2015-2016

Twenty counties applied for and received grants to support the hiring of truancy specialists (i.e., School Based Probation Officers and Truancy Social Workers).   The West Virginia Department of Education (WVDE), Office of Diversion and Transition Programs (ODTP) administered the funds and oversaw the overall project.

A series of eight webinars was conducted on a variety of topics for the funded counties from February to May 2016.  In addition to receiving information and resources, counties presented their local initiatives to combat truancy.

In June, the WVDE ODTP collected the required data in §49-5-106 from SB393.  Counties that hired Truancy Specialists reported the following:

• Total number of youth referred:  3899
• Total number of youth successfully completing the truancy diversion program:  3006
• The number of youth who are referred to the court system after failing a complete truancy diversion program:  355
• The number of youth who, after successfully completing the truancy diversion program, accumulate five or more unexcused absences in the current or subsequent school year:  140

2016-2017

Barbour, Grant, Hardy, Pendleton, Cabell, and Berkeley received funds to support a Truancy Specialist in year two.  The WVDE ODTP presented to Governor Tomblin’s staff about the expanded use of the funds to address truancy.

A webinar regarding full educational day services at the Youth Reporting Centers was held.  Brooke, Hancock, Cabell, Putnam, Kanawha, Logan, Lincoln, Wood, Greenbrier, Raleigh, Monongalia, Harrison, Jefferson and Boone counties participated to learn about a collaborative opportunity between the Local Education Agency (LEA), Division of Juvenile Services (DJS) and WVDE.  After follow-up dialogue with each school district and the development of custom Memorandum of Understandings (MOUs) supporting the implementation of high quality collaborative educational services for truant students, six counties agreed to participate:  Wood, Putnam, Lincoln, Monongalia, and Harrison. Option Pathway teachers were hired and judges were educated about which students would benefit from this program.  Most of these LEA collaborations will be operating at the start of the 2017-2018 school year.

Seven counties (Lincoln, Wood, Jefferson, Putnam, Monongalia, Harrison and Greenbrier) received tutoring grants to assist truant students.  Counties used the money in a variety of ways, such as placing a teacher in their county Youth Reporting Center, afterschool tutoring, and credit recovery.

The diversion projects in Monongalia, Harrison and Nicholas counties involving student engagement and connection to high quality mental health services have begun.  Early efforts by LEA central office teams in collaboration with WVDE have provided a framework for programming that will become the model for elementary and middle school juvenile justice diversion efforts in West Virginia.  Kanawha County added an extensive mentoring program through a collaboration with Big Brothers/Big Sisters targeting their schools with the highest truancy numbers.

Truancy specialists and County Attendance Directors attended a full day professional development.  Representatives from the courts, probation and education worked together to determine ways to assist each other, access available resources, and address common issues.

In June, the WVDE ODTP collected the required data in §49-5-106 from SB393.  Counties that hired Truancy Specialists reported the following:

• Total number of youth referred:  10143
• Total number of youth successfully completing the truancy diversion program:  8247
• The number of youth who are referred to the court system after failing a complete truancy diversion program:  788
• The number of youth who, after successfully completing the truancy diversion program, accumulate five or more unexcused absences in the current or subsequent school year:  795