Report says child protective services not equipped to deal with truancy

On October 25, the New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) released “Getting Teenagers Back to School: Rethinking New York State’s Response to Chronic Absence,” a policy brief researched and written for the agency by the Vera Institute of Justice in partnership with Casey Family Programs.

This policy brief proposes that the state develop a new non-punitive approach to teenage absenteeism that is rooted in research on adolescent behavior and school engagement. The brief found that the child protective system—the network of state and local agencies that handle allegations of child abuse and neglect—is not well equipped to help teenagers improve their school attendance. At times, it can make matters worse.

OCFS Commissioner Gladys Carrión said, “The report shows that the majority of allegations of educational neglect in NYS are made on families with teenagers who are chronically absent from school, or truant. The data also indicates that these youth present as “very low” on the scales that measure risk for child abuse or maltreatment. The Child Protective system should not be the point of entry for a family in need of assistance in reengaging their adolescent with the educational system. We seldom have the tools to offer meaningful help.”

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http://www.examiner.com/cps-and-family-court-in-albany/report-says-child-protective-services-not-equipped-to-deal-with-truancy