Truancy has long-term economic consequences for families and communities. State aid is often distributed to school districts based on their average daily attendance. In Detroit, truancy affects the school district’s bottom line. • According to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, (OJJDP), it costs upwards of $200,000 per high school dropout, over a lifetime, in excess criminal justice, social service and health care costs. • According to the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC), it costs approximately $30,000 per year to incarcerate a juvenile, while it costs about $8,000 per year to educate a child in most school districts. The National Dropout Prevention Center recommends the following strategies to prevent truancy and eventual dropout: • Attendance policies that promote attendance, rather than punish absence, especially through expulsion. • Early intervention programs identify students that have started skipping school before it reaches the level of habitual truancy. Can apply to elementary, middle and high schools. • Alternatives to adjudication for truancy: peer mediation, truancy prevention mediation. • Court based truancy reduction programs that provide services to families and youth as prevention but acknowledging that if truancy continues, adjudication is a possibility.

1. DR 7890
Truancy: Prevention, Resolution &
Containment
Presented by: Peggy K. Goodwin
April 19, 2011

2. About Truancy
• Truants are juveniles willfully and repeatedly absent from
school, or juveniles who repeatedly violate the rules and
regulations of the school. Individual school districts set their
own standards for truancy.
• In Detroit, ten or more unexcused absences are referred for
“exclusionary discipline.”
• Other districts address truancy at three or four unexcused
absences.
• Truancy is a status offense, meaning it is an offense that is
harmful to a minor. My question…are they victims or offenders?
• Truancy is often a sign of other negative behaviors affecting
the youth.

3. Why Truancy?
One of the most direct indicators of delinquency
78% of inmates have “truancy” listed as their first arrest
57% of violent crimes by juveniles occur when they should
be in school
67% of truants test positive for drugs/alcohol when detained
82% of prisoners are high school dropouts
(Original study U.S. Department of Justice, Juvenile Crime Statistics – 1996)

4. Economic Costs of Truancy
Truancy has long-term economic consequences for families and communities. State aid is often
distributed to school districts based on their average daily attendance. In Detroit, truancy affects
the school district’s bottom line.
•According to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, (OJJDP), it costs upwards of
$200,000 per high school dropout, over a lifetime, in excess criminal justice, social service and
health care costs.
•According to the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC), it costs approximately $30,000 per
year to incarcerate a juvenile, while it costs about $8,000 per year to educate a child in most school
districts.
The National Dropout Prevention Center recommends the following strategies to prevent truancy
and eventual dropout:
•Attendance policies that promote attendance, rather than punish absence, especially through
expulsion.
•Early intervention programs identify students that have started skipping school before it reaches
the level of habitual truancy. Can apply to elementary, middle and high schools.
•Alternatives to adjudication for truancy: peer mediation, truancy prevention mediation.
•Court based truancy reduction programs that provide services to families and youth as prevention
but acknowledging that if truancy continues, adjudication is a possibility.

5. Youth Violence: A Multilayer
Problem
Family
Society
•Lack of Parenting
•Inconsistent/Inappropriate
Discipline
•Substance Abuse/Alcoholism
•Access to Guns
•Exposure to Violent Entertainment
•Moral Decline
Youth Violence
Individual
•Inadequate Social Skills
•Substance Abuse
•Aggressive Tendencies
School Culture
•Intolerance of Differences
•Insufficient policies, procedures
and training to address conflict
Barton, Elizabeth. Leadership Strategies for Safe Schools. Corwin Sage Company . 2009. Pg. 14

6. Ury’s Roles & Mayer’s Thesis
Mayer’s Assertions about Problems in “Conflict Management ”
• We overidentify our work with that of third-party neutrals, pg. 29
•
Constructive Communication is more important than passionate advocacy,
pg. 129
• Respect Trumps Anger, pg. 133
Ury’s Assertions about what is Needed along the Conflict Continuum:
• Engaging the “Third Side”, which Ury says, is the “emergent will of the
community.” pg. 14
• “Contain if necessary, resolve if possible, best of all prevent.” pg. 113

