Running head: TRUANCY INTERVENTION PROGRAM

Truancy Intervention Program:

Youth Moving Forward
Sponsored by: Methodist Action Program
Christopher Moulden
Wilmington University

TRUANCY INTERVENTION PROGRAM

Truancy Intervention Program:

Youth Moving Forward
Sponsored by: Methodist Action Program (MAP)
The Youth Moving Forward Truancy Intervention Program is designed to support
students and families of New Castle County, Delaware. The program will help students that are
having problems attending school on a regular basis and connect families with the services they
need to support and promote positive outcomes so the students do not continue to miss school.
Students and their families will have an opportunity to avoid formalized court proceedings by
participating in the Truancy Intervention Program. Students can participate in the program by
way of Justice of the Peace Truancy Court 10 (court ordered), voluntarily, or by referral from the
Joseph Douglas Alternative School (Christina School District) which we are partnering with. By
partnering with the alternative school the programs will both benefit from the other. The
Douglas school benefits by having students that are consistently truant and struggling with their
education the truancy intervention program can work directly with them to give them a better
outlook on education. This pairing will also help the students fulfil their court obligations so that
their truancy cases can be resolved in a positive manner. The truancy intervention program
benefits because there is a constant pipeline of children that can use the services that we provide.
Truancy is a major part of why the education system is failing. Students are missing their
educational marks because those that are having problems, whether out of school or in school,
are missing more class time than ever before. Some of the children that are consistently missing
school are leading other lifestyles that are leading to criminal activity or high risk daily activities.
Mission Statement:

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The Youth Moving Forward Truancy Intervention Program is to motivate students to strive to
attend school on a regular basis and strengthen their academic experience. Absenteeism will be
reduced for students and if properly motivated the youth will want to attend school to learn and
become a positive asset to their communities. It takes a village to raise a child and that village is
made up of parents, schools, other agencies, and community.
The target population for the truancy program is youth between the ages of thirteen thru
seventeen years of age or grades seventh thru tenth. The students will be registered to attend
school in New Castle County and this includes charter or private schools. Working with this
population that is either court ordered or voluntarily taking part will be expected to reach certain
goals which are listed below followed by the vision of the program.
Goals:

Improve attendance

Improve behavior

Improve grades

Improve relationships

Advance to the next grade level/ Graduation

Vision:
Students will have no unexcused absences and will pass their classes with the aspirations of
seeking to further their education and or obtaining certifications in a perspective field of study/
trade.

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Objectives:
The Youth Moving Forward Truancy Intervention Program will strive to accomplish three main
objectives:

Assist students in returning to school with regular attendance

Assist students in setting day-to-day and long term goals

Help students develop positive behaviors and attitudes towards education and their

families
The program will work closely to ensure this by way of collaborating with parents/ guardians,
school staff, New Castle County Human Services, Justice of the Peace Truancy Court 10/
Juvenile intake, and visiting teachers (assigned to truancy) Delaware New Castle County School
Districts/ Charter Schools.
Process:
Students will be referred to the Youth Moving Forward Truancy Intervention Program when they
are considered to be habitually missing from school without an excuse by way of the school they
are assigned to or the Justice of the Peace Truancy Court 10. The program will match a student
with a mentor who visits with the student two to three times a week at school. The mentor has
numerous roles and task to fulfil in order to ensure that the student is getting the help that the
need to be a successful student. These roles consist of individual sessions, group sessions, and
extracurricular activities such as conferences, sporting events, or other interest of the student.
These will be implemented as the student hits goals that are set up throughout the program. The
incentives will reinforce positive outcomes for performing and completing task which will help

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them understand one has to work for what they want. A long with the scholastic entity of the
program other things will be worked on such as behavior modification, social skills training, and
anger management techniques.
Students will be evaluated on a weekly basis by the governing body to check on the status
of the student and the effectiveness of the adult they are paired with. Once the court obligation
of the student is fulfilled and the students attendance has improved an exit transition will be put
in place to let the students know that they can always come to the program for help and that we
will be popping in to the schools or placing calls to check on their continued progress.
Structure
The governing body of the program is set up as followed:

Executive Director
Intern

Site Supervisor
Associate

Associate
Associate

Associate

Associate

The governing body of the program is set up as the above chart shows. The executive director
and the site supervisor work closely together coming up with the curriculum for the program and

