__________________________________________Ask the DA
 

QUESTION: “My teenager was picked up by truancy officers, and I received a call about this from the District Attorney’s Office.  Why is the D.A.’s Office contacting me?”

My concern about the issue of truancy was first sparked in 1997 by the case of Justina Morales, an 8-year-old child brutally murdered by her mother’s boyfriend. At the time her body was discovered, she had been absent from school for over 100 days. As a result of that case, I opened up a Grand Jury investigation to learn how it was that a child could be absent from school for such an extended period and have it go virtually unnoticed by the system. What I learned was that truancy amongst New York City’s youth had reached unprecedented levels, that it was contributing in large part to youth victimization and daytime crime, and that on  any given day in Brooklyn, as many as 50,000 students were absent from school.

In 1998, I created TRACK (Truancy Reduction Alliance to Contact Kids). TRACK is a collaboration between my Office, the New York City Police Department, the NYC Board of Education and the Administration for Children’s Services. Here’s how it works: Truant students who are on the street during normal school hours are stopped by police officers. Failure on the part of the students to produce adequate identification and proof of destination (i.e., doctor’s appointment, court appearance) leads to their being taken to one of several TRACK Centers located throughout Brooklyn. There, students’ parents are notified to respond to the Center. While at the Center, Department of Education personnel verify student information and check on each student’s attendance record.  Students and parents also have the opportunity to speak with a Truancy Counselor - a trained social worker employed by my Office -  to address any problems or issues which may be causing the student to be absent from school. The Truancy Counselor then makes an assessment and if needed, refers the family for appropriate services. These services can include after-school programs and youth development/mentoring programs, as well as substance abuse and mental health services. The hope is that by intervening in this way, we can prevent the student from developing a pattern of truancy, which has been demonstrated to lead to more serious problems in the future, often including criminal behaviors.

I am proud to report that, as a result of the TRACK program, we have located 97 missing children and 257 runaways, uncovered teen prostitution rings, disrupted gang activity, and helped thousands of children return to school.

 TRACK has proven highly effective in combating truancy among older children. I also stand firmly committed to addressing the issues of truancy that impact younger children and often play a role in the tragedy of child abuse. In this country, it is every child’s right to receive an education, and it is every parent’s obligation (both moral as well as legal) to provide them with one. In the last few weeks, we all learned about the terrible case of the kidnapping of two Missouri boys. We now know that the older boy, Shawn Hornbeck, had not attended school in the 4½ years during which he was held captive. I believe that it is all of our responsibilities to alert the appropriate authorities if we believe that a child is not attending school, and I wonder if there might not have been a different outcome for Shawn if someone had thought to report his “truancy” to the proper authorities.

For more information, visit www.brooklynda.org. To have your questions answered in a future column, e-mail them to asktheda@brooklynda.org.