truancy workgroup members
DESCRIPTION
Truancy Workgroup Members. Co-Chairs – Honorable John Kuhn & Cynthia Stoltz, Esq. Members: Courts Common Pleas Judges, MDJs, Hearing Officers, Court Administrators Child Welfare DPW, CYF Administrators, Managers, Social Workers - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Truancy Workgroup Members
Co-Chairs – Honorable John Kuhn & Cynthia Stoltz, Esq.
Members:
Courts Common Pleas Judges, MDJs, Hearing Officers, Court Administrators
Child Welfare DPW, CYF Administrators, Managers, Social Workers
Education PDE, PASA, PSBA, PAESSP, High School
Principals, Education Law Center
Juvenile Justice JCJC, Chief’s Association, PCCD
Workgroup Charge
• Gather information about critical systemic issues in PA regarding truancy
• Identify nationally recognized and PA truancy best practices
• Outline an approach and a series of recommendations for reducing truancy in PA
Mission and Guiding Principles for Pennsylvania’s Dependency System
Pennsylvania’s child dependency system shall:• Protect children who are habitually and without justification truant
from school.• Support the educational needs of all dependent children.• Support families by stressing the importance of formal education for
the child. • Educate families in parenting and life skills.• Identify all possible practices and strategies that address the needs
of a child and family and encourage solutions which do not require court intervention.
• Utilize the Children’s Roundtable Initiative as a mechanism for local and statewide communication, decision making and leadership.
• Ensure strong and responsible leadership from all facets of the dependency system, beginning with our courts.
PA Truancy Efforts
• PA Attorney General’s Safety Action Plan Truancy Committee (2000)
• Statewide Truancy Task Force on School Attendance and Truancy Reduction (2004)
• Special Court Judges Association Truancy Workgroup (2007)
Statewide Truancy Task Force
• PA Truancy Toolkit
http://www.patruancytoolkit.info/
• Basic Education Circular (BEC) – Compulsory Attendance and Truancy Elimination Plan
What do we know about truancy?
Limitations on Existing Truancy Data
• No national truancy data exists
• Education truancy data is self reported by school districts
• Court data is limited to summary citations filed with the magisterial district courts
• Do not capture the number of children who are dependent and truant or delinquent and truant
Truant Students Personal Characteristics*
• Academic failure
• Poor social and emotional functioning
• Ethnic or racial diversity
• Health problems
• Inability to feel part of the ‘school culture’
*Washington State Institute for Public Policy
Causes of Truancy
Vary by Individual
May Include:– Family factors– School factors– Economic influences– Community factors
National Findings
• No national truancy data
• Hundreds of thousands of students are absent each school day without excuse
• Truancy is a risk factor for:– Academic failure– Health issues– Delinquent behavior
National Dropout Data
• 1.2 million teens between the ages of 16-19 who were not in school and had not graduated from high school in 2007*
• Dropout ranged from 2% in North Dakota – 11% in Nevada
• PA ranked 19th nationwide, where 6% (41,000) teens were high school dropouts
*2009 Kids Count Data Book on State Profiles of Child Well-BeingAnnie E. Casey Foundation
What does truancy look like in PA?
PA Truancy Laws• Compulsory School Age (no later than 8 -17)
• School board charged with setting policies governing pupil absences and lawful excuses
• “Habitually Truant”
• CYS involvement under and over age 13
• Filing against the parent or child
• MDJ Penalties if found guilty
• Failure to pay – certified to common pleas
• Dependent -“Habitually and without justification truant from school”
PA Truancy Laws (cont.)
