OSCODA COUNTY Ending The School to Prison Pipeline

Objectives O Reduce truancy O Increase graduation rates

Uniform Truancy Protocol O Prosecutor, court, DHS, and ISD partnered to create an Oscoda County Truancy Protocol. O As a result of the partnership both county schools adopted a uniform truancy policy effective with the school year. O The uniform truancy policy enables a single, consistent, county wide truancy protocol.

Attendance Support O With cooperation of both county schools, the court established a 5-D Truancy Prevention Program to identify and respond to chronic absenteeism and potential truancy before the uniform truancy policy definition is met and a petition requested. O The 5-D Truancy Prevention Program will work with a student and family following referral from the school. O The program is designed to identify and overcome barriers that prevent attendance in order to return the student to regular, consistent school attendance as soon as possible.

GOALS – Implement Restorative Programs The court will implement a 5-D Diversion Program that will divert a student with a truancy petition into a program that consists of the following: O Phase 1: Leadership Development & Guidance O Phase 2: Family Intervention- (Communication) Conflict Resolution O Phase 3: Re-entry (Mentoring, Tutoring, and Life Skills)

Time Frame and Plan for 5-D Diversion Program O Time Frame 1-3 months O Resources – Positive Action- recommended by the OJJDP to reduce truancy O Partnerships- school, prosecutor, court and Juvenile Division Service Providers O Activities Establish monthly meetings to develop program and monitor implementation. Encourage parental involvement in program development and implementation.

GOALS – Implement Restorative Programs O Implement additional Coordinated Restorative Programs. O Schools, ISD, and court will partner to coordinate services for students that have fallen behind or have been expelled. O This partnership will involve coordinating other community services such as WrapAround to assist in finding resources for the student and family. O Peer mentoring will be available to support struggling students before they drop out and to provide support for students who have dropped out to transition back into school. O A student board may be established to create an avenue for student input and feedback on restorative programs.

Time Frame and Plan to Coordinate Restorative Programs O Time frame months O Resources – Local, state, national trends in graduation rates over the last 5 years O Create partnerships- between school boards, school staff, ISD, parents, prosecutor, community resources, and court O Activities – Invite student, parent, and community involvement in identifying, selecting, implementing, and evaluating additional restorative programs

GOALS – Implement An Expulsion Board O Create a community Expulsion Board to review student offenses that fall into the Zero-Tolerance Category to reduce number of expulsions where it does not benefit student or school to expel student. O The Expulsion Board would meet, review available information, and make a recommendation to the appropriate school board. O The Expulsion Board would consist of Prosecutor, Juvenile Officer, ISD Truancy Officer, a board member from each school, one teacher and a parent.

Time Frame and Plan for Expulsion Board O Time frame 6-12 months O Create Partnerships- between school boards, school staff, ISD, parents, prosecutor, and court O Activities- Board meetings Presentations to each school board with recommendations

Goals – Utilize Statistical Data O Analyze available statistical data about chronic absenteeism, truancy, suspension, expulsion, and drop out rates. O Establish standard definitions, data entry, and reporting for both school systems. O Focus on data for children under the age of 8 to identify and respond to chronic absenteeism as early as possible.

Time Frame and Plan To Utilize Statistical Data O Time frame months O Create partnerships- between schools, ISD, prosecutor, and court to ensure available standardized data O Activities Identify data collected by each school system. Standardize data entry and reporting for both school systems.

OUTCOMES O Uniform Truancy Protocol will make it easier for county schools, prosecutor, and court to address truancy. O 5-D Truancy Prevention Program will support attendance to help students avoid chronic absenteeism and truancy. O 5-D Diversion Program will offer structured support to a student and family to restore a student to regular, consistent attendance. O Standardized data will encourage a proactive response to identify and respond to chronic absenteeism, truancy, suspension, expulsion, and drop out trends. O More students will have better attendance and fewer incidents of truancy, suspension, and expulsion resulting in better attendance, increased opportunity to learn, and improved graduation rates.