alleging discrimination under the federal Americans With Disabilities Act as well as the Missouri Human Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination in places of public accommodation, like schools.

That’s where this lawsuit becomes really important. The state is arguing that DYS facilities are prisons, not schools — directly contradicting the famed “Missouri Model.�

“Plaintiff’s attempt to liken Bissell Hall to a public school ignores the reality of the individuals confined there,� the state argues in a motion seeking dismissal of the case. “Just because DYS facilities provide educational services and do not use ‘solitary confinement and restraints’ does not defeat the penal nature of the institutions.�

The implication is that Moore was in Bissell Hall to be punished, not rehabilitated.

“It goes against everything they say anywhere else,� Hunt says. “I don’t think that’s what Missourians want. I don’t think that’s what the Legislature intended.�

If the state’s argument is successful, it could have devastating consequences for young people in the care of DYS. They would have no recourse under the law to force the state to care for their disabilities. According to DYS, more than 50 percent of the young people in its custody have had some mental health issues, and about a third have been diagnosed with learning disabilities.

Without a requirement for those disabilities to be treated, people in DYS care could find themselves sliding into the school-to-prison pipeline, with rehabilitation no longer part of the equation.

Hunt believes it’s already happening, based on her investigation into Moore’s case. “They’re just not providing services to kids who need it,� she says.

That’s why the , a national nonprofit that fights for civil rights protections, has filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case.

“DYS undeniably functions as a public school system, subject to state oversight, funded by public dollars, and embedded in the community like traditional public schools,� MacArthur attorney Susie Lake writes in the case. “To conclude that the MHRA does not apply to DYS facilities would be to ignore its public structure, deep-rooted community presence, and the very mission DYS itself promotes and implements through its services.�

The case could have national implications, Lake says. Many states have juvenile justice systems like Missouri’s, with the stated goal of operating as a public school district would, and with students in custody often still attending school in their home districts.

“It would be a huge loss for this child, who was discriminated against,� Lake says. “If it’s not applied here, it will disproportionately hurt children with disabilities and children of color.�

It’s not hard to connect the dots and see what could happen next. In Missouri, there’s already a backlog of more than 400 people who have been found incompetent for trial because of mental health issues. A judge has ordered those people to the care of the Department of Mental Health, but the state says it has no beds for them. So instead, they sit in jail, receiving little to no care.

One crisis begets another. That’s why the Missouri Model was developed in the first place, to serve as a critical cog in the school-to-prison pipeline, breaking the cycle before it gets out of control.

If Moore loses, that model could be in jeopardy.

“In this case, the Missouri Model didn’t live up to its reputation,� Lake says. “The Missouri Model failed Nickolas.