Miscellaneous

By Anne Skove, Esq.

School is back, and with it the avoidance thereof: truancy!

Courts have taken it upon themselves to not only attempt to enforce truancy laws, but also combat the underlying no-showitis. Summit County Juvenile Court in Akron gets an A for effort in truancy prevention.

According to her message on the court's website, Judge Linda Tucci Teodosio believes the Juvenile Court should be more than a mechanism of punishment for youth offenders who enter the juvenile justice system. The Juvenile Court will hold these children responsible for their actions, but the court should also seek ways to introduce the proper programming and guidance for these children to turn their lives around and become productive members of society.

A host of outreach initiatives help the court move toward that goal. Billboards, community curfew information (ignorance of the law is no excuse!), and informational brochures help children and parents learn the ins and outs of juvenile court, teen court, traffic court, and probation.

See also the National Truancy Prevention Association. NTPA declared August National Truancy Prevention Month -- guess we're a little late!

Full post as published by court-o-rama.org on September 01, 2009 (boomark / email).