Describes nation-wide truancy prevention programs being conducted and details the effectiveness of the three major intervention approaches: school-based, community-based, and court-based (or law enforcement-based). School-based approaches are most successful when the school develops a climate which promotes attendance that includes: a clear attendance policy, student rewards for attendance, assignment of a truancy officer (in serious cases), and connection with the families of the truants. This approach appears to be most effective before 10th grade. Multi-systemic community-based programs utilize a collaborative approach (social worker, economic assistance worker, psychologist, and public health worker) to work with a community-based coordinator in order to reduce truancy for extremely high-risk children. Short-term family counseling for truants in grades K-8 also shows promise for improving attendance. The court-based truancy prevention programs vary from placing economic sanctions on the family and student prosecution to the use of probation officers and court-appearance delays to provide personal support. The results of these approaches vary and are highly dependent on the personal skills of the probation officers and vigilance of the schools involved. A summary section divides the truancy prevention programs into categories that have been “shown to work,” those with “insufficient evidence,” and those programs shown “not to work.”
