FWSN-advisorybd-repo.. - The Connecticut Juvenile Justice Alliance

are truant. The focus is to provide children with positive reinforcement that promotes
school attendance, rather than emphasizing ways to reduce truancy, that may be fostered
by systemic factors, such as suspensions and expulsions.
Funds under this program, disbursed by the Consortium on School Attendance (OPM)
are used to support program strategies in one of the following categories and include an
evaluation component with a comparison group.
• Making Attendance a Priority – building awareness and commitment to regular
school attendance in school buildings, in homes, and in the broader community;
• Establishing Effective Attendance Policies – ensuring that effective attendance
policies are in place and enforced consistently across the district and within
school buildings;
• Implementing Programs – providing best practice prevention and intervention
approaches.
Some examples of recently funded program initiatives include enrichment activities such
as study skills and time management exercises; a virtual alternative learning for students
who are not succeeding in the traditional classroom setting as measured by their
attendance, state test scores, and academic grades; a new Re-entry Transitional
Classroom for students who are absent for 10 consecutive days or more in any one
semester; the purchase of new organizational resources, incentives and behavior plans for
students; parent workshops and professional development of staff.
Unfortunately, distribution of these monies does not benefit every town and does not
promote the development of a uniform approach to promoting school attendance. Instead,
it promotes experimental or small scale programs with varying degrees of effectiveness.
Other Truancy Diversion Services:
In Connecticut, there are several pilot initiatives currently being used to divert students
who are truant. They include:
• School-based models in the New Haven and New London Public Schools, and the
Connecticut Bar Association/Connecticut Bar Foundation Truancy Intervention
Project in New Britain;
• A law enforcement model in Hartford by the Hartford Police Department;
• A mental health model operated by the Institute of Living, and a
• Court model Truancy Court Prevention Project operated at a middle and high
school in Hartford by the Center for Children’s Advocacy, Capitol Region
Education Council and the Village for Families and Children. 11
11 The Truancy Court Prevention Project has been recognized as “A Model Truancy Prevention Program”
by the American Bar Association. See www.abanet.org/crimjust/juvjus/truancypreventionprograms.doc.
See also Mary Reimer and Kaki Dimick, “Best Practices in Action: Best Practices and Model Truancy
Programs” National Dropout Prevention Center/Network, Clemson University (Clemson, S.C.) 2005.
www.dropoutprevention.org
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