Community Voice by Dana Kuehn Are We Failing Our Kids?

Truancy is a Community Problem Time to do the truancy intake for the week. I sit with a stack of 60 notices from Tulsa County schools reporting families that are in violation of the Compulsory Education Act. I read each report. Jerry, 8th grade, 13 absences; Julie, 9th grade, 15 absences. Then, as I read the next report, a feeling of dismay comes over me. John, kindergarten, 44 unexcused absences and 77 tardies. Now in 1st grade, 28 absences with 24 tardies so far this year. Brother Jamie, 6th grade, 22 unexcused absences in one semester. The numbers are overwhelming. The numbers tell all. What can I do, as the Chief of Juvenile Division, to help this family and others who struggle to keep their children in school? According to Oklahoma law, when a child is missing school, without valid excuse four (4) or more days or parts of days within a month or is absent without valid excuse for ten (10) or more days or parts of days within a semester, the attendance officer at the school will notify the parents asking them to comply with the law and send the child to school. If a parent fails to contact the school or the child continues to miss school after notification has been sent, the attendance officer immediately reports the absences to me as the Chief of the Juvenile Division of the District Attorney’s Office. Then, a misdemeanor is filed against the parents. Why would we have a law requiring our children to go to school? Education is the key to success for our children. As a prosecutor for almost eight years, I have seen children that have been victims of abuse become law-breakers as adults. I have seen adults who grew up without caring parents or a support system charged with crimes. Many times these neglected or abused children are found in incriminating circumstances while they should have been in school. Studies have shown that truancy, if not corrected, is the root problem of many troubled children who then become troubled adults. For children with unstable home lives, school provides not only opportunities to be involved in activities, but it also provides structure, and is a place to develop skills that they will use their entire lives. Do you remember the three basics: reading writing and arithmetic? Today, our children need these basics and much more to succeed. Whether they are home-schooled or in a public or private system, children who attend school and learn, succeed in their personal lives. Can you imagine being an adult who cannot read, write, or calculate everyday math problems? What would your future hold? Many children with excessive absences also have other problems at home, from physical abuse and exposure to drugs and alcoholism, to sexual abuse. As I thumb through the school notices, I see more troubling cases. Children who are in kindergarten who have missed 70 days; first graders who have missed all or parts of 80 days. Truancy is just the tip of the iceberg. Such severe attendance problems are warning signs for major problems in their lives. What about John and Jamie? (real names are not used in order to protect their privacy) I decide to call the school and find out more than just the number of absences that were reported on the standard notice form. I speak to the counselor. The family consists of the two brothers and their mother. The fathers are not known to the school. The school contacted the mother, and asked her to provide reasons for the absences in order to help the children attend school. The mother reported that for many of the absences she is so exhausted in the mornings, coupled with the children requesting to stay home with her, that she does not get them to school on a regular basis. On one occasion, the counselor had been to the home to talk to the mother about the attendance issues. On another occasion, a local police officer was sent to the home to check on John and Jamie as they had been gone from school without a call, and the teachers were worried about their well-being. Both children had failing scores and were retained for readiness issues due to absentee problems. The mother was convicted of a misdemeanor for violating the Compulsory Education Act and fined $110 in December, 2005. Now what do I do? By tradition, the District Attorney’s obligation is to file a misdemeanor charge against the parents who violate the Compulsory Education Act. The law was recently amended to add the possibility of probation and jail time. Prior to the amendment, a parent was only facing a minimal fine starting at five dollars! The new misdemeanor statute for truancy, effective July 1, 2006, allows for fines up to $250.00 a day after a third truancy offense. The Chief Judge of the Juvenile Bureau, Doris Fransien suggested to the legislature that the Court have the option of ordering an offending parent to complete conditions of probation which can include, “verifying attendance of the child with the school, attending meetings with school officials, taking the child to school, taking a child to the bus stop, attending school with the child and undergo drug, alcohol or other abuse evaluation and to follow the recommendations of the substance abuse evaluator.” Finally, the truancy statute will allow the courts to fine and give jail time to parents who refuse to help their children get an education, while also offering a way to first provide preventative services. When the school sends me a notice, they have recorded all absences, excused and unexcused. What am I going to do? I needed a solution. John and Jamie are very young children with serious truancy problems. A fine has already been imposed on the mother, but did nothing to change the children’s situation. Are you frustrated? There has to be a better option. Instead of a criminal charge with the fine and possible jail time for the parents, I look to the Oklahoma Children’s Code. The Children’s Code addresses the issues of deprived and delinquent children. The Children’s Code in the Oklahoma statute defines a deprived child as one “who is, due to improper parental care and guardianship…” truant from school. Deprived Petitions are filed every day in Tulsa County for serious neglect and abuse. Never before has Tulsa County worked as a team to file a deprived petition based solely on educational neglect. Because fining parents is often ineffective and doesn’t get to the real issue of problems in the home, this is the answer — deprived petitions claming that a child is educationally neglected. With the cooperation of