CONSEQUENCES TO PARENTS FOR EDUCATIONAL NEGLECT: 

• A child in Need of Protection or Services (CHIPS) petition may be filed in Juvenile Court.  The parents will be named on the petition; proceedings will be open to the public.
  
  
• A child can be placed on house arrestand subject to Electronic Home Monitoring EHM) which means the child cannot leave the residence unlss at school or with a parent.
  
  
• A child can be assigned community work service hours.
  
  
• A child may be removed from home and placed in a shelter care, foster care, or shot term residential facility.  Parents/guardians can be required to pay a fee for placement.
  
  
• A child may be ordered to attend family or individual counseling and may be required to participate in a chemical use assesment and to follow recommendations.  The Court can also order random drug or alcohol testing.
  
  
• Child can be finded up to $100.00.
  
  
• Parents/guardians can be required to compel the child's attendance and deliver the child to school at the beginning of each school day for a period of time specified by the Court.
  
  
• The Court may revoke or delay all driving privileges up until a student's 18th birthday.
  
  
• Both a child and a parent/guardian can be found in civil contempt of court for knowingly violating a juvenile court order.  The purpose of civil contempt is to coerce compliance and can result in a fine and/or incaceration.
  
  
  REMEMBER - the most significant consequences for truancy are not court sanctions  Children who fail to attend school are more likely to become involved in other negative and illegal activities that severly limit later opportunities in life.  Uncorrected truancy is the beginning of a lifetime of unmet potential and failed experiences.  Don't let something this preventable happen to you or someone you care about.

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THE TRUANCY MEDIATION PROCESS:

The Truancy Mediation Program (TMP) utilizes a three step process to combat truancy.  In STEP 1, the school monitors attendance and begins meeting and speaking with students and parents/guardians when unexcused absences occur.  After three unexcused absences, schools are legally required to notify parents/guardians that the child is truant and parents/guardians are encouraged to accompany their child to school for a day.  If unexcused absences continue, parents/guardians are referred to a Truancy Informational Meeting (TIM) presented by the County Attorney’s Office and Human Services.  This meeting will outline the law regarding school attendance, the diversion process, and the potential legal consequences of truancy.  Parents/guardians and students are required to attend this meeting!

If absences continue and a child reaches seven unexcused absences they are considered “habitually truant” and will be referred to STEP 2, the Truancy Diversion Conference (TDC).  This is a student's and parent's/guardian's last chance to avoid being prosecuted for truancy.  In the TDC, a Human Services social worker arranges a formal meeting between the school, parents/guardians, the child, and other important community members.  A Diversion Contract is negotiated and signed to keep a child in school and out of court. 

If the TDC does not result in improved school attendance, the student and parents/guardians will be referred to STEP 3.  At this step, after all less restrictive interventions have been tried, the student is petitioned to COURT as a child in need of protection and services based on truancy.  The parent/guardian can also be criminally prosecuted if they have not compelled their child’s school attendance.

TRUANCY ARTICLES:

Skip classes in Minnetonka and you'll have Mom, Dad on your case - Star Tribune, September 5th, 2008