Ojjdp truancy programs

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Schools that have adopted such policies are not any safer or more effective in disciplining children. Instead, zero tolerance policies have actually led to an increase in referrals to the juvenile justice system for infractions once handled by schools. There are compelling reasons why courts now hesitate to imprison parents or place children in foster care or detention for truancy.

Removing the parent or the child from the home or the child from the school can be counterproductive in terms of attendance. Evidence indicates that the threat of such sanctions—and the sanctions themselves—do not reduce truancy Walls, Similarly, police are also disinclined to initiate prosecution of children or their parents.

Only 10 percent of the truancy cases formally handled by courts from — were referred by police departments Puzzanchera et al. In the last two decades, school districts, juvenile and family courts, and police departments have begun to take more sophisticated approaches to truancy. These approaches seek to prevent rather than to punish truancy, question the logic of out-of-school suspensions, and address the four categories of truancy-related risk factors: family, school, economic, and student factors.

At every school level, effective truancy reduction programs are comprehensive and respond to the four categories of risk factors shown to be relevant to truancy. Due to the new findings on chronic absenteeism in early elementary school, poverty, and their impact on truancy and school dropout, prevention efforts have begun to target younger children in disadvantaged populations. More recent approaches have shown a marked shift toward starting truancy prevention before truancy even occurs.

By addressing the early signs of chronic absenteeism in early elementary school, truancy may be prevented. A literature review by the National Center for School Engagement identified critical components necessary for effective programming Reimer and Dimock, :. The success we have seen has relied heavily on personal contact— involving students and families in ways that go beyond letters and phone calls—even going so far as home visits and engagement in community activities.

This personal approach needs to extend to provide learning opportunities tailored to individual learning styles and needs. Programs and activities designed to improve the overall school environment have proven to be effective in truancy prevention.

Children are less likely to avoid school if they feel safe, comfortable, cared for, and engaged in productive and rewarding activities.

The Northwest Regional Educational Laboratories Railsback, suggests a number of programs and practices for improving school environment:. Beyond improving the school environment, there are also practices specifically designed to prevent truancy. These practices address truancy at the universal, selective, and indicated levels of the student population, to use the Institute of Medicine framework. Universal Prevention — Universal prevention efforts are for all students.

Selective Prevention - Programs that include targeted supports for students who are at risk of becoming habitual truants. Selective prevention efforts are for some students at elevated risk. Indicated Prevention : Programs that address students who exhibit persistent challenges and who are not responsive to interventions at the universal or selective levels. Indicated prevention efforts are for a few students.

Some school districts have started using new technologies to complement their truancy prevention programs. One initiative, Wake Up! Within the larger campaign to reduce chronic absenteeism in young children, which involves community mentorship programs and data review with school administrative staff, the use of cell phone technology has already helped to reduce chronic absenteeism by 24 percent in elementary schools and 16 percent in middle schools.

In addition, Kershaw County, South Carolina, has recently used cell phone technology to keep tardy or truant students on track Kearns, These phones are used to connect students with a mentor, and the devices are equipped with GPS technology that aids the mentor and program staff. The program has shown initial promising results.

The U. Department of Labor estimates that 90 percent of new, high-wage, high-growth jobs created in the economy will require, at a minimum, post-secondary education. At an increasing rate, dropouts are unable to find gainful employment, as many positions they have occupied in the past are becoming outsourced.

Furthermore, dropouts are also at higher risk for criminal involvement; according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, 75 percent of state prison inmates and 59 percent of federal inmates are high school dropouts Bureau of Justice Statistics, Research indicates that a high percentage of these dropouts come from minority populations. Only Nationwide, preventing the 1. Combining the loss in wages and productivity, and the necessary allocation of public monies for criminal justice involvement and incarceration, truancy prevention programs and efforts can have a great impact on the economy at the state and federal levels.

