[Youth-list] Truancy focus in NH

Tue Jan 16 08:40:38 PST 2007

Good Morning to All, 

I would like to make a few comments in reference to this article and
address the issues of truancy as we have learned about it through our
program.  I am the Program Coordinator/Manager for the District
Attendance Office for the Windham Public School District.  We received a
three-year grant through the CT Office for Policy & Management (OPM)
eight years ago to address Truancy and Drop Out Prevention. We hired two
Truancy Officers and worked closely with the local Police Dept., the
Youth Service Bureau with its Juvenile Review Board and the local
Juvenile Court to address truancy within our community. We developed
effective working relationships and coordinated some excellent
intervention and support services, many which are still in place.  NOTE:
The CT State Dept. of OPM oversees the CT Consortium On School
Attendance and is welcoming new membership from all CT Schools. They
offer small grants to address School Attendance in your school. The
contact person is 
Ms. Valerie LaMotte at (860) 418-6316.  We are active members of this
Consortium. 

Whether it be on a larger scale within some of the larger cities, or on
smaller scale for more rural communities, truancy is definitely an issue
that all school systems and towns must address in a proactive manner. It
has been obvious to us that truancy can be connected to increased
adolescent crimes and negative behaviors, including alcohol and drug
abuse. It is also obvious that truancy, along with suspensions and
expulsions, also relates to low test scores and low academic
achievement. 

NOTE: The identification for Truancy in New Haven is not limited to NH,
this is the definition according to CT State Statutes on School
Attendance from the CT State Education Law Book.  This book is usually
published every two years and at least two copies are sent to all
Superintendents per CT Public Schools within the state. They may also be
purchased for $15.00.  

Some of our strategies that helped in putting a damper on truancy and
drop-out prevention in our community were: some of these strategies
remain in tact, others are no longer possible to implement due to
reduced budgets and the end of outside funding... 
*	Direct contact with the truant youth and the parents or guardian
(in school visits as well as home visits)
*	On-going Case Management with the At-Risk youth
*	Daily phone calls and follow-up contacts, including positive
re-enforcement and acknowledgment for good or improved behaviors and
school attendance 
*	Town Sweeps - conducted by one School Truancy Officer with the
local police in a Police Cruiser; these were conducted two times a week
on different days. Any students found out on the streets during school
hours were returned to school and the parents were immediately
contacted. 
*	Youth with beginning or minor truant issues were dealt with
through the Juvenile Review Board, while most severe cases of truants
showing no change to intervention, were referred to Juvenile Court. 
*	Support services were put in place for those who need academic
assistance. They received tutoring and some mentoring also took place,
depending on the needs of the youth. 

Some of the most challenging road blocks to addressing Truancy are:
*	One of the most challenging road-blocks that we have addressed
and still do is that of the Attendance Policies in High School that
affect the loss of credit for absenteeism and the difficulty for youth
to get back on track at the level. 
*	Another big issue is with those youth who are involved with
drugs and alcohol, the intervention is not a prevalent or affective
unless the youth is open and upfront about their issues with this and
are willing to change... 
*	The lack of LONG TERM FUNDING FOR THE PROGRAMS!!!!!   Schools
are struggling so much just to keep up with all the educational
requirements and to have enough staff to teach our kids, that although
having a program to address Truancy is important to many schools, they
cannot afford to have them.  

NOTE: Fewer truants means more kids in school, possibly with increased
behavioral problems and the need for more instructional support to deal
with all the interventions that may truly decrease truancy...   If a
program is to be truly effective, it results in more than just having a
Truancy Officer to get the kids back in school. It requires a holistic
program that addresses the "reasons" kids are truant...  You begin with
the Truancy Officers, but must be ready for the turn around when they
are effective.  This holistic program could/should include; a Program
Coordinator, a Secretary, Case Managers, Social Workers/Counselors,
Tutors, Mentors, transportation methods and funding for attendance to
summer school. 

I hope that his information has been helpful. It is based on my direct
experience in dealing with Truancy and Drop Out Prevention in our
schools. 
I can be reached at (860) 465-2611 if anyone has any questions or
comments to share in reference to Truancy and/or Drop-Out Prevention. 

