Truancy court to receive more money

David Kihara

Friday, Jan. 21, 2005 | 8:56 a.m.

Family Court judges have approved spending about twice as much money as in previous years on a project aimed at stopping truancy of middle school students.

At the monthly meeting of Family Court judges last week, they unanimously authorized $109,000 for the truancy diversionary project.

"In the courts, we do so many things after the fact, and this is a program that is (preventive) that gets the students reintegrated into the school setting," said Family Court Judge Gerald Hardcastle said.

The project involves nine judges and attorneys who serve in judicial roles. Each quarter they meet with 200-plus students with a history of ditching classes. The program involves 25 to 30 students from each of the nine Clark County middle schools with the worst truancy problems.

More schools want to participate and that's one of the main reasons the judges increased the funding, Hardcastle said.

The judges preside over mock hearings where each student's attendance problems and other school-related issues are hashed out in front the other students participating in the program.

The judges and the lawyers who work with the program, wearing judicial robes, meet with the students once a week for 10 to 12 weeks. The judges and the lawyers volunteer their time, Hardcastle said.

The 2 1/2-year-old program is his brainchild. It previously received about $55,000 per year from a the district court's discretionary fund, Hardcastle said.

The increased funding approved Friday will expand the program by providing money for three additional "family advocates." Currently there are two family advocates.

The family advocates go to the homes of students with attendance problems and identify problems that may prevent the student from attending school, such as babysitting duties or possible domestic violence issues.

The aim of the project is to reduce the number of students who wind up in truancy court. The Family Court and the Clark County School District run a truancy court for students up to the age of 16 who have attendance problems. The truancy court judge can levy fines or order community service for students who are brought before the court.

The school district refers the names of students with three or more unexcused absences to police, who can cite the students and order them to appear before the truancy judge.

The truancy diversionary project works with students with 10 unexcused absences to try to stem the behavior, Hardcastle said.

"Truancy is like an addiction," Hardcastle said.

The diversionary project focuses on middle school students because the project wouldn't be as effective with high schoolers, Hardcastle said. Those older students are often more influenced by their peers than by adults, he said.

The program has been so successful that more middle schools in Clark County want to be involved in the program, said John Schleifer, director of the school district's department of pupil personnel services. He could not say how many schools are looking to participate in the program.

"Anything we can do to improve student's attendance is a good," Schleofer said. "We're trying to get in touch with the apathetic students, because apathy is much more difficult to deal with than basic behavior problems."

He said the program helps because it offers students who are feeling disenfranchised with school incentives and attention -- two things that often motivate students to begin attending classes.

Nevada ranked 49th in the nation for high school completion and 49th-worst in the nation for high school dropout rates, according to the Children's Advocacy Alliance, a nonprofit group that studies youth issues.