A common thread throughout all these examples is the community-based comprehensive approach. The various community partners must collaborate on the most effective approach to satisfy the particular needs of their community. Each example illustrates how community members can become involved in the effort to create a community that supports the school attendance and learning engagement of students.

Kern County, CA - The SARB is a problem-solving group that addresses truancy and behavior problems that interfere with educational progress of students. The SARB brings together school staff, parents, law enforcement, child-serving agency representatives, as well as agency and collaborative partners. Together, these partners can provide services to children and families who need support. As a result of this comprehensive approach, several improvements were made around truancy reduction in Kern County: between and , the percentage of students in the district that were seen for attendance concerns increased from 41 percent to 58 percent; the Beardsley school district reduced its number of students with ten or more absences from to students; Beardsley also reduced its average number of unexcused absences from 9.

Bourbon County, KY — Bourbon County has instituted several approaches to the truancy issue in their community. One of their most successful solutions has been the provision of alternative forms of education to students who are having trouble attending regular school hours.

The Bourbon Graduation Academy BGA is a non-traditional, non-punitive voluntary program using flexible scheduling and performance-based credit. BGA creates an alternative for students who may benefit from an alternative mode for credit achievement. The BGA serves year olds; it targets those who are not on track to graduate, students who demonstrate a need for flexible scheduling, students who are at-risk of dropping out, and those who are currently withdrawn from school.

The goals of the BGA are to reduce student truancy and dropout rates, increase the number of students graduating, re-engage the students with learning that occurs when students are placed in a more responsive and flexible environment, and to foster a new learning environment that has a greater capacity to engage the disengaged.

Pueblo City Schools, CO - Pueblo City School District 60 and the 10th Judicial District Court in Colorado have taken an aggressive stance in the fight for truancy reduction through the development of a program called Project Respect.

In this project, community advocates work with students, families, community resources and the courts to assure that students regularly attend school. The goal of the Pueblo City School Project Respect Program is to reduce the truancy rate by identifying the causes of truancy and implementing effective interventions in order to give all children the educational opportunities they deserve. The goals of the Truancy Reduction Program are to address underlying risk factors for truancy: improve school attendance for targeted students; improve the academic outcomes for students; improve students social-emotional; increase student and family access to services in the community; and decrease juvenile delinquency reoffending.

The IRT model uses a community approach to truancy by developing an intervention plan outside of the courtroom and agreed upon by all parties involved. This team meets regularly to apply principles of a wraparound service plan that is developed in concert with youth, parent, and school staff.

The IRT model includes behavior contracts signed by all and regular check-ins on site at the school. This model continues to be successful in Utica and Rome, and now the OHM BOCES grant offers the program to three of their component districts and Alternative Education sites which have higher rates of truancy and incorrigibility. Hillsboro, OR - The Hillsboro School District created a pro-attendance culture by reframing the truancy issue as an Attendance Improvement Project, and used a social marketing initiative called Every Day on Time to communicate with the community about attendance improvement.

They addressed the problem at the universal, selective, and indicated levels of intervention by developing teams, such as the Attendance Improvement and Violence Prevention Team at a system level, and the CARE team at the building level.

These teams meet on a weekly basis to review attendance and assign students of concern to school staff for follow-up. Early intervention is central to this comprehensive approach , and regular communication between the schools, community partners and school counselors allows for consistent improvements in attendance data and overall crime reduction.

North Wasco, OR - North Wasco, Oregon developed a collaborative system that focuses on identification and earlyintervention for truant students before they become habitual truants.

The site engaged various representatives from partners and stakeholders to develop a new Truancy Protocol that is collaborative in nature. Have you previously been funded by OJJDP and are continuing to develop your youth serving initiatives?

Learn how you can build on your current efforts and expand and grow successful programs further. Learn more about Camp Nikoti While the devastating impacts of the COVID pandemic cannot be overstated- many communities realized new opportunities amidst community lockdowns and program closures. Learn more about the campaign. Sign Up. Department of Justice. Neither the U.