TRUANCY

Truancy Reduction: Keeping Students in School. Juvenile Justice Bulletin.

Each school day, hundreds of thousands of students are missing from their classrooms--many without a bona fide excuse. Left unchecked, truancy is a risk factor for serious juvenile delinquency. Truancy's impact also extends into the adult years where it has been linked to numerous negative outcomes. Consequently, it is critical to identify strategies that intervene effectively with youth who are chronically truant and that interrupt their progress to delinquency and other negative behaviors by addressing the underlying reasons behind their absence from school. This bulletin provides an overview of the problem of truancy; describes the correlations of family, school, economic, and student factors with truancy; notes truancy's role as a predictor of delinquency, including juvenile daytime crime; and tallies truancy's social and financial impacts. Two projects funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention are featured: the ACT Now program operated by the Pima County Attorney's Office in Arizona and the Truancy Reduction Demonstration Program, a partnership with the Executive Office for Weed and Seed and the Safe and Drug-Free Schools Program. Truancy is an early warning sign for future problems and should not be ignored. 

SOURCE:

Baker, M. L., Sigmon, J. N., & Nugent, M. E. (2001). Truancy Reduction: Keeping Students in School. Juvenile Justice Bulletin.

Helen Dalby-NEC,(24 May 2013)