Statistics indicate 25 percent of the nation's high school students drop out, with evidence that younger ages and middle-class students are dropping out at growing rates. Attrition rates vary from State to State with poor, minority, and at-risk youths dropping out at a rate 3 times that of other students. Legislation has been introduced to hold parents accountable for truant behavior. In Maryland, parents have been fined, sentenced to probation, and forced to perform community service for violating attendance laws. Though all States have compulsory attendance and education laws, enforcement is difficult because the issue is not considered high priority for school and law enforcement officials. However, educational and juvenile justice professionals agree there is a connection between school truancy and delinquency. Dropouts are more inclined than the general public to face a future of unemployment, menial jobs, and welfare. Recommendations to cope with the problem include developing legislation at the national level. Truancy and dropout prevention, intervention, and response strategies are described as well as model programs whose objectives are to reduce both truancy and daytime juvenile crime.