BROOKINGS A good education requires regular school attendance, and while most parents and students do just that, not all do for one reason or another and thats where the Brookings County Truancy Program comes into play.
The name sounds intimidating, but thats not the truancy programs purpose, Brookings County States Attorney Dan Nelson told county commissioners at their Tuesday morning meeting. Rather, he wants to shed light on how the program works, and how it can benefit those who take part in it.
As we talk about the start of school here in Brookings County for all of our different school districts, I just wanted to inform the county commissioners and the general public how our office handles truancy referrals from our school resource officers and school administrators, he said.
The program started in 2022 its designed to target students who are truant and place the responsibility back on the parents following brainstorming by Nelson and his staff on how to bring together different interests to work together for the betterment of students and their families. These interests included school resource officers, school administrators, law enforcement, mental health providers, parents, the children themselves, the states attorneys office and judges.
You have a lot of different people that are all involved in how to improve a child who is being truant, Nelson said. This was a major gap that we were trying to fill because when the Legislature reformed the juvenile laws, they just said that the most you can do is issue a $100 citation to a truant kid, and thats it.
He continued, Not on probation. Not getting any services. Just a $100 citation and tell the parent and the kid, Go to school. You think that solves the issue? You think that works? Of course not.
Nelson said it fell into his offices lap to figure out a better approach, and thus the Brookings County Truancy Program came into being, evolving and refining over the last several years.
This program has become so popular, that its sort of caught on with a lot of the other states attorneys offices as well as judges (and) probation officers around the state, Nelson said, noting that his staff including legal assistant Amy Christensen and human services assistant Amanda Becker have been asked to make presentations in other communities in the state.
Since its inception in 2022, the program has handled a total of 34 referrals from schools in Brookings and the rest of the county. Of those referrals, 12 ended with successful program completions, while 15 did not, and another seven opted out of the program usually when the parents enrolled the student in another school district or decided home schooling was a better option for the family.
Participating schools include:
- Brookings High School
- Mickelson Middle School in Brookings
- Camelot Intermediate School in Brookings
- Bobcat Plains Academy in Brookings
- Sioux Valley School District
- Deubrook Area School District
- Elkton School District
Its not easy to draw the attention of the program, which runs for a 120-day period, and its personnel. A student has to miss a minimum of 10 days of school it doesnt matter if the absence is excused or not before a referral will be made. If it gets that far, then a three-phase process unfolds:
Phase 1
- The referral is sent to Nelsons office from the school, which then reviews the referral
- The truancy program team discusses a meeting date and time
- With the meeting set, a letter is presented to the parent via a school resource officer
Phase 2
- A roundtable discussion takes place regarding obstacles and/or issues, such as mental health or lack of transportation options
- Exploration takes place on what resources are available to help
- A plan of action is first discussed and then confirmed this can include counseling, tokens for Brookings Area Transit Authority rides, alarm clocks and so on
- A truancy agreement form is discussed and signed
Phase 3
- The truancy team receives updates from the school and Brookings Behavioral Health & Wellness
- Successful or unsuccessful letters are issued, with determinations made between the school and Nelsons office
The presentation by Christensen, Becker and Nelson left an impression on commissioners.
Im amazed by this program, and thank you for the work and the effort you put into it because the kids deserve every chance they can get, Commissioner Dave Miller said. A lot of times the challenges in the home create circumstances that are out of the kids control.
He also inquired about opt outs, and if parents can just decide not to take part in the program. He learned that parents do have the choice to not participate but, if so, they could wind up facing charges, including a Class 2 misdemeanor charge of failing to send a child to school. Furthermore, he was told that sometimes the initial conversations are contentious, but the collaborative approach taken by the program has helped defuse tensions because the overall goal is to support the children and their families.
Nelson said the new approach was far better than the old one.
One of the things we were seeing under the old system, when you bring a juvenile in under a citation where they were facing that $100 fine, often the parents would come in and list out an extensive list of excuses as to why the kid wasnt going to school, he said. And so, being a prosecutor now for 13 years, after a while you hear that, and there was no accountability often expressed by the parents as to why the kid wasnt getting to school.
Nelson continued, Part of this program was, there were obviously things that were happening in the home that needed to be fixed as to why the kid wasnt getting to school. Whether that was the kid, whether that was the parent, whether it was both there wasnt enough attention being paid to sort of the holistic approach. And so this program I feel like places equal accountability on the child, the parent, but then gives them the tools and resources to try to correct what is a situation inside the home as to whats causing truancy.
He added that, Sometimes the court system looks at it as like, Well, Im going to fine you and thats going to fix everything, right? But mental health issues, transportation issues, financial issues, mental health issues on the parents side of it I mean, theres a whole host of things that are happening inside of that home thats leading to that kid not getting to school.
This program is a step in the right direction because its trying to take on all of those different things, and when you open up inside of that, you start hearing and seeing things that you never would have known otherwise, Nelson said. Is it perfect? No. But youre trying to solve something that is hard to solve.
Pointing to statistics from his office, Nelson said truancy isnt a huge problem in Brookings County and that his office is looking forward to a successful school year. Still, for those kids and families that do need help, were trying to meet them where theyre at.
Closing out discussion of the program, a simple sentiment seemed to aptly sum up the feeling in the commission chamber.
Thanks for making a difference in young peoples lives in this county, Commissioner Kelly VanderWal said. I appreciate that very much.
Contact Mondell Keck at [email protected].
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