Year Total PA School Population
Total PA Habitually Truant K-12
Percent Habitually
Truant
2007 1,821,383 147,188 8.08%
2008 1,843,194 148,939 8.08%
2009 1,787,351 154,904 8.67%
PA State Total Habitually Truant 2007-2009
SY 08-09 School Population
by Gender (K-12)
Male909,718
51%
Female859,392
49%
Male81,23752%
Female73,66748%
SY 08-09 Habitually Truant by Gender
(K-12)
SY 08-09 Total School Population vs. Total Habitually Truant Population
648,809
408,750
586,662
38,556 37,92878,420
0
100,000
200,000
300,000
400,000
500,000
600,000
700,000
1-5 Grades 6-8 Grades 9-12 Grades
Total Population
Total Habitually Truant
50%25% 25%
Total School Population 2008-2009 Grades K-12
Hispanic (any race)7%
Multi-Racial1%
Asian / Pacific Islander3%
American Indian / Alaskan Native
0%
White / Caucasian (not Hispanic)
74%
Black / African American (not Hispanic)
15%
American Indian / AlaskanNativeAsian / Pacific Islander
Black / African American (notHispanic)Hispanic (any race)
Multi-Racial
White / Caucasian (notHispanic)
Total Truant Population 2008-2009Grades K-12
Hispanic (any race)17%
Multi-Racial1%
American Indian / Alaskan Native
2%
White / Caucasian (not Hispanic)
32%
Asian / Pacific Islander1%
Black / African American (not Hispanic)
47%
American Indian / AlaskanNativeAsian / Pacific Islander
Black / African American(not Hispanic)Hispanic (any race)
Multi-Racial
White / Caucasian (notHispanic)
Year Total Citations
Citations against Juvenile
Citations against
Parent or Guardian
Juveniles Certified to
Court of Common Pleas for failure to pay fines
Total fines collected and
paid to School
Districts
2007 66,307 17,852 48,455 4,542 $1,589,199
2008 68,046 18,159 49,887 4,705 $1,454,887
2009 57,555 16,517 41,038 2,707 $709,153
Magisterial District Court Truancy Data
LRT Survey Results
90%
truancy was an issue of concern in their county
LRT Survey Results Cont.
42%
truancy was being effectively handled
– Stakeholder collaboration– Standardized protocols– MDJ uniforimty in handling truancy cases– Timely responses
LRT Survey Results Cont.30%
truancy was not being effectively handled
– No collaboration– Inconsistency in handling referrals– Not addressing the problem in elementary school– Filing MDJ citations too late in the school year– Not utilizing the TEP
LRT Survey Results Cont.• 65% do not have a cross systems truancy reduction
program
• 50% use a truancy protocol
• 65% do not have a liaison between the school districts and the court
LRT Survey Results Cont.
• 36% have an educational representative on their local children’s roundtable
• Only 5 counties reported having an MDJ on their local children’s roundtable’
• 65% indicated their was no “sense of urgency” about truancy in their community
Recommendations
Truancy Workgroup Recommendation 1
Demonstrate Effective Collaboration Efforts Including Sharing the Accountability and
Responsibility for Truancy
Truancy Workgroup Recommendation 2
Create an Educational Culture/Climate that Prioritizes Students’ Connection to their School
and Engages Families
Truancy Workgroup Recommendation 3
Implement Specific Strategies with Measurable Outcomes Targeting Prevention,
Early Identification and Intervention
Truancy Workgroup Recommendation 4
Track Truancy Data and Program Outcomes and Share Information with Stakeholders
Truancy Workgroup Recommendation 5
Build Sustainable Funding Bases and Allocate Resources Based on
Data Informed Decisions and Partnerships that Maximize Efficiencies
Next Steps
1. Implementation Strategies
• Support for communities to implement the recommendations
• Communicate the message about the urgency of truancy
Next Steps
2. Collaborate with JCJC to identify truancy laws needing clarified or altered
Next Steps
3. Engage the medical community as a valued partner in addressing truancy
at both the state and local levels
Next Steps
4. Explore possible surveys and other tools that communities can utilize to assess local truancy issues
5 Things Local Children’s Roundtables can do
1. Read the Report2. Review your County’s School Truancy Data3. Bring the Information back to the Local
Children’s Roundtable4. Start Identifying Community Stakeholders who
may be Interested in discussing Truancy Issues
5. Begin a dialogue with Stakeholders
“We live in a world in which we need to share responsibility. It’s easy to say, ‘It’s not my child, not my community, not my world, not my problem.’ Then there are those who see the need to respond, I consider those people my heroes.”
- Fred Rogers