The Minnesota Department of Corrections (MDOC) denied modifications to incarcerated people with disabilities during high school equivalency exams, violating the Americans with Disabilities Act, a Department of Justice investigation found.

Without a high school education or the equivalent through a General Educational Development, or GED, program, Minnesota’s prisoners face barriers to advancing themselves while incarcerated. While in MDOC custody, those who lack a high school degree or GED can’t get jobs in prison or participate in post-secondary education programs.

In July, a quarter of MDOC’s 7,833 prisoners didn’t have a GED or high school diploma and were enrolled in a secondary education program. MDOC education staff members told the Justice Department they believe most of their students have disabilities.

Yet students said the education staff didn’t tell them they could qualify for modifications or “immediately refused” modification requests, including extra test-taking time, according to a Justice Department letter describing the outcome of its investigation.

One of the students who MDOC didn’t allow to apply for accommodations had a head injury, depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder, which impacted his memory, comprehension and ability to focus and handle stress.

Many of the students who didn’t receive needed modifications failed GED tests, were removed from the GED program or left prison without getting a GED.

“Some were forced to repeatedly take and fail GED practice tests or exams without modifications over many months or years,” the letter said, “while other incarcerated individuals without disabilities passed and moved on to other programs and opportunities.”

Since 2017, MDOC has allowed just 12 of its GED students to apply for test accommodations with GED Testing Service, the company that provides the GED exam.

Some of the requests took 10 months to be approved by both the corrections department and the testing company, and some weren’t approved until after exams had taken place or after the student’s release from prison.

MDOC’s medical and mental health staff sometimes refused to evaluate prisoners for disabilities or to provide patient records that would support requests for test accommodations. Instead, education staff requested records from outside the prison system, which can take months to receive.

To resolve the matter, MDOC must take action to address the violations and report the steps it’s taken to the Justice Department. Recommendations from the department include creating an ADA coordinator role to monitor the GED program and oversee ADA complaints and investigations.

Contact BigIfTrue.org editor Mollie Bryant at 405-990-0988 or bryant@bigiftrue.org. Follow her on Twitter.

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