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the direction that the program is to move forward with the executive director making the call on
all major decision. The site supervisor hands out the assignment or pairs the students with the
associate who are either volunteering of working for the program. The associates carry out the
contact and leg work of acclimating the students in the program. They write reports, keep notes,
and schedule events to be approved by the site supervisor or executive director. The intern is
walked through the steps of the program by each piece of the governing hierarchy starting with
the executive director followed by the other members the make up the core of the program.
Funding
The agency is a faith based non-profit organization that has some financial backing from
the United Methodist Conference (U.M.C) in the Northeastern sector. The funding from the
U.M.C is to start up the truancy intervention program under the umbrella of the youth moving
forward section of the Methodist Action Program (MAP). The executive director of the program
will also seek funding from the United States federal government as well as the state of Delaware
through grant writing. The governing body will also through ideas around to raise funds through
fund raisers such as bake sales, raffles, car washes, and other ways of raising funds. This will of
course be approved through the executive director.
Relationships
As mentioned before some of the services that will be provided by the truancy program
will partner with other organization to ensure that the youth involved in the program have every
chance of becoming the success that they want to be. The program will partner with the
Neighborhood House in the Southbridge section of Wilmington to do parenting classes for
parents who may need help with in their homes. There are times that things going on in the

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home will be too much for the student or parent to provide a positive environment for the child to
concentrate on school work. They will also equip parents with coping skills and parental skills
of holding their children responsible for actions. They will also partner with schools in New
Castle County as mentioned before in earlier paragraphs. This partnership helps students reach
academic standards and personal goals.
Strengths and Weaknesses
The program like another program will have its struggles during the beginning stages.
Since the program is just starting up the biggest weakness that I have observed is a lack of
communication and trust. In order for an organization to be successful communication is key.
During the time that I have been at the truancy intervention program I have noticed that the
communication is not always there and the executive director and site supervisor are on to
different pages. They are both good at what they do which is a strength for the program but they
have different vision to get to the goals of the program. On a down note with that it sometimes
makes an interns position of what his or her duties are.
The strengths of the program are that the knowledge and experience are there to help
young people who are in the need of help. Young people sometimes need people to look up to
that live outside of their homes and the staff members that will be working with the youth
generally care about the well-being of children. The executive director and the site supervisor
have years of experience working with troubled youth in different settings and have implemented
programs that have been proven to make a metamorphosis within the lives of young people.
Some of the challenges that the program will face are getting a new generation of
children to buy into why their education is so important to their future. The program will also be

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faced with negative feedback from parents if their child does not complete the program. Some
parents will be looking to pass the buck on why their child did not complete the program and
usually in situations like this they expect a program to raise their child because they have lost
control of their child. If the parent does not see the program doing what they want they will lash
out in a negative manner but the curriculum will be laid out so that the parents know what the
program is for and not for.
Internship
The internship role that has been assigned has at times been challenging due to that
before mentioned communication. Common sense would tell one to do what the executive
director tells you to do but when his only at the site once or twice a week you tend to follow the
example of the site supervisor. My role at the internship so far has been to get to know the
programs operations. Because the program is just getting off the ground a lot of it is not set in
stone. The policies and procedures has not been written down or approved and the role of an
intern has not been established either. I am the first intern that has worked with the truancy
intervention program so I do not have a model placed before me. It is a gift but it has become a
curse as well.
My role with in the program so far has been to give an overview, take notes, do field
work and implement any ideas I have in the interest of the program. I have paperwork from the
previous model that came under different management that was geared more towards reducing
violence with the youth. I have also been asked to handle some technological aspects of the
program and come up with thoughts on how to organize program files and student information so
that confidentiality and other ethical issues are addressed. I will be working with the youth

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running groups and other sessions. I will also be working with the site supervisor doing task and
chores to help the implementation process of the program run smoothly. Lastly, I will continue
to keep the executive director posted on my progress with weekly updates on the affairs that are
going on. I will report meetings and enrollment of students and things that are important. I will
communicate with the executive director and the site supervisor to hopefully bridge that gap
between the two parties which I have recognized as a problem. Overall, my role is to learn as
much as I can from two leaders of a program that has a lot of promise.

References