Tackling Truancy With Limited Resources: Replicating the Yonkers Model

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Tackling Truancy With Limited ResourcesReplicat
ing the Yonkers Model

• By Karl Bertrand, L.M.S.W.
• President, Program Design and Development, L.L.C.
• Sponsored by the Westchester Task Forceon Child
  Abuse and Neglect

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How Can We Address Chronic Truancy?

• Enforce the law on mandatory school attendance
• Use Child Protective Services educational
  neglect reporting process to
• trigger an investigation and assessment of the
  family situation,
• followed when necessary by support services
  and/or court intervention

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How Can We Address Chronic Truancy?

• The Yonkers Model
• Yonkers Public Schools instituted a new
  educational neglect reporting process in
  September 2007 for grades 1-8
• In two years the number of chronically truant
  students in the 8 targeted grades dropped by 18.6

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The Mount Vernon City School District Has Already
Begun Replicating the Yonkers Model

• Mount Vernon City School Districts Goals
• Implement a new educational neglect reporting
  process in Mount Vernon by September 2009.
• Reduce chronic truancy in the targeted grades
  (grades 1-8) by at least 18 within two years.

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Overview of Proposed New Mount Vernon Educational
Neglect Reporting Process

1. Report all students with 20 unexcused or
   unexplained absences
2. Report them sooner (as they occur)
3. Document the educational impacts
4. Provide follow-up data when needed for CPS and
   Family Court
5. Target community-based support services to
   chronic truants referred by CPS

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Proposed Process Ed Neglect Reporting

1. Each month Data Processing prepares a list of all
   students with 20 unexcused or unexplained
   absences (sorted by school)
2. Pupil Services gives each schools list to the
   principal
3. The principal (or a designee) investigates to see
   if there is a known extenuating explanation for
   the absences (such as illness with an appropriate
   504 plan in place) that eliminates reasonable
   cause to suspect educational neglect
4. When no explanation is found, the principal or
   his/her designee documents the educational
   impacts using a standard CPS report form and a
   new customized supplemental form
5. The principal or designee submits the reports to
   NYS CSR
6. The principal or designee forwards the written
   CPS report and supplemental form to Pupil
   Services and to the local CPS office

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Proposed Process Process Monitoring

1. Principals forward explanations to Pupil Services
   when absences are excused or adequately explained
2. PDD compares the list of 20 absences, list of
   accepted explanations, and list of cases reported
   to CPS, and compiles a list of cases that are
   still not addressed and forwards the list to
   Pupil Services
3. Pupil Services follows up with the principals on
   not-yet-addressed cases
4. PDD maintains a running list of
   not-yet-addressed cases by school
5. The Superintendents office follows up when
   necessary with principals who do not respond to
   Pupil Services requests

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IMPORTANT REMINDER
Nothing in this policy reduces or replaces the
legal responsibility of school personnel who are
mandated reporters, to report suspected child
abuse or neglect, including educational neglect.
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Proposed Process Quality Assurance

• CPS provides a monthly count of
• local ed neglect (EN) reports accepted by NYS,
• of EN investigations completed by CPS,
• of EN reports found to be indicated,
• comparison numbers from that date on the prior
  year, and
• the of EN cases currently receiving voluntary
  services.
• PDD convenes monthly Truancy Reduction Strategy
  Group (TRSG) meetings to monitor performance and
  resolve problems
• PDD presents monthly aggregate statistical
  reports (with no personally identifying info) to
  the TRSG including
• An Status Report showing year-to-date of
  students with 20 absences, of CPS EN reports
  known to Pupil Services, of cases still not
  addressed, of EN reports known to CPS, of
  cases still under CPS investigation, of
  investigations completed, and of completed
  cases found to be indicated, with prior year
  comparisons.
• A school-level summary of the of students with
  20 absences, the of those students reported
  for EN, and the of cases not yet addressed.

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Proposed Process Follow-Up

1. Every two weeks CPS sends Data Processing an
   updated list of names of students whose
   attendance is being monitored by CPS and/or
   Family Court
2. Within 2-3 days Data Processing sends CPS an
   updated year-to-date count of unexcused or
   unexplained absences for each listed student
3. CPS uses the updated lists to regularly monitor
   attendance and give accurate reports to Family
   Court when requested

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Proposed Process System Improvement

1. CPS will track the major factors that contribute
   to chronic truancy in the cases they investigate
   and will provide monthly reports to the Mount
   Vernon Community That Cares (CTC) Coalition
2. Mount Vernons CTC and Weed Seed coalitions
   will be asked to identify community resources
   that can be made available to chronic truants
   referred by CPS
3. CPS will refer chronic truants for priority
   access to the identified community-based services
4. Mount Vernons CTC and Weed Seed coalitions
   will be asked to develop new services to address
   the major needs identified by CPS as contributing
   to chronic truancy

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Schools Dont Have To Do This Alone

• Chronic Truancy is an issue that can galvanize a
  community
• DSS is a key partner - ed neglect reports must be
  investigated, even when resources are scarce
• Local juvenile crime prevention resources can be
  retargeted to achieve greater impact when they
  focus on chronic truants
• Community activists and faith communities will
  support a broad inclusive effort that stays
  sharply focused on this clear and easily
  understandable need

