Transcript In Search of Promising Practices: Effective Strategies for

Truancy Matters:
Research, Policies and Practices
Coalition for Juvenile Justice
June 9 – 12, 2007
Agenda
• Overview of Truancy
• Continuum of Support Framework
• Effective Family-Community-Court
Approaches
• Case Study of Denver, Colorado
• Resources and Materials
National Center for School
Engagement (NCSE)
• An initiative of the Colorado Foundation
for Families and Children
• Launched in September 2003
• Promotes school success
Mission
To ensure
school success for
at-risk youth and their
families by improving
school engagement.
Strategies
• Identify and promote best practices that
are evidence and research-based
• Collaborate with schools,
families/communities, private/public
agencies, courts and law enforcement
Strategies
• Utilize approaches that are culturally
competent, family-centered, and
strengths-based
• Implement methods to integrate the 3 A’s
of School Engagement
ATTENDANCE
ATTACHMENT
ACHIEVEMENT
3 A’s of School Engagement
• Attendance–Schools, families, courts,
and law enforcement use culturallyresponsive, evidence-based strategies to
improve student attendance.
• Includes reducing truancy, addressing
barriers to attendance and high mobility.
ATTENDANCE
3 A’s of School Engagement
• Attachment–Schools establish meaningful
connections with youth and their families
through caring, support, and mutuallydefined expectations.
• Includes after school programs, prevention
and family support programs, parent/school
collaborations, welcoming school
environments...
ATTACHMENT
3 A’s of School Engagement
• Achievement–Communities, schools, and
families assure that students have the tools
and resources to complete courses and
graduate from high school.
• Involves planning for success, closing the
achievement gap...
• Educators seek to improve educational
practices to promote school success for all
children.
ACHIEVEMENT
Theory of Change
• School success is based on integration of
attachment, attendance, and
achievement.
• NCSE uses this Theory of Change to
develop and implement strategies that
ensure school success and school
completion.
Overview of Truancy:
Prevalence
NCES Common Core of Data
• School district and state level data
• Trend data (you can build your own table)
• Data available
– 12th grade dropout rate
– 12th graders received a diploma
– 9th graders received a diploma
Site: www.nces.ed.gov
Truancy Statistics
• Currently no national definition
• No Child Left Behind (NCLB)
requires state definition of truancy
• NCLB requires states collect truancy
rates (not only attendance rates)
Truancy Data Sources
• National Juvenile Court Data Archive
(OJJDP)
• Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance
System (YRBS)/CDC
• Health Behavior in School Age Children
(WHO/SAMHSA)
• National Longitudinal Survey of Youth
(NLSY/BLS)
Some Truancy Statistics
• Around 7% of students report they did not go to
•
•
school on one or more of the past 30 days
because they felt unsafe at school or on their
way to/from school. (YRBS)
Rate of 9-12 graders that report missing school
due to safety concerns has grown 50% since
1993 (YRBS)
A longitudinal study of youth ages 12-16 found
that 38% reported being late to school without
an excuse (NLSY).
Dropout/Graduation
Statistics
• Use dropout statistics as a proxy for truancy
• Raging national debate on
graduation/dropout rates
• Many limitations of data
• Varying definitions (event, status,
promotion indices, etc.)
Dropout/Graduation
Statistics
• Varying sources of data (U.S Census
Bureau, Common Core of Data,
longitudinal studies)
• Result in a range of national rates
– 87% (NCES) class of 2001
– 69% (Swanson, 2004) class of 2001
– 72% (Greene, 2006) class of 2003
National Drop-Out Rates
According to the Alliance for Excellent
Education (2006)
• 1.2 Million students do not graduate with
their peers.
• 70% of the nation’s students graduate
from high schools with a regular
diploma.
• Only 59% of African-American students
graduate.
Dropout Statistics
According to the Current Population Survey
(Census Data)
• In 2001, 3.8 million young adults (about
11% of those age 16-24) were not in high
school and had not completed high school
or received a GED
• Youth in the lowest income families at
greatest risk of dropout
Overview of
Truancy:
Impacts and
Contributing Factors
Linking Absence
to Delinquency
Poor Outcomes:
 Lower Lifetime Earnings
 Adult Criminality
 Poor Outcomes for Offspring
 Family Dysfunction
 Unemployment
Effect of Truancy on Delinquency
Onset of Serious Assault Crimes
by Age 14
•Class Skipper
4.12 times as likely
•Minor Truant (1-3 days)
4.03
•Moderate Truant (4-9 days) 6.84
•Chronic Truant (> 9 days) 12.15
Henry, Kimberly, and David Huizinga, “The Effect of Truancy on the
Onset of Drug use & Delinquency,” Paper presented at the National
Criminal Justice Assoc. Meeting, Toronto, November 2005.