7. Ury’s “Witness” Example, Pg. 171:
Thomas McIlvane and the 1991 Royal Oak Post Office Shooting
My Question:
Could in-school ADR programs have helped someone like Thomas
McIlvane?
• Could ADR have helped Thomas McIlvane while a student at Berkley High School?
• He was in a small gang called “The Rats.”
• Exhibited problems with anger and truancy in school.
• Ury references several witnesses to McIlvane’s anger and threats from the post office.
• McIlvane shot six, four fatally, and killed himself.
• Witnesses to his anger began long before he worked at the post office, but were illequipped to intervene, it seems, anywhere along the way.
• We all play a role as witnesses.
• Anger does need to be addressed (Mayer pg. 133)

8. Define “Safe Schools”
Elizabeth Barton provides indicators for a safe school, including:
A Safe School Team
Administration Commitment
• Parents, Student, Juvenile Justice, Law Enforcement,
Social Worker, Mental Health Specialist,
Community/Faith Based Leader, School Board member
and After School Program Managers.
• Commits resources to plan and implement strategies.
Include research and communication with community.
Comprehensive student
programming
• Programs and Curriculum to prevent and reduce
violence and aggressive behaviors .
Cleanliness
• Both inside and outside the school should be kept clean
and organized
High Academic Standards
• Environment should reflect a culture of learning.
Partnerships with the Community • Residents, Non-Profits, Faith-Based and Businesses.
Barton, Elizabeth. Leadership Strategies for Safe Schools, 2009.
Pg. 8-11

9. A look at Safe School Roles
Planning for safe schools presents a variety of “System Roles,”
Mayer, pg. 243, describes such roles as ombudsperson, process
designer and program evaluator.
A comprehensive plan should include Ury’s concept of conflict
prevention, resolution and containment.
Participation in the plan creates opportunities for Ury’s roles of
teacher, provider, bridge-builder and implementation will involve
mediators, witnesses and peacekeepers. Pg. 190
My addition – creating an interdisciplinary role of “school safety
coordinator,” may be a perfect role for MADR students. A true
conflict engagement specialist working in a systems role.

10. ADR Programs Reviewed
1.Peer Mediation: Elizabeth Barton’s Overview
2.Truancy Prevention Through Mediation (TPTM): A look at
Ohio’s Commitment to this program
3.Restorative Practices: An Urban School in Pennsylvania
Transformed
4.My Advocacy for Detroit: What are we doing?

11. Elizabeth Barton also Recommends Curriculum and Programs
•Character Development Education in School
Curricula
•Conflict Resolution Education as Curricula –
including anger management.
:

12. Peer Mediation Empowers Youth
•Peer Mediation has as its foundation social learning theory – individuals mimic behaviors that they
see.
•Children follow actions, not words – applies here.
•Behaviors observed are internalized; if viewed beneficial, can be spontaneously produced as ways to
deal with disputes in the future. (constructive or destructive behaviors).
•Peer mediators are models of constructive conflict resolution who assist peers in the process of
resolving conflicts.
•Successful peer mediation programs take a great deal of time and have the commitment of school
administrators, teachers, parents and students.
•Need for at least one coordinator for the program; and 2 trained peer mediators for every 40 students.
•Training peer mediators is a three day process.
•Peer mediators are selected for their commitment to the concept, willingness to participate in the
program, leadership skills, permission from parents, and understanding of confidentiality.
• San Francisco Community Board has been implementing peer mediation programs since 1982.
According to Civic Practice Network of California, evaluations of peer mediation programs suggest a
37% decrease in disciplinary infractions. The peer mediators themselves develop leadership skills,
improved self-esteem and academic achievement, as well as reduced recidivism rates.
Barton, Elizabeth. Leadership Strategies for Safe Schools. 2009. Pg. 95-113

13. Truancy Prevention Through Mediation
•Ohio is the forerunner in using TPTM
•The Ohio Commission on Dispute Resolution and Conflict Management was
established by the legislature in 1989
•Mediator facilitates discussion with student, parent/guardian and school
official. Agreement rate is very high at 86%.
•During the 2004-2005 school year, students who were mediated were absent,
on average, 13.41 days before the mediation and were absent 7.21 days after
the mediation.
Ohio Commission on Dispute Resolution and Conflict Management, 2005

