Building Positive Futures For Boston's Middle School Truants

The OJJDP FY 10 Earmarks Program furthers the Department's mission by providing grants, cooperative agreements, and other assistance authorized by the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974, as amended, to organizations identified in the Conference Report to accompany the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2010 (P.L. 111-117), H.R. Conf. Rep. No. 111-366 at 702-714.

The Building Futures Educational Initiative is an effective partnership between Boston Urban Youth Foundation (BUYF), a community-based youth organization, Boston Public Schools (local education agency), and Boston Police Department and Court Systems. BUYF serves truant students in middle schools, with the goal of keeping these students in school until graduation. The strength of the program is a youth development approach coupled with case management by Life Success Coaches who interact daily with truant students and provide connections to the resources necessary to keep these youth in school. For this project period of one year, BUYF will serve 200 chronically truant youth from the Roxbury, Dorchester, Mattapan, and South End/Lower Roxbury neighborhoods. This grant will strengthen existing staff through various trainings and technical assistance and give BUYF the ability to hire 2 additional Life Success Coaches. Among the 200 truant youth served, BUYF will reduce truancy by 55%. NCA/NCF