Effect of Truancy on Delinquency
Onset of Serious Property Crimes
by Age 14
•
•
•
•
Class Skipper
4.69 times as likely
Minor Truant (1-3 Days)
5.17
Moderate Truant (4-9Days) 11.46
Chronic Truant (> 9 Days)
21.53
Dr. Kimberly Henry,
American Society of Criminology, Nov 2005
Truancy and Drug Use
Onset of Marijuana Use
•Class Skipper
4.11 times as likely
•Minor Truant (1-3 days)
7.17
•Moderate Truant (4-9 days) 12.37
•Chronic Truant (> 9 days) 16.08
Source: Henry and Huizinga, 2005
Crime and Dropouts
• 75% of America’s state prison inmates
did not complete high school
• A 10% increase in male graduation rate
would reduce murder and assault rates by
about 20%
• Dropouts are more than 8 times as likely
to be in jail or prison than high school
graduates.
Source: Alliance for Excellent Education
Common Challenges for Truants found in the OJJDP
National Study on Truancy
341
350
300
283
242
250
200
150
118
130
122
100
50
0
Family Stressors (283), Mobility (118), Emotional Stability (242),
Family Relationship (130), Peer Relationship (122), Academic
Problems (341)
What Happens to Truant Youth?
•
•
•
•
•
•
Educational failure, poor achievement
Poor employability, work stability
Delinquency and adult criminality
Unstable personal relationships
Poverty
Dependence on public assistance
What Happens to Their Families?
• Unsupervised children get into trouble
• Parents are called away from work to the
school or truancy court
• Family conflict due to school absences
and lack of academic achievement
Impact of Truancy
There are Systemic Effects
–
–
–
–
–
–
School disruption
School test scores suffer
Operating revenue decreases
Juvenile courts flooded
Daytime crime escalates
Later criminal behavior
Factors Impacting Truancy
Risk Factors
 Substance abuse
 Lack of parental
involvement in
school or
homework
 Chronic health
problems
Protective Factors
 Activities such as
sports, clubs and
volunteer work,
 Sense of purpose in life
 Positive attitudes
toward police officers
Factors Impacting Truancy
Risk Factors
 Fear of harm in
schools or
neighborhood
victimization
 Abuse in the home
 Low academic
achievement
Protective Factors
 High self esteem
 Positive school
attitudes
 School attachment
Family Influences
•
•
•
•
•
•
Parents unaware of problem
Domestic violence/abuse, neglect
Drug and alcohol abuse
Substance abuse
Lack of awareness of the law
Education not valued
Typical Characteristics for
Families of Chronic Truants
•
•
•
•
•
•
Poverty
Working students
Single parent homes
High mobility rates
Parents holding multiple jobs
Families not engaged with school
What are the costs of truancy?
• Short term costs
– School and court expenditures
– Cost of sentencing options (detention)
– Juvenile crime associated with truancy
• Long term costs
– Adult crime later on
– Lower income tax revenues
– Increased social service expenditures
Court: Results of Colorado Study
Adams
Number of truancy
filings '00-'01
Total court cost
Per truant cost
Potential savings
(30% success)
Breakeven success
rate
Or one grad every…
Denver
Pueblo
217
$90 K
$413
$ 13.5
million
980
$286 K
$292
$63
million
79
$55 K
$694
$5
million
1/504
1/739
1/302
2.3 years
.75
years 3.8 years
TRP: Results
Adams Denver
Number of youths
served '00-'01
Total program cost
Per truant cost
Potential savings
Breakeven success
rate
Or one grad
every…
90
Pueblo
84
423
$49 K
$54 K
$544
$640
$7.8
$7.5
million million
$768 K
$1,815
$38.8
million
1/383
1/337
1/115
4.2
3
years 4 years months
Truancy Reduction Saves
Public Funds
Estimated Per Capita Savings in Public
Spending and Income Taxes For Each Truant
Student Who Completes High School
Adams County, CO - $208,371
Denver, CO - $215,649
Pueblo, CO - $209,550
National Costs of Dropouts
• Increasing the graduation rate and college
matriculation rate of male students by 5%
could lead to a combined savings and
revenue of $8 Billion per year.
• 75% of America’s state prison inmates did
not complete high school.
• A 10% increase in male graduation rate
would reduce murder and assault rates by
about 20%.
