Why Truancy Matters How Chronic Truancy Hurts Individuals and Communities By Karl Bertrand, LMSW

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

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”

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”

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 group’s 21% three-year arrest rate was three times higher than the average rate for youth aged in Yonkers’ poorest neighborhoods. Source: Yonkers Juvenile Justice Strategy and Action Plan, Program Design and Development, LLC, 4/4/08.

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.

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

Chronic Truancy and Adult Crime Source: “Education and Public Safety,” Justice Policy Institute, 8/30/07. “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.”

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”

Chronic Truancy Hurts Communities Source: OJJDP, “Toolkit for Creating Your Own Truancy Reduction Program,” “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.”

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”

Potential Impact of Addressing Truancy Source: Yonkers Juvenile Justice Strategy and Action Plan, Program Design and Development, LLC, 4/4/08. “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….”

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 our community We share a common stake in addressing chronic truancy.

Karl Bertrand, L.M.S.W., President Program Design and Development, LLC 47 Wayside Drive White Plains, NY (914)