Prosecution of persistent truants getting results
12 April 2005 Media Statement
Prosecution of persistent
truants getting results
A South Auckland trial of a streamlined process to prosecute parents who condone the truancy of their children is having encouraging results, says Associate Education Minister David Benson-Pope.
Mr Benson-Pope says the trial began late in 2004 and is being jointly undertaken with a Crown Solicitor's Office. The trial simplifies the prosecutions process for non-attendance by providing schools and District Truancy Services with a template, which records all the evidential paperwork necessary for a prosecution to go to court.
"When the paperwork is streamlined in this way, the matter can be referred directly to the Crown Solicitor and heard in the Manukau District Court within two to three weeks," he says.
A total of eight cases have been heard in the District Court so far. Outcomes have been, conviction resulting in fines, and convictions with sentencing deferred to allow for improved attendance at school.
However, Mr Benson-Pope says the greatest success has been in the number of cases that have not proceeded to court because of improved attendance following the commencement of the process. Of the initial 30 students whose attendance was being monitored as part of a trial, over half (16) have shown a significant improvement in attendance following a prosecutions warning letter being sent to parents.
"Bearing in mind that all these cases involved chronic truancy and had previously involved considerable efforts by schools and attendance officers to get these students back into school, this is a very significant result.
"While it is still too early to tell, the initial evidence from the trial suggests that, when used appropriately, prosecution can help to reverse patterns of chronic truancy and re-engage students in learning. The cases which have been heard so far also suggest that prosecution is a relatively cheap intervention option, with the average cost of hearings being between $300 and $500."
The prosecutions project is part of a four-year $8.6million programme announced in October 2003 to support student engagement in schools through a suite of initiatives known as the Student Engagement Initiative (SEI).
Fact sheet: Truancy initiatives
The government funds 42 separate programmes and spends over $650 million a year providing additional support for at-risk students to succeed in education.
Truancy and Engagement Initiatives
- The
Suspension Reduction Initiative (SRI) is a targeted
programme for schools with relatively high rates of
suspension to reduce exclusion and suspension.
- The
Student Engagement Initiative (SEI) is a recent expansion of
the SRI to a package of initiatives with a focus on ensuring
engagement in education. The SEI includes:
- a review of
District Truancy Services (DTS) to ensure that the system is
appropriately structured to help schools manage truancy, and
that the funding for DTS is allocated proportionate to
need
- the development and pilot of a streamlined truancy
prosecution process for parents who support or condone their
children’s non-attendance
- early notification of absence
and truancy through text message and e-mail
- a new
student management system for tracking re-enrolment of
students
- further research into barriers to learning
and engagement
Interagency Work
- Full Service
Education is an interagency pilot for the provision of
social, health and education services to at-risk
students.
- The Youth Offending Strategy is an
interagency initiative, which includes the development of
teams to support youth offenders in learning and the
provision of specialised educational needs assessments for
youth offenders.
- Successful Youth Transitions provides
pathways to employment and further learning for
post-compulsory students (16-19 year olds) through school-
and workplace-based programmes such as Gateway and
STAR.
Alternative Pathways
- The government funds
Alternative Education providers, Activity Centres, and Teen
Parent Units to provide alternative learning settings and
courses for students that are disengaged or alienated from
mainstream schools.
- The Correspondence School provides
distance learning opportunities for students that have
disengaged or been excluded from school.
Specialised
Support
- Behaviour Support Teams support positive
participation by students with severe behavioural problems.
Their role encompasses both crisis management and one-on-one
support to decrease inappropriate behaviour.
- Social
Workers in Schools, administered by CYF, provides social
workers that work closely with primary schools and other
health and education professionals in the community.
ENDS