Truancy Prevention Intervention Program

The Community Empowerment Association (CEA), Inc. will implement its Truancy Prevention Intervention Program which seeks to increase the school attachment of students who are disassociated, alienated, under-motivated, and labeled as attention deficit/hyperactive delinquents with behavior disorders and help them overcome personal and family impediments to school attendance. The CEA will build life skills for adolescents and at-risk youth between the ages of 7 and 21 years, residing in out-of-home care, enrolled in an Independent Living Program (ILP), under court jurisdiction, who are at-risk of failing school subjects or have been truant or expelled. Intervention and diversion skill-building activities will include self-discipline, personal responsibility, self-awareness, impulse control, school management skills, study skills, test-taking skills, problem-solving and conflict resolution. Volunteer mentors will be recruited to support participants and provide tutorial assistance. Through this effort 100 youth/families will be targeted during the academic year to receive a minimum of 833 service/contact hours. During the summer, 240 contact/service hours with 125 youth/families are planned over a six-week period focusing on prevention capacity building skills.

The CEA will perform an intake assessment of all referred students/families. Data will be collected following a parent release of information to analyze individual , family, school and community risk and protective indicators for each participant. Customized case plans and continuum of care services will be developed for each participant and monitored by project staff. Process and outcome data will be collected. NCA/NCF