Respectfully Submitted by,
Debra M. Ledey, Program Coordinator/Manager
Windham Public Schools 

-----Original Message-----
From: youth-list-bounces at lists.ctvoices.org
[mailto:youth-list-bounces at lists.ctvoices.org] On Behalf Of
JMRab at aol.com
Sent: Saturday, January 06, 2007 7:27 AM
To: youth-list at ctvoices.org
Subject: [Youth-list] Truancy focus in NH

BRAVO. 8% might not sound like much, but it's a ton of students in the
wrong places during the day. JMG
P.S. It's not just about preventing violence either. It would be good
for NH to examine the reading and other CMT scores of those who are
habitually truant and also out on suspension and expulsion. JMG
 <http://www.nhregister.com/site/News.cfm?brd=1281> 
01/06/2007
City schools to crack down on truancy 
William Kaempffer , Register Staff 

NEW HAVEN - The city is eyeing a crackdown on unexcused school absences
as a crime-fighting tool. 
Calling truancy a gateway to youth violence, city education and police
officials are hoping that increased attention to keeping kids in the
classroom will lead to fewer in trouble on the street.

"When we went back and looked at all the gun victims and suspects (in
2006), there were a lot of common threads, and a lot of them were at
home and a lot of them were truancies, systemic truants," said Mayor
John DeStefano Jr. this week in announcing a host of initiatives aimed
at reducing violence between young people in the city.

One of them was to revamp the school district's truancy operations in an
effort to increase accountability and better engage parents with
face-to-face visits instead of answering-machine messages.

According to statistics released by the Board of Education, on any given
day, 1,600 of the school district's 20,000 students, about 8 percent,
are absent.

And while absences are an obvious hindrance to classroom success,
authorities say there also has been a long-established link between
truancy and crime, summed up by a California prosecutor who once
remarked she had never seen a gang member who wasn't a truant first. 

According to city records, some suspects in city shootings had scores of
unexcused absences. One 16-year-old jailed for a 2006 murder skipped
school 130 times in the 2005-06 school year while he was a student at
the Hillhouse Annex.

"The number of kids that we're dealing with here who are harming each
other is relatively small, and we've got a great predictor in finding
them, which is truancy," the mayor said.

In New Haven, students are considered truant if they have more than four
consecutive absences or more than 10 in a school year, according to city
officials.

As part of the city's new effort, police officers from the department's
Family Services Division will begin evening home visits to meet with
students and their parents, according to Board of Education spokeswoman
Catherine Sullivan-DeCarlo.

They will act on referrals from individual schools, the district's Drop
Out and Truancy Prevention Office and police school resource officers.

Police officers and school truant officers will continue to team up and
sweep neighborhoods daily for truants, but now the district's 17 truancy
workers each will be required to make five home visits every day and get
signatures to show that they connected with parents and guardians. 

The city also is trying to improve information sharing with police,
including access to the list of students who are referred to the truancy
court docket and those arrested, suspended or expelled so police can
follow up with students and families.

New Haven was the first municipality in the state to establish a truancy
session of Superior Court to hear the cases of chronic truants,
Sullivan-DeCarlo said.

Historically, truancy has been highest in high schools, but the trend
has extended to middle-school-age students, prompting the city to expand
its list of truancy target schools from 12 to 17.

In conjunction with that, DeStefano said, the city is committing to
making after-school programs available to all middle school children.

"Middle school is a tough age, when a lot of choices are being made," he
said.
________________________________

William Kaempffer can be reached at wkaempffer at nhregister.com
<mailto:%20wkaempffer at nhregister.com>  or 789-5727. 

<http://altfarm.mediaplex.com/ad/ck/6848-44189-12202-1?mpt=%5bCACHEBUSTE
R%5d>
<http://bannerads.zwire.com/bannerads/redirect.cfm?ADLOCATION=1&PAG=791&
BRD=1281> 
(c)New Haven Register 2007 

Janice M. Gruendel, Ph.D.
Governor's Senior Advisor on Early Childhood
Co-Chair, CT Early Childhood Education Cabinet
Senior Youth Consultant
United Way of CT & Office for Workforce Competitiveness
Home office: 203-481-9940
Blackberry: 203-824-4766
Mail to: 28 Juniper Point
Branford, CT 06405

"...I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance, Never settle
for the path of least resistance..And when you get a chance to sit it
out or dance, I hope you dance..." Lee Ann Womack. I Hope You'll Dance
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