BREAKING THE CYCLE OF TRUANCY

BREAKING THE CYCLE OF TRUANCY

Truancy is more than a disciplinary issue; it's often a symptom of deeper challenges, especially for students with mental health disabilities like adjustment disorder with school phobia. Criminalizing absenteeism without understanding its root causes perpetuates injustice and harm. There is a transformative potential in addressing truancy through the lens of social justice, mental health, and disability advocacy by focusing on how the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and Child Find regulations offer a pathway to identify and meet the educational needs of these students.

A HIDDEN EPIDEMIC

How Schools Actively Ignore Mental Health in Truancy Cases

There are alarming statistics and overlooked prevalence of mental health issues like anxiety with adjustment disorder or school phobia among truant students.

Schools often fall short in their responsibility to identify underlying disabilities or mental health issues that contribute to truancy, particularly in cases like adjustment disorder with school phobia. Instead of recognizing these as signals of deeper struggles, they often blame the child for their anxiety, labeling them as simply unmotivated or disruptive.  

This failure to acknowledge and address mental health needs leads to a harmful cycle where students are pushed out of the educational system and into the criminal justice system. By neglecting to provide mental health and trauma-informed related services and specially designed instruction under IDEA, schools not only deny these students the support they require but also contribute to increased dropout rates. Truancy, rather than being seen as a symptom of unmet needs, becomes an administrative convenience to save costs, leaving these vulnerable children without the care and interventions essential for their well-being and academic success.

ARE TRUANCY INTERVENTIONS NEGLECT?

The Cost of Ignoring Mental Health in Education

 The consequences of failing to provide related services and specially designed instruction, as mandated by IDEA, and how this perpetuates a damaging cycle of academic disengagement and punitive measures.

PREVALENCE AND IMPACT

Heads In The Sand

 Truancy rates vary across studies, but they consistently show an increase during the junior high and high school years. Excessive absenteeism not only affects school funding but also correlates with academic failure, delinquent behavior, school dropout rates, and poor adult outcomes. Long-term consequences of truancy can lead to lower job prospects, unstable employment histories, antisocial behaviors, and criminal convictions.

The systemic failure of schools to adequately identify and address underlying disabilities or mental health issues contributing to truancy contributes to this horrific school to prison pipeline. One particularly troubling aspect is the tendency to overlook conditions like anxiety with adjustment disorder / school phobia, which affects a notable percentage of students. According to recent studies, approximately 3-5% of school-aged children experience adjustment disorders, with a significant portion of these cases manifesting as school-related anxiety or phobia and truancy behavior. However, despite these statistics, many educational institutions persist in attributing truancy solely to behavioral issues of lack of motivation or poor parenting. They neglect the complex interplay between mental health and academic engagement that special education advocates deal with every day.

The ignoring of these facts harms individual students and contributes to broader educational challenges. Research indicates that students with untreated mental health conditions, such as adjustment disorders, are at a higher risk of academic underachievement, disciplinary problems, and ultimately, dropout. Dropout rates among students with untreated mental health disorders are estimated to be as high as 50%, compared to the national average of approximately 15%. This disparity underscores the critical importance of early identification and intervention in addressing mental health barriers to educational success.

The failure to provide related services and specially designed instruction as mandated by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) exacerbates these challenges. Despite the legal framework stipulating the provision of appropriate support for students with disabilities, including mental health disorders, many schools fail to implement comprehensive and effective mental health or trauma-informed interventions. This gap not only violates the rights of these students but also perpetuates a cycle of academic disengagement, punitive measures, and disconnection from the educational system.

WHEN YOU SEE SOMETHING. THAT

IS NOT RIGHT

NOT FAIR

NOT JUST

YOU HAVE TO SPEAK UP

YOU HAVE TO SAY SOMETHING

YOU HAVE TO DO SOMETHING

OR YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM.

