In Florida, a student is considered truant if they accumulate 15 or more unexcused absences within a 90-calendar-day period.
A bill making its way through the Florida legislature aims to tackle truancy by putting more emphasis on parent engagement and school prevention in fixing statewide truancy. The bill passed its first committee Thursday in the Florida House.
Under the proposed legislation, parents would be encouraged to attend truancy meetings, even if it’s over the phone or virtually. If they can’t make it, the school has to send notes.
If the recommendations from the meeting don’t resolve a child’s truancy, the team can refer the family for voluntary services from the Department of Juvenile Justice or talk about school scholarships with the child if the child is absent due to bullying or other concerns.
Schools would be required to have truancy prevention programs in place.
Ocoee Democratic State House Representative LaVon Bracy Davis co-sponsored the bill. As a former senior attorney for the Florida Department of Children and Families, she said it’s crucial that the state is catching kids who are struggling early, before they end up in truancy court.
"I have sat in courtrooms where a child's future hinges on whether the right intervention was made in time. I have seen parents struggling, desperate to find help, but trapped in bureaucratic tape, and I have seen what happens when we wait too long, when an action leads a child down a path that could have been avoided with the right support,” said Bracy Davis.
Republican State House Representative Fiona McFarland voted to approve the bill, which has bipartisan support in both chambers of the legislature.
She echoed Bracy Davis and said it’s crucial for parents to be looped into what’s happening with a child who is truant, before there are consequences for that child and their family.
“Without your bill, that whole process of remediation and figuring out what's happening to the kid could happen with the absence of a parent. You have modern language in here about allowing the parent to appear virtually or over the phone. Supports for parents are in here as well, so I really appreciate and applaud you baking the family into this process,” said McFarland.
The bill would also require schools to update the state on a quarterly basis on the number of students at risk of truancy and confirm each student has a remediation plan in place.
If a school does not have a remediation plan in place for a student, it must submit one to the district and follow up within 90 days to show a student is being supported in this way.
The district school board must verify each school’s report to the state for compliance with this bill. Any school found in noncompliance must submit a remediation plan to the school board within 30 days.
Finally, truancy court would only be allowed to hear orders related to truancy, and must review each student’s case every 45 days to determine whether a student’s attendance is improving or if other services should be provided to a student or family. The court retains jurisdiction over the child for 180 days.
The bill entitled “Juvenile Justice,” doesn’t just concern itself with truancy though. It also makes clearer the different services that are available to young people who are truant, runaways, and children who are considered beyond the control of their parents.
Here’s what else the 138-page bill does for young people in the state:
- A child who has been given a citation for being delinquent or is already considered delinquent can receive voluntary family services
- A child whose parent or guardian is being investigated on allegations of abuse, neglect or abandonment, is also eligible for voluntary family services
- Services provided by the Florida Department of Children and Families would need to include career development and addiction treatment as needed
- If a child is placed in a temporary shelter, the child must be provided 24-hour care and supervision and access to education and counseling
- If the child ran away from home and is placed in a shelter, the shelter must try to make contact with a parent or guardian. If contact can’t be made within 24 hours, the Department of Children and Families will assume custody of the child
- A child must be represented by an attorney at every court appearance during contempt of court or child in need of services proceedings
- The court must appoint counsel for a child who is considered indigent
- A parent or guardian must be invited to be on a child’s case team to determine whether any family or community services have been provided at home
- Status offenders are banned from being placed into a shelter or facility intended for young people
- Courts cannot place a child in a shelter for more than 90 days and must review whether a shelter placement is still needed after 45 days
- The Department of Juvenile Justice must ensure a court that a shelter has enough beds before placing a child in that facility
- Pharmacists or wholesalers would be allowed to import prescription drugs from Canada for use in juvenile detention facilities
A companion bill is in its first committee in the Florida Senate.
Read the full bill here:
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