Hartford Police Department Truancy Reduction Program

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 Hartford Police Department (HPD), in Hartford, Connecticut, proposes a Truancy Reduction Program to reduce the unacceptably high rates of truancy within the Hartford Public Schools. The project will serve 150 students each year in grades 1-5(10 elementary schools, 15 students per school) who have a record of unexcused absences. HPD will further track approximately 125 students in grades K-12 during truancy sweeps. HPD's 24-month program has the following goals: (1) Increase attendance through multiple strategies, (2) Consistently collect client data and monitor attendance, (3) Use data analysis to guide truancy reduction/attendance improvement strategies, and (4) Increase staff training in truancy reduction. The program activities include (1) tracking and intervening with truant students through home visits, including service referrals to address issues that prevent youth from attending school;(2)encouraging attendance through incentives and rewards;(3)conducting field truancy sweeps;(4) monitoring attendance and performing data analysis; and(5)improving strategies based on the quantitative and qualitative analysis of data for continuous improvement. HPD will measure progress through the number of students participating, attendance records, the numbers of excused and unexcused absences, the number of youth picked up during a truancy sweep, and the number of evidence-based strategies employed. NCA/NCF