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School Attendance Panel Scheme: Diverting Persistent Absentees from the Juvenile Courts

NCJ Number
117229
Journal
Lay Panel Magazine Volume: 21 Dated: (April 1989) Pages: 11-13
Author(s)
N R Clarke
Date Published
1989
Length
3 pages
Annotation
This article describes a scheme introduced by England's Western Education and Library Board in Northern Ireland to provide an alternative to legal proceedings for school nonattenders.
Abstract
A 1982 survey identified 1,311 Western Board children who were consistently absent from school for reasons other than illness. In addition to an annual survey to identify all students who were absent 35 or more days and an increased use of supervision orders for those brought before the courts, it was decided to extend the school attendance panel system, which had been operating as a limited pilot scheme to divert children from the courts. The panel system offers parents and students the opportunity for discussing problems related to nonattendance and for making agreements with education welfare officers and teachers to prevent the necessity for court appearances. Each panel meeting is conducted in accordance with a standard agenda. The panel chairperson summarizes the agreement reached by the parties involved in terms of student attendance and behavior expectations and school assistance. A comparison of 66 students before and after participating in the panel system for the 1987-1988 school year showed that 51 students responded positively to the panel in the short-term. Although 21 percent of 42 students in another group achieved high levels of attendance in response to court intervention, these students were more frequently absent overall than the panel group. Very few families participating in school attendance panel meetings subsequently appeared in court. 2 references, 2 tables.

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