the Department of Human Services, the Judiciary, the District Attorney’s Office and Tulsa County schools, educational neglect petitions are now a reality. Serious cases of educational neglect of very young children are identified, a Department of Human Services referral is made, and an investigation is completed with the result being a deprived petition. The children are never removed from the home if the sole allegation is educational neglect, as the program’s goal is to identify the child and the parent’s needs and then work with the family to solve problems. What happened to John and Jamie? Sandy, mother of John and Jamie, hears a knock on her door. She opens the door to find a sheriff’s deputy. He serves her with a Petition written by me declaring her children to be educationally deprived. She is then visited by an investigator from the Department of Human Services. This mother is mortified. She is not sure what is going to happen, but knows that she needs help. Often the father is not in the children’s lives. She is tired and depressed. She has no financial or emotional resources. Our new program can be the answer. “I like school, especially lunch,” Jamie tells the department investigator. Jamie and John report that their mother has to stay up late working, and does not wake up in time to take them to school. Their mother exclaims,“I have no excuse. I sleep in and don’t take them. I will do better. I’ll make sure they attend school.” Because of her desire to make her children’s lives better, Sandy has done well. She appeared in court and stipulated that her children were educationally deprived. Because of my initiative, she is now receiving services such as a mental health evaluation and treatment for depression, an in-home service to help her with the mental, emotional and physical needs of the children, parenting classes, scheduled meetings with the school, including determining what the children need to further their education, summer instruction and tutoring. The court is monitoring the progress of the children, who have not missed a day of school in three months since the filing of the petition. Jamie and John’s future is looking better every day. Although a fine and jail time may be necessary to wake-up some parents to realize an education is important to their children’s futures, other parents simply need services which will provide them with a plan to ensure their children’s education. John and Jamie needed someone to be charged, but the only option was a misdemeanor charge with a fine. Now Tulsa County has a new truancy misdemeanor statute with teeth, allowing the court to order services to support the families and compliance with the plans, as well as utilizing the statute allowing for the filing of an educationally deprived petition. What should we as citizens do about very young students with serious truancy issues? We need more services and parent involvement in schools. Make an effort to visit your child’s school and volunteer. Volunteer or donate to area services that help families, such as Family and Children Services, the Child Abuse Network, Day Springs, Tulsa Youth Center, Wrap Around Tulsa, or the Department of Human Services Shelter. Tell your Oklahoma senator or house representative to focus on funding the services and the court that help our children. “I’m glad that someone is helping us, and that my children are going to school,” said Sandy. “The State taking the initiative to help me has given me the help to further my children’s future through giving them an education.” I know John and Jamie are happy, not only to be eating those tasty school lunches, but to be in school and learning. This program works. (editor’s note: John, Jamie and Sandy’s names have been changed to protect their privacy.) Author bio: Dana Kuehn lives in Jenks with her husband Patrick and her four sons Christopher, Carter, Zachary and Nicholas. She has been practicing law for 10 years and is currently the Chief of the Juvenile Division at the Tulsa County District Attorney’s Office. Dana is running for Tulsa County Associate District Judge on November 7, 2006. Sidebar1: What Parents Can Do: 1. Make sure you always contact your child’s school to report an absence. 2. Whether or not an absence is excused or unexcused is up to the school. Always ask for an update of your child’s attendance if you are concerned. 3. Remember that the school wants to help your child receive an education. The school has resources to help with transportation problems, learning disabilities, counseling needs, and other problems. ALWAYS TALK TO THE SCHOOL COUNSELORS AND YOUR CHILD’S TEACHER. 4. The more involved you are in your child’s school, class, and activities, the more you will know about your child. You will learn who your children’s friends are and have better communication with their teachers. 5. Make sure that you teach your child the importance of time management by having reading agendas at home, setting goals, and creating a time management plan to meet them. What You Should Know About Tardies and Absences How many times have you called the school to report your child is ill and will not be in school? Did you realize that most schools view that call as an unexcused absence? The misdemeanor truancy statute defines an excused absence, and illness is not an excused absence unless the principal or agent of the school officially excuses the student. Do you need to get a note for the school every time your child is ill? No. I would suggest the following if you have a child with a serious illness or other reason for multiple absences: Call the school that morning and report the excuse for your child’s absence. Monitor how often your child is out of school. Ask your teacher if attendance maybe an issue for your family. Look on your child’s report card. It will reflect absences and tardies per semester. Talk to your children about tardies. Help them solve any issues that are making them tardy. Ask the teacher what work will be missed and if your child can work on the projects and homework at home. Talk to your doctor. Ask if the child can have medication at school so that your child is not falling behind due to an illness. Have the Doctor write a note to the school in detail explaining the illness, the time required away from school or how the medication should be dispensed by the school nurse. Make doctor and dentist appointments after school hours or during lunch time. Talk to your school officials. Do not wait until they are questioning your child’s attendance.