NCJ Number
196076
Date Published
2002
Length
26 pages
Annotation
This document presents the results of the first 3 years of the School Attendance Initiative of the Oregon Department of Human Services and Multnomah County, Oregon.
Abstract
The School Attendance Initiative (SAI) discussed in this document is a multi-disciplinary truancy intervention. Resources from the schools, community service agencies, and juvenile justice agencies are used in SAI. The pilot program received Federal funding from the United States Department of Justice and the United States Department of Education. SAI participants are referred based upon three criteria. SAI participants must be Multnomah County residents under the age of 15 who have missed at least 3 of the last 15 school days. Between September 1998 and June 2001 there were 12,261 referrals. Program services include attendance monitoring, family outreach, tutoring, medical assessment, psychological assessment, parent education, culturally specific services, and translation. Chronic health problems are the most common reason given for school non-attendance. The attendance of students referred to the SAI program improved 11 percent. Initial findings showed a positive correlation between the increased school attendance produced by SAI and improved academic performance. 13 figures, 2 tables, note