Source: Alliance for Excellent Education
Effective Interventions:
Continuum of Support
Framework
A Continuum of Support
•
•
•
•
•
Incentives
Prevention
Early intervention
Intensive intervention
Deep-end consequences
A Continuum of Support
Improving School Attendance
Community
Awareness
Parent
Education
Student
Incentives
Early
Identification
Immediate,
Meaningful
Response
Treatment
Remediation
Sanctions
School
Business
Govt
School
Business
Govt
School
Community
Business
School
School
Family
Community
Court
Diversion
CBOs
House Arrest
Curfew
Detention
State/County/Municipal
Policies
•
•
•
•
•
File CHINS/PINS
File D&N
Withhold TANF
Daytime curfew
Subpoena school records
• School revenue based
on average daily
enrollment
• Include school truancy
rates in report card
• Claim revenues for
students with truancy
petition
Court Sanctioning Policies
•
•
•
•
• Fine parents &
students
• Arrest parents
Contempt citations
Suspend driver’s license
Detention
Community service
• Court-ordered
family or
individual therapy
• Court-ordered
tutoring or health
services
• Waive fines with
improved attendance
Community Contributions
Set community standards that value going
to school (involve retired persons)
 Work with businesses to promote school
attendance
 Improve transportation access
 Increase awareness of the problem and
the solutions
 Connect schools with law enforcement
and youth services

Best Practices
Truancy Programs must be locally designed
based on the needs of the community and
starting with best practices
Effective
Family-Community-Court
Approaches
Principles of Effective Programs
• Include special attention to health and special
education needs
• Data driven decision-making
• Community and Business involvement
• Focus on school transition years
• Include public awareness campaigns
• Meaningful parent/family involvement planning
together toward solutions with school & agencies
Community-Based Programs
• Community assessment center to help
families access services (health, mental
health, tutoring, mentoring etc.)
• Community workers such as probation
officers or social works act as liaisons
between youth, school and JJ
• Case management services
Community-Based Programs
• Walking school bus
• After school programs (recreation &
educational)
• Home visitation
• Clothing and school supply drives
• School Attendance Awareness Campaigns
Count Me In For Learning!
Public Education Campaign for School Engagement
School Year Activity Cycle
I Count
Count Me in For
Learning
I’m Learning
Oct-Nov
Jan-Feb
Aug-Sept
I’ve Learned
May-June
Count Me
In For
Learning!
Public Education
Campaign for School
Engagement
Law Enforcement
• Partnering with Schools – Collaborate
• Community Truancy Centers used to drop
off truants can be more convenient than
expecting officers to take students back to
school
• Home Visits – Knock and Talks are
immediately effective but only result in long
term results if the school follows up with the
returning children promptly.
Use of Detention
• Effective as a deterrent to parents of elementary
truants – use as a last ditch effort only but make
sure the public is aware of the possibility.
• Unintended consequences – Truants can acquire
bad habits and are exposed to criminal behavior
• Ineffective at addressing the reasons why
students are truant
• Most expensive intervention in dealing with
truancy
Alternatives to Detention
• Requiring students to tour detention and college
facilities
• Requiring students to prepare a budget based on
the minimum wage to help them focus on their
futures
• Ordering schools to modify schedules to meet
health or work needs, or inform students about
alternative learning programs
• Ordering truants to join school clubs or participate
in community activities to encourage community
or school engagement
Alternatives to Detention, cont.
• Ordering parents to attend school with
their children, or have weekly meetings
with school staff
• Addressing mental health and substance
abuse
• Deterring students with the threat of
restricted driving privileges, ankle
monitoring, or probation
Jacksonville, FLA
• 22 Target schools, 180 Truancy QuasiJudicial Hearings annually
• Varying degrees of case management for
youth served
• Compliance with mandated attendance
meetings tracked at target schools
• Program focuses on working with parents
of elementary school children
Court-Based Best Practices
• Work with the whole family, not just the
youth
• Judges can be effective partners or
leaders
• Court-based truancy efforts are best
targeted at truants who are not also
delinquent
• Judges work collaboratively with schools,
superintendents, law enforcement and
community services
Court-Based Best Practices
• Use incentives for improved
attendance
• Celebrate improvement
• Follow-up with truants should be
regular and prompt
Alternatives to Court
• Youth Court
• Mediation
• Court sponsored quasi-judicial
proceedings in schools and court houses
• Diversion
• Truancy workshops
• Knock and talks
Local Action
Where do we start?