14. Truancy Prevention Through Mediation
•The root cause of absences can often be addressed because of
confidentiality.
•Referrals are made to help the student and parent/guardian overcome
obstacles that may be preventing them from getting to, and staying in, school.
•The truant youth and parent are empowered as they are part of their
agreement with the school.
•Reduces burden on court and keeps youth out of punitive juvenile justice
system
Ohio Commission on Dispute Resolution and Conflict Management

15. Top Reasons for Truancy: Ohio K-12
Student Illness
Not Getting Up on Time
Transportation
Problems
Did not feel need to
attend
Poor Parenting Skills
Parent didn't know
child absent
Parent Employment
Interfered
Student Mental Health
Issues
Source: Ohio Commission on Dispute Resolution and Conflict Management State Overview 2005

16. Truancy Prevention Program
Integrated into Marion, Ohio
Reported Graduation Rates in Marion, Ohio: 90-97%

17. Restorative Practices: “Changing the Culture of Disrespect”
•Has as its foundation Restorative Justice and Victim Offender Mediation.
•Considered a “social science,” Restorative Practices is an emerging field of study.
•Hypothesis: Human beings are happier, more cooperative and productive, and more
likely to make positive changes in their behavior when those in positions of authority do
things with them, not to them or for them.
•It is the science of building social capital and achieving social discipline through
participatory learning and decision making…giving people a voice.
•In Restorative Circles, teachers participate with students and others in restoring and
building relationships. Emotions are expressed in a safe, facilitated environment, and the
goal is to minimize the negative and maximize the positive, but allow for free expression.
•Donald Nathanson developed the “Compass of Shame,” (see illustration next
frame), and explains that shame is a critical regulator of human social behavior.
Shame results in negative behavior, depicted on the four poles of the compass.
•Victims of abuse, crime, neglect, etc. often feel shame, even though they did not
commit the “shameful” act.
Nathanson, Donald (1997) Affect Theory and the Compass of Shame; International Institute of Restorative Practice, Bethlehem, PA.

18. Donald Nathanson, “Compass of Shame,” 1992

19. West Philadelphia: A High School
Transformed

20. Detroit: Is ADR Needed? Is it Being Applied?
How?
• As far as schools go, interviews with Detroit Public Schools officials resulted in discovering that
essentially, implementation of conflict resolution education and programs is left up to each school.
• Recent reported graduation rates in Detroit range from 30% to 62%.
• During the 2009-2010 school year, there were 29,000 incidents of expulsions and suspensions, in
a district of about 80,000 students. That same year, there were more than 12,000 juvenile arrests in
Detroit, according to Detroit Police Department.
• An article in the March 3, 2011 edition of the Detroit Free Press noted that a typical Detroit High
School Student missed 46 days of instruction during the 2009-2010 school year. And, reported that
65% of Cody High School students skip school on a regular basis.
DPS Attendance Office Reports:
• Civilian Patrols are active and consistent in Osborn High School, Brenda Scott Middle School.
• Restorative Practices have been applied to at least one high school.
• Truancy Prevention through Mediation is active in “some” of the district’s 146 schools.
Detroit Public Schools Office of Code of Conduct and Attendance Office 2011; Detroit Free Press, March 3, 2011

21. The Need: A Detroit Elementary School
How Many Know Someone Who Has Been
Shot? Or Killed?
Prevention

22. The Third Side: M.A.D.E. Men
Made Men are providers of safety, bridge builders, witnesses and peacekeepers.

23. Introducing Operation Safe Passage: A Pilot Program in Northwest Detroit
OSP goal is to reduce truancy and increase high school
graduation. One objective is to replace “Exclusionary
Discipline” with productive activities.
Community is Key: Unlikely
Partners
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24. “Go On Patrol” Ury, The Third Side pg. 173
Detroit Officials Rounding Up Truants - Video WDIV Detroit.mht

25. Detroit Public Schools promotes “I’m In,”
But too many are, in fact, “out”
Operation Safe
Passage

26. Thank you! Questions & Comments
PUBLIC SAFETY
ADVISOR