St. Louis County Truancy Court

Schools, Families and Courts
Working Together to Improve Student Attendance

The St. Louis County Truancy Court seeks to instill hope, improve student attendance, enhance achievement, and reduce delinquent behavior through a proactive partnership of schools, courts and families. Partners include the Family Court of St. Louis County, the Ferguson-Florissant, Hazelwood, Mehlville, Normandy, Pattonville, Ritenour, Riverview Gardens, University City and Wellston School Districts, the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis, the Cooperating School Districts, and the Children's Division of the Department of Social Services.

Recognizing that truancy is a significant predictor of juvenile delinquent behavior and long-term economic hardship, Truancy Court intervenes with elementary and middle school students displaying a pattern of absenteeism before the students need to be referred to the Family Court for truancy.

The program targets students in participating elementary and middle schools who during the previous year experienced between 10 - 30 absences. Aiming to reach students who are at risk for referral to the juvenile court, children and youth that are currently under the jurisdiction of the Family Court are not eligible to participate in the program.

Truancy Court sessions are held weekly at the school, usually at 7:30A.M. with the judges wearing their robes. During the weekly "court" session, the judge reviews each participating student's attendance, behavior, and academic performance. Each student receives positive reinforcement and applause for his or her weekly achievements.

A three year evaluation conducted by the University of Missouri confirms that the majority of Truancy Court students (60%) significantly improve their attendance rates, reducing absences by an average of 44%. In 2002, Focus St. Louis selected the St. Louis County Truancy Court Collaboration as the winner of the "What's Right With The Region" award in the category of Demonstrating Innovative Solutions.

In 2004, Truancy Court was selected to present at the first national conference on truancy: "Partnering To Prevent Truancy, A National Priority," cosponsored by the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Education. Additionally, Truancy Court has distributed over 100 training and implementation materials to schools, courts, and organizations interested in replicating the program throughout the United States.

Truancy Court is supported through a Safe Schools educational program grant from the Missouri Department of Secondary Education; through a Juvenile Acountability Block Grant and Formula (Title II) Grant administered by the Missouri Department of Public Safety and the Missouri Juvenile Justice Advisory Group from funding provided by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention; and from matching funds provided by each participating school district.

For more information about the Truancy Court program, please contact truancycourt@yahoo.com. The volunteer judges for the program are listed below.

Volunteer Judges
Judge Susan E. Block	Judge Karla Boresi
Judge Michael Burton	Attorney, Kimberly Cook
Attorney, William Grant	Judge Sandra Hemphill
Attorney, Lisa Herder	Judge Michael Jamison
Attorney, Terry Jones	Attorney, Erica Leisenring
Attorney, Diane Monahan	Attorney, Mike Myers
Attorney, Tim Nicholson	Attorney, Linda Brown Reed
Attorney, Phyleccia Reed	Judge Gloria Reno
Attorney, Mary Rychnovsky	Judge Mary Pat Schroeder
Judge Ellen Levy Siwak	Attorney Deborah Sterling-Scott
Judge David Vincent