NCJ Number
225001
Date Published
February 2004
Length
145 pages
Annotation
Following an overview of the Rhode Island Truancy Court, this document presents the findings and recommendations from an overall evaluation of the "Stop Truancy Outreach Program" initiated by the Rhode Island Family Court.
Abstract
Highlights of findings from the program evaluation include: (1) the Rhode Island Stop Truancy Outreach Project was developed only after extensive review of existing programs in other States; (2) the success of the intervention aspect of the program is dependent on the continued participation of school, State and community agencies; (3) the truancy court program is understaffed; (4) it is unclear, beyond the Chief Judge, who has primary oversight for the staff; (5) parents often wait an inordinate amount of time before their child's case is heard; (6) the majority of students arraigned in Truancy Court are White 45.2 percent; (7) the age of truancy participants ranged from 11 years of age to over 16 years of age; (8) 79.6 percent of the students have no previous history with Family Court; and (9) 38.7 percent of the students considered truant have a diagnosed physical or mental disability with the most common disability noted, ADHD/ADD. Highlights of summary recommendations include: (1) Magistrates should follow through on threats made to students; (2) Magistrates should be more aware of the parents needs; (3) a policy should be made regarding when students should be removed from class for arraignment or review; (4) there should be more staff involved with the Truancy Court; and (5) the discrepancy between the States' definition of truancy and each school district's definition should be resolved. The Rhode Island Family Court's Stop Truancy Outreach Program services approximately 800 children per school year from 17 different communities throughout the State. The purpose of this evaluation is to determine the effectiveness of the program for decreasing student absenteeism and increasing positive behaviors associated with schooling. The document includes a program financial report, truancy court locations, mission statement, truancy court bullets and forms, community college collaboration, truancy court graphs, and newspaper articles.