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Chronic Truancy Hurts Communities

• Chronic Truancy is linked to
• Educational Failure
• Increased Juvenile Crime
• Other Risky Teen Behaviors
• Child Abuse
• Increased Adult Crime
• Long-Term Poverty

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Chronic Truancy and Educational Failure

• Chronic Truants are more likely to
• Do poorly in school
• Fail to earn high school credits
• Drop out before graduating high school

Source OJJDP Bulletin 9/01, Truancy Reduction
Keeping Students in School
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Chronic Truancy and Juvenile Crime

• Chronic Truancy has been linked to
• Serious delinquent behavior
• Gang activity
• Substance abuse
• Crimes (burglary, auto theft, vandalism)

Source OJJDP Bulletin, Truancy Reduction
Keeping Students in School
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Chronic Truancy and Juvenile Crime

• Yonkers found that students in grades 7-8 with
  20 unexcused absences in one year had a 21
  chance of being arrested within 3 years.
• That groups 21 three-year arrest rate was three
  times higher than the average rate for youth aged
  10-14 in Yonkers poorest neighborhoods.
• THE LESSON communities with limited juvenile
  crime prevention resources can multiply their
  impact by focusing services on chronic truants
  rather than youth haphazardly recruited from poor
  neighborhoods.

Source Yonkers Juvenile Justice Strategy and
Action Plan, Program Design and Development, LLC,
4/4/08.
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Chronic Truancy and Risky Teen Behaviors

• Chronic Truancy is linked to increased
• Use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs
• Early sexual intercourse
• Driving DUI or riding with a DUI driver

Source OJJDP, Toolkit for Creating Your Own
Truancy Reduction Program, 2007.
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Chronic Truancy Often Masks Child Abuse

• In 2006 NYC instituted a new educational neglect
  reporting system after Nixzmary Brown was found
  beaten to death.
• Nixzmary had missed 46 days of school before her
  family was reported for educational neglect.
• What we learned from the Nixzmary case is that
  we want a system in place that produces a quick
  response to early signs that will prevent a
  situation from worsening, Deputy Mayor Linda I.
  Gibbs

Source NY Times, Response to Child Deaths
Suggests a System Poised to Work, 11/17/06
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Chronic Truancy and Adult Crime
A study reported in the American Economic Review
on the effects of education on crime found that a
one year increase in the average years of
schooling completed reduces violent crime by
almost 30 percent, motor vehicle theft by 20,
arson by 13 percent and burglary and larceny by
about 6 percent.
Source Education and Public Safety, Justice
Policy Institute, 8/30/07.
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Chronic Truancy Builds Long-Term Poverty

• Adults who were chronically truant have
• Lower paying jobs
• More reliance on welfare support
• Increased likelihood of living in poverty

Source OJJDP Bulletin 9/01, Truancy Reduction
Keeping Students in School
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Chronic Truancy Hurts Communities
Failing to earn a high school diploma is
devastating for the individuals, but the negative
effects of inadequate education seep throughout
society. Dropouts are rarely prepared to
contribute to the workforce, use more social
service dollars than graduates, and require
greater criminal justice expenditures than
graduates.
Source OJJDP, Toolkit for Creating Your Own
Truancy Reduction Program, 2007.
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Chronic Truancy Has Long-Term Effects

• Adults who were chronically truant have
• Increased propensity for violent behavior
• Poorer health and mental health
• Increased likelihood of incarceration

Source OJJDP Bulletin 9/01, Truancy Reduction
Keeping Students in School
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Chronic Truancy Has Long-Term Effects
The potential long-term benefits of addressing
chronic truancy, especially in early grades, are
enormous. New procedures could identify and help
bring early intervention services to hundreds of
high-risk youth in high-risk families who would
otherwise in most cases float through the system
unaided until they emerged again into public view
as teenage delinquents, dropouts, and criminals.
The early intervention services provided will not
be able to save every student or turn around
every dysfunctional family, but they offer our
best hope for reducing school failure, violence,
drug abuse and crime in Yonkers.
Source Yonkers Juvenile Justice Strategy and
Action Plan, Program Design and Development, LLC,
4/4/08.
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The Bottom Line

• If you care about
• Helping at-risk kids
• Reducing crime
• Making sure schools succeed
• Protecting kids from child abuse
• Alleviating poverty or
• Strengthening your community

We share a common stake in addressing chronic
truancy.
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Im Willing To Help

• If you want to replicate the Yonkers model, I can
  help by
• Meeting once with your Pupil Support Service and
  Data Processing staff to helping you understand
  in more detail how to use data to drive
  performance.
• Meeting once with your staff and potential
  community partners to strategize about how to
  build the community partnerships you need.
• This assistance is completely free.

If you want more in-depth assistance, call me and
lets talk.
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Karl Bertrand, L.M.S.W., President Program Design
and Development, LLC 47 Wayside Drive White
Plains, NY 10607 [phone] KBertrand_at_progra
mdesign.com www.programdesign.com