This article presents analysis of trends in the number and location of adjudicated due process hearings conducted in the United States.
Changes between data assembled 1991-2005 and those for 2006-2011 are presented both in annualized numbers and per capita ratios.
"The more recent jurisdictional pattern of DPH adjudications shows not only a considerably reduced overall level of activity but also notable changes in rankings. The expanded scope of the data for the more recent period reveals the prominence of the District of Columbia, which is not surprising in light of its high frequency of corresponding activity at the court level of adjudication activity under the IDEA, and Puerto Rico, which is surprising in light of its low frequency of IDEA court decisions" (p.9).
"Second, the per capita analysis of these longitudinal data adds a depth dimension to the picture, thus revealing partially different members and positions for the two worlds of DPH adjudications. Within the top group, Hawaii and, even more surprisingly, the Virgin Islands emerge in high positions,28 establishing an insular or at least special jurisdictional character to the top three,29 and the particularly prominent position of the District of Columbia becomes clear as a distinct outlier, with an annual rate that for the recent period is more than eight times that of second-place Puerto Rico and almost fifty times that of third-place Virgin Islands. Thus, Table 2 and Appendix 2 show a parallel pattern of moderate longitudinal change among the jurisdictions but—in comparison with the prior analyses, which did not factor in enrollments—partially different members and rankings within the two worlds of DPH adjudications" (p.10).
"Overall, the per capita analysis suggested that litigiousness—often associated with metropolitan areas, such as New York City, the District of Columbia, and Los Angeles-San Francisco—is not merely or primarily a matter of population density. Rather, at least for the administrative adjudicatory process under the IDEA, which has a structure of “cooperative federalism,” the variance in the rates of DPH filings and adjudications appears to be attributable to a complex constellation of factors" (p.11).