 Tragically, truancy is often utilized as an administrative convenience consciously and unconsciously. I am not talking about just in resource-constrained school environments, where the focus is on minimizing costs rather than addressing the root causes of a student’s disengagement. This shortsighted approach not only denies students access to crucial mental health services but also contributes to the disproportionate representation of individuals with untreated mental health conditions in the juvenile justice system. Studies clearly document that a significant percentage of youth in the justice system have histories of truancy, dyslexia, and anxiety. This only highlights the intersection between untreated mental health needs, educational neglect, and involvement in the criminal justice system.

DUH!!!!

The failure of schools to proactively identify and address disabilities or mental health conditions contributing to truancy not only undermines individual student’s physical and mental well-being as well as their academic success but also perpetuates broader societal challenges, including increased dropout rates and involvement in the justice system. Addressing these issues requires a paradigm shift towards comprehensive mental health support, adherence to IDEA regulations, and recognition that truancy is often a symptom of unmet educational and mental health needs rather than just a juvenile justice issue or a mere administrative inconvenience.

We need you to be part of the conversation that shapes a brighter future for all students. The following lays out the article  "REDEFINING TRUANCY PREVENTION AND FAILURE" by DR. MARIE LEWIS, PHD, BCEA to be published over the next six blogs.

  1.  BREAKING THE CYCLE OF TRUANCY

A HIDDEN EPIDEMIC

ARE TRUANCY INTERVENTIONS NEGLECT?

PREVALENCE AND IMPACT

HEADS IN THE SAND

Coming UP IN The Next Blog 

2.  THOSE NOT DOING THEIR JOBS

HISTORY OF TRUANCY LAWS

SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGISTS

SCHOOL SOCIAL WORKERS

EMPOWERING PARENTS

CROSS-TRAINING SPECIAL EDUCATION ADVOCATES

3.  DEFINING TRUANCY VS SCHOOL AVERSION / SCOLIONOPHOBIA

SYSTEMIC CHAOS

DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS CRITERIA FOR SCHOOL REFUSAL AND TRUANCY

DEFINING TRUANCY

TRUANCY RISK FACTORS

DEFINING SCHOOL AVERSION

SCHOOL REFUSAL RISK FACTORS

4.  TRUANCY INTERVENTIONS

A COMPREHENSIVE MODEL OF INEFFECTIVENESS

RESEARCH BASED INTERVENTIONS

INAPPROPRIATE USE OF TOOLS

ASSESSMENT TOOLS

SECONDARY INTERVENTIONS

TERTIARY PREVENTION INTERVENTIONS

MULTILEVEL INTERVENTION

5.  PREVENTION of SCHOOL REFUSAL AND TRUANCY

IMPLEMENTATION ISUES AND ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE NEEDED

PREVENTION IMPLEMENTATION PREPARATION

NAVIGATING SPECIAL EDUCATION ADVOCACY AND TRUANCY ADVOCACY

FACING THE UNCOMFORTABLE TRUTH

BUILDING A FUTURE OF EQUITY MEANS DISMANTLING BARRIERS

6.  WHAT SHOULD A PARENT DO WHEN SCHOOL REFUSAL OR TRUANCY RAISES ITS UGLY HEAD?

NSEAI's online courses efficiently lead parents and professionals to an expert level of education advocacy in just 12 days of on-demand courses that you can do at your convenience.

OUR CHILDREN DO NOT HAVE TIME TO WASTE.

LEARN TO DEVELOP A CHILD FOCUSED IEP CORRECTLY FROM THE START 

WE TEACH HOW TO GO FROM

LEGALLY SUFFICIENT  TO HIGHLY EFFECTIVE IEPs

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AUTHOR

Marie Lewis is an author, consultant, and national speaker on best practices in education advocacy. She is a parent of 3 children and a Disability Case Manager, Board Certified Education Advocate, and Behavior Specialist Consultant. She has assisted in the development of thousands of IEPs nationally and consults on developing appropriately individualized IEPs that are outcome-based vs legally sufficient. She brings a great depth of expertise, practical experience, and compassion to her work as well as expert insight, vision, and systemic thinking. She is passionate and funny and she always inspires and informs.