Derrick et al. v. Glen Mills Schools et al.
Lawyers from Education Law Center, Juvenile Law Center, and Dechert LLP filed a class action lawsuit April 11, 2019, in Philadelphia on behalf of hundreds of youth who were held at Glen Mills Schools, a residential facility located in Delaware County. This site, the oldest reform school in the country, housed as many as 1,000 boys from all over the country – and the world – at one time.
The suit maintains that youth housed at Glen Mills suffered at the hands of Glen Mills leadership and staff. Instead of receiving treatment and services, as required by the Pennsylvania Juvenile Act, plaintiffs claim that they were subjected to extreme and sustained physical and psychological abuse and deprived of an education. The abuse had a particularly dire impact on Black youth – disproportionately sent to Glen Mills – as well as students with special education needs and disabilities, whose educational rights were ignored.
The defendants named are: Glen Mills Schools; Teresa D. Miller, Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services in her individual capacity; Theodore Dallas, former Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services in his individual capacity; Cathy Utz, Deputy Secretary for the Office of Children, Youth and Families in her individual capacity; Pedro A. Rivera, Secretary of Education of the Pennsylvania Department of Education in his official capacity; Pennsylvania Department of Education; Chester County Intermediate Unit; Randy Ireson, former Executive Director of Glen Mills Schools; Andre Walker; Robert Taylor; Sean Doe; Chris Doe 1; Chris Doe 2; and John Does 1-20. Named plaintiffs include youth and families from Philadelphia, Camden, N.J., Luzerne County, Pa., and Monroe County, Pa.
The suit asserts that officials at the Pennsylvania Department of Education and the Chester County Intermediate Unit allowed Glen Mills’ education program to operate in the shadows without any oversight or monitoring to ensure the educational rights of students. Plaintiffs seek damages as well as other equitable relief for violations of their rights under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the US Constitution, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and state common law claims.
After an emergency removal order of all remaining children at the facility as well as the revocation of its licenses by the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, the Glen Mills facility was emptied; these actions followed groundbreaking investigative reporting by the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Lisa Gartner.
Read our April 2019 press release here.
Read our complaint here.
Read our comprehensive brief here, filed Aug. 30, 2019, opposing multiple motions to dismiss.
Read our press release, issued Dec. 20, 2019, on the court’s opinion and order allowing nearly all our claims to move forward.
In January 2023, the Chester County Intermediate Unit agreed to a $3 million settlement of education claims in the case. Read our press release.
In May 2024, the district court denied plaintiffs’ motion for class certification. The court expressly acknowledged that “the factual record is replete with appalling incidents of widespread abuse, inadequate education, and disability discrimination suffered by Plaintiffs and other youth that [who] were placed at Glen Mills.” However, the court declined to certify the class citing the “individualized nature” of each student’s claims that emanated from common policies and practices. Plaintiffs filed a petition seeking discretionary review by the Third Circuit but the appellate court declined to grant immediate review. This case proceeded on behalf on the individually named plaintiffs.
In August 2024, the Pennsylvania Department of Education and former leaders of the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services agreed to a global settlement. The settlement included damages to individual plaintiffs as well as important systemic reforms to be undertaken by PDE, including a new complaint system and procedures for PDE to monitor schools and programs in residential placements that serve children placed by courts or child welfare agencies.
In January 2025, in accordance with the August 2024 settlement agreement with the commonwealth, the Pennsylvania Department of Education launched a new complaint system that can be used by anyone to submit education-related complaints concerning school-aged students placed in any residential facility, detention center, or state correctional facility by a court or child welfare agency.
In February 2025, following additional settlements, all claims filed by three named plaintiffs were voluntarily dismissed.