• Create both incentives and graduated
sanctions
• Involve students and parents in planning
programs to improve attendance and
engagement
• Take baselines and track progress
CREATIVE OPTIONS
Denver, Colorado
The Denver Data
• Collected data from Denver Public
Schools (DPS) to assess prevalence of
truancy
• Work sponsored by National Truancy
Prevention Association
• Assessment gives a better indication than
attendance rates or drop out statistics
JUDICIARY
CITY
DHS
DPS
Denver Public
School
Attendance
Plan
SARB
Mediation
Family Group
Conferencing
Truancy
Court
Petition
Truancy
Court
DHS Case
Mangm’t
Punitive
Sanctions
Contempt of Court
Trial
Mayor’s Office Safe
Cities Case Mangm’t
Exploratory Methods
• Interviews with key stakeholders (school,
court, human services, city, community)
• Focus groups with students and parents
• Secondary data collection and analysis
from DPS, DDHS, Judicial and law
enforcement
• Collection of relevant policies
DPS Average Unexcused Absences by Grade
Percent of DPS Chronic Truants by Grade
40
35
30
Percent
25
02-03
03-04
20
04-05
15
10
5
0
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Grade
7
8
9
10
11
12
Percent of Chronic Truants
and Their Exit Status
• Approximately 60 % of students who left DPS for
juvenile incarceration or detention were
chronically truant.
• Approximately 60% of students who were
expelled from DPS were chronically truant.
• Approximately 16 % of students who attended
more than one school in a school year are
chronically truant.
Percent of Chronic Truants
Who Drop Out
• Approximately 20% of students who left to be
home schooled were chronically truant.
• Approximately 13% of student whose exit code
was “mutual consent (under the age 16)”,
“runaway or other causes”, or “no trace of
enrollment in another school” were chronically
truant.
• Approximately 50 % of students whose exit
code was “dropout” were chronically truant.
Quotes from Focus Groups
“Because the last time he left school he
brought a friend and that friend, another
day, came to my house to rob us with three
other children.”
~Parent
“Basically, I can’t say what I do when I
am not in school.”
~ Student
Incidents of Crime by Youth (10-17)
DPS School Year ‘04-’05
1800
1600
1634
# of Crimes
1400
1200
968
1000
800
600
400
200
0
During school hours (M-F, 7:30
AM-3:00 PM)
Out of school hours (M-F, 3:00
PM - 10:30 PM)
Source: National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS).
Resources and Materials
Visit NCSE’s Truancy Website
www.schoolengagement.org
[email protected]
303-837-8466
Contacts:
Judy Martinez, Director, x105
Dr. Krystina Finlay, Senior Research Analyst, x104
On the Website: Resources!
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Evaluation Reports
Sample TRAIN Reports
Links to Helpful Websites
Publications on Best Practices
“How-to” guides
Fact Sheets
Policy Papers
Cost-Benefit Analyses
Research Report
“Innovations in Truancy Prevention Practice:
An Inventory of Selected Collaborations
from around the United States”
Sponsored by the National Truancy
Prevention Association
Available on Research and Publications Page of
www.schoolengagement.org
Evaluate Your Truancy Reduction
Efforts
The Truancy Reduction Application Interface,
or TRAIN, is a secure, web-based database that
allows program staff to track the progress of
youth receiving school attendance services.
TRAIN includes information on students' school
attachment, achievement, and attendance, their
demographics, mental and physical health, family
and peer relationships, and detailed service
history.
TRAIN
TRAIN incorporates information from
quarterly updates to give a comprehensive
picture of one student over time, or a group of
students selected according to user
specifications. With a click of the mouse, the
data can be organized into user-defined data
tables. Standardized charts and graphs can be
created based on up-to-date information.
The system, managed and maintained by NCSE
staff, is available for an initial training fee and
an annual administration fee.
On the Website:
ACCESS to TRAIN
YOUR GUEST LOGON:
[email protected]
Password: backtoschool
Contact Sharlene Chiapetti at [email protected]
or
call Sharlene at 303-837-8466 ext.108
On the Website:
Truancy Program Registry
• Co-developed with the National Truancy
Prevention Association
• Searchable database of Truancy Programs
with contact information and evaluation results
• Add your own truancy program to be part
of OJJDP’s catalogue of national truancy
interventions
On the NCSE Website:
Truancy Listserv
Subscribe to this discussion list and talk with
others in the fields of Juvenile Justice,
Education, and Human Services about issues
regarding out-of-school youth.
Talk with others who have had similar
successes and challenges in implementing
truancy reduction efforts. Ask questions and
share effective strategies!
AND: Sign up for the NCSE e-newsletter
Contact Information
Judith Martinez, MURP - Director
Krystina A. Finlay, Ph.D. - Senior Research Analyst
National Center for School Engagement
303 E. 17th Ave. Ste. 400
Denver, CO 80203
303-837-8466, ext. 105 (Judy) & 104 (Krystina)
[email protected]