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

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National Center for School Engagement, and the National Dropout Prevention Center/Network. It identified key components for truancy programs. “. . . . a set of critical components linked to positive outcomes for children and families has been identified: • Collaboration-Establish a multidisciplinary group to guide and implement truancy programming. • Family involvement-Target family participation in school attachment, engage families in all truancy prevention and intervention efforts, and address familybased needs to support attendance. • Comprehensive approach-The reasons for nonattendance are varied, and a community’s response should be flexible and broad enough to take into consideration the specific issues experienced by students and families. • Use of incentives and sanctions-A combination of motivating incentives and accountability-based sanctions works best with youth. • Operate in a supportive context-To sustain programming, the program environment, including infrastructure and prevailing policies, must be a supportive source of energy and resources. • Rigorous evaluation and assessment-Test the approach to see if the desired outcomes are produced and make midcourse corrections if necessary. Outcome data will help sustain funding for truancy programming and generate positive political will.” 28 Some examples of national programs include: the Families and Schools Together (FAST) in Wisconsin. The FAST model is a two-year school-based program in elementary schools designed to improve family functioning and relationship to school. At risk children and their families participate in eight weekly sessions with other at risk children and their parents, followed by two years of monthly sessions. Project Respect in Colorado uses Community Advocates who work in elementary, middle and high schools to encourage parent participation in school and coordinate family activities designed to improve family communication and functioning. Project PACT operates at two targeted elementary schools in Honolulu, Hawaii. The program uses an early intervention model. If a child misses school, a case manager meets with the student and the family to stress the importance of school attendance and to assess the family’s needs for additional services. Project H.O.S.T.S. is a community-based intervention model used in one county in South Carolina. A feature of the program is collaboration between the local mental health agency, the county Department of Juvenile Justice and the local school district. The program serves truants between the ages of 8 and 16. Counselors assess the children to determine the cause of the truancy and failure to attend school. Participating children complete behavioral contracts to encourage them to accept responsibility for their behavior. 28 Mary S. Peimer and Kaki Dimock, “Truancy Prevention in Action: Best Practices and Model Truancy Programs”(South Carolina, National Dropout and Prevention Center/Network, Clemson University, 2005),4 53
E. Other programs include: Mediation Programs where parents are invited to a mediation session after parental notifications fail to improve their children’s attendance. A trained mediator (volunteers, employees of the court or nonprofit mediation centers) conducts a mediation, which is attended by the student’s parent and teacher. During the mediation session, the participants identify the reasons for truancy and work to reach an agreement on a plan of action. The school is responsible for any follow-up. School/Community Teams which can consist of a school social worker/counselor, a prosecutor, a police or probation officer, and/or an educational assistant, meet with the parent and child. The team works together to identify root causes for truancy and create a contract for school attendance. Contracts are signed by both the student and parent. Referrals to social service agencies are made when necessary. The team intensely monitors the student’s attendance as well as other conditions of the contract. Truancy Centers where truant students are taken by police officers to central locations staffed by police, Board of Education school safety officers and attendance teachers, and staffers from the District Attorney's Office. When parents pick up a student, they are given a letter advising them of their obligations as parents to ensure their children's regular school attendance. Parents whose children are chronic truants may be asked to attend a meeting with program staffers for information about their duties under the law. Parents are also provided with information about local community service agencies which specialize in assisting families. Attorney/Mentor Projects that are used when a truancy petition is filed at court. A volunteer attorney is assigned to the case. The attorney represents the child at court on all truancy-related hearings. S/he is also responsible for building a positive relationship with the child. The attorney continues to advocate for the child after court involvement is over. Parent Education and Involvement Programs where parents learn and practice identification, prevention, and intervention strategies through parent information forums or parent conferences. Parents also attend support groups where they receive emotional and practical support and practice implementing newly acquired skills and techniques. Case Management where highly trained truancy case managers facilitate in-school case management. Participating schools utilize mental health services, counseling, substance abuse treatment, and tutoring to keep children in school. Truancy Court which is held at the school where a judge or non-judicial officer, who is acting in either an official or ex officio role, presides. When a problem is identified, the Truancy Court, school administrators and guidance counselors do whatever it takes to solve the problem. They arrange for testing, counseling and offer any other services available to the student. In some school districts, schools have hired tutors to help students. The students’ guidance counselors or truancy case managers inform the court of a student’s weekly progress. 54
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Families with Service Needs Advisor
Page 3 and 4: VI. Other Key Recommendations Relat
Page 5 and 6: Report to the General Assembly from
Page 7 and 8: In addition, minor changes to the r
Page 9 and 10: RECOMMENDATION THREE PROVIDE FUNDS
Page 11 and 12: RECOMMENDATION FIVE MAKE NEEDED CHA
Page 13 and 14: The Advisory Board is recommending
Page 15 and 16: ased preventive programs 4. Flex fu
Page 17 and 18: B. Recommendations related to Truan
Page 19 and 20: D. System-wide Prevention Strategie
Page 21 and 22: Intervention for DCF youth residing
Page 23 and 24: gender responsive programming to as
Page 25 and 26: and organizations represented inclu
Page 27 and 28: and to added referral to community
Page 29 and 30: C. Young FWSN Children In 2006 ther
Page 31 and 32: • Juvenile Review Boards (JRB) A
Page 33 and 34: are truant. The focus is to provide
Page 35 and 36: Presently, there is no data collect
Page 37 and 38: Juvenile probation officers provide
Page 39 and 40: The Family Support Center provides
Page 41 and 42: achievement and reentry. The progra
Page 43 and 44: Once the child is adjudicated as a
Page 45 and 46: DCF may petition the court for an e
Page 47 and 48: ‣ Current Services for Court Invo
Page 49 and 50: hearing held every fifteen days. At
Page 51 and 52: IV. Lessons Learned from National L
Page 53: continuum of effective strength-bas
Page 57 and 58: CORE RECOMMENDATION # 2: FUND AND E
Page 59 and 60: 2. Grades 6-8 3. Grade 9 a. In addi
Page 61 and 62: FWSN referrals submitted to court.
Page 63 and 64: CORE RECOMMENDATION # 5: MAKE NEEDE
Page 65 and 66: 4. Systemic, longitudinal evaluatio
Page 67 and 68: 3. Crisis/risk determination traini
Page 69 and 70: SDE’s Secondary School Redesign D
Page 71 and 72: truant students who attend school r
Page 73 and 74: Handling of FWSN cases. Confidentia
Page 75 and 76: In response to Special Act 04-5, DC
Page 77 and 78: for all DCF Social Workers and CSSD
Page 79 and 80: IX. APPENDICES Table of Contents Ap
Page 81 and 82: Appendix II FAMILIES WITH SERVICE N
Page 83 and 84: FWSN ADVISORY BOARD - TRUANCY SUBCO
Page 85 and 86: LEGISLATIVE DRAFTING SUBCOMMITTEE M
Page 87 and 88: States continue to struggle with th
Page 89 and 90: Appendix IV Detailed Population Dem
Page 91 and 92: Chart 1 shows a detailed analysis o
Page 93 and 94: Most of the assessed children score
Page 95 and 96: Appendix V Highlights of Other Prog
Page 97 and 98: The programs also provide preventio
Page 99 and 100: Appendix VII Evaluation of FWSN sys
Page 101 and 102: Table of Contents Introduction Page
Page 103 and 104: considered “gender-specific” or
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filed during the months of April, M
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or guardian, the child, parent or g
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general statutes, as amended by thi
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X. GLOSSARY OF TERMS ADP - Alternat
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