By Kelli Langlois
LSU NEWS SERVICE
225 388-3869 [email protected]
BATON ROUGE -- What turned into a lifetime of troubles for "B.D." began in early childhood.
His mother, a crack addict, built up a long rap sheet that included drug charges, theft, burglary and other crimes. When B.D. entered middle school, his absences from school began to grow: seven absences in sixth grade, 21 when he repeated that grade the next year, 24 in seventh grade, 35 when he repeated that grade. In eighth grade, he was absent from school 99 times. His troubles with the law started when he was arrested for selling cocaine at the age of 16. By 25, he was charged with first-degree murder.
The pattern of school absenteeism and crime in B.D.'s case is far from rare. According to Cecile Guin, director of the LSU School of Social Work's Office of Social Service Research and Development, "the link between truancy and crime couldn't be more clear." So it follows that preventing truancy early in a child's life could stop that child from eventually taking on a criminal career.
With that in mind and with the help of Guin and a team of LSU staffers, some state legislators have their sights set on making Louisiana the first state in the nation with a centralized system of tackling truancy before it becomes a problem.
Guin and her staff, in support of Senate Bill 1008, have developed a model for truancy assessment and service centers -- "one-stop shops" that pool the resources of many agencies in a community to address truancy with early intervention. At each center, agencies including schools, law enforcement, courts and social services organizations would band together to tackle the underlying problems that cause truancy -- and, it can be assumed, eventually cause criminal behavior.
Senate Bill 1008, introduced by a group of senators led by Sen. Chris Ullo, would establish a three-year pilot program for centers in seven parishes -- East Baton Rouge, Caddo, Calcasieu, Jefferson, Orleans, St. Tammany and Tangipahoa.
State officials have estimated that implementing the bill would cost the state about $2.8 million, matched by $2 million in local funds -- a small price to pay, said Guin, when one considers the costs of managing criminals in the juvenile and adult justice systems. Take B.D., for instance -- it is estimated that his involvement in the juvenile justice system will add up to a $730,000 state tab during the course of his life. Add that to $15,000 per year the state must pay for each of the other 32,000 adults in prison in our state.
"First and second grade is the time we need to intervene to stop these kids from taking these paths," Guin said. "I can't tell you how many children turned their lives around because of one teacher or one person who showed an interest in their well-being."
Under the truancy-assessment-center pilot, schools would set criteria for identifying children who may be at risk for a truancy problem, Guin said. These criteria would include not just missing school but also sleeping in class, coming to school hungry, hyperactive behavior and other concerns.
Children identified with these problems would be referred to the center for an assessment by agency representatives to trace the underlying issue -- whether it be child abuse, poverty or even severe emotional disturbance. Then, officials formulate a comprehensive, integrated treatment plan, directing the child and his or her family to the help they need. A key part of this program would include monitoring by school staff members to ensure that progress is being made and to make adjustments if needed, Guin said.
Along with state support, each community participating in the program would have to make its own investment to the center's success, Guin said. Each parish has its own unique problems and concerns surrounding truancy issues, so each had to develop its own unique program using the LSU-designed model, she said.
"They had to find what would work in their communities," Guin said. "In East Baton Rouge, that meant a lot of funding for law enforcement. Other parishes had different priorities."
Guin and her staff have spent hundreds of hours during the past year working with parish leaders on their center proposals, providing research data and assisting with budgets. Eventually, Guin expects to be called on to develop a plan for evaluating the success of the centers.
"Accountability is so important," she said. "We have to make sure each parish knows how to implement the program, has documentation showing they've done it right, and then examines the outcomes."
The bill drew an outpouring of support when it was heard before the Senate Judiciary A Committee in mid-April. Judges, district attorneys, sheriffs and school-board officials from around the state all turned out to support the legislation.
"I have visions that this could be the start to turning our society -- and our civilization -- around," Sen. Ullo said at the committee hearing. "I think that, in three years, we will have numbers to justify what we're doing."
Senate Bill 1008 was reported favorably by the judiciary committee and awaits action in the Senate Committee on Finance.
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