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THE TRUANCY INTERVENTION PROGRAM OF THE RAMSEY COUNTY ATTORNEY'S OFFICE: A COLLABORATIVE APPROACH TO SCHOOL SUCCESS
Author(s) -
Santelmann Richtman Kathryn
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
family court review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.171
H-Index - 4
eISSN - 1744-1617
pISSN - 1531-2445
DOI - 10.1111/j.1744-1617.2007.00157.x
Subject(s) - truancy , graduation (instrument) , intervention (counseling) , underemployment , legislature , law enforcement , criminology , psychology , medicine , psychiatry , political science , unemployment , law , economic growth , engineering , economics , mechanical engineering
Chronic truancy has far‐reaching effects, both for the youth who become disconnected from school and for society. Crime, unemployment, underemployment, drug abuse, alcohol abuse and risky sexual activity have all been linked to chronic truancy. In 1995, the Minnesota Legislature authorized the creation of diversion programs specifically for truants. That same year, in response to the growing truancy problem, Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner directed her staff to create a program for early intervention in truancy cases. From its beginning, the goals of the Truancy Intervention Program (TIP) have been to reduce the rate of truancy, to increase school connectedness, and to improve high school graduation rates. The program has accomplished these goals and, along the way, forged strong bonds of cooperation with schools, law enforcement agencies, and service providers. Ten years after the creation of TIP, the graduation rates in the city of St. Paul, the largest school district in the county, have improved by over 50 percent; the number of students missing 15 days of school of more (excused as well as unexcused) has decreased by more than 50 percent; and a large majority of chronic truants and their families have been successfully connected to services to address underlying problems.