Truancy one consequence of pandemic

Schools, courts deal with effects of virus on children

FAYETTEVILLE — Northwest Arkansas schools and the juvenile justice system have been dealing with a spike in truancy during the covid-19 pandemic.

Matt Durrett, Washington County prosecuting attorney, said the number of Families In Need of Services cases filed through his office has jumped.

“On a yearly basis, we had been approaching 300 cases a year,” Durrett said. “Through the first half of this year, we’re over 200. Halfway through the year, and we’re two-thirds of where we’ve been with FINS cases.”

Durrett said his office receives most of its referrals to open Families In Need of Services cases from school districts, which each set their own limits on the number of allowed absences.

Juvenile courts handle other types of cases, including juvenile delinquency and dependency/neglect cases, but the increase in truancy cases is notable, he said.

Circuit Judge Stacey Zimmerman handles one of the two juvenile courts in Washington County. Judge Diane Warren was elected to fill the second juvenile court position and began work in January.

Judge Tom Smith handles juvenile court cases for Benton County Circuit Court. Smith said the covid-19 pandemic has been accompanied by an increase in the number of Families In Need of Services cases his court is seeing.

“Our FINS cases are definitely up,” Smith said. “We’re working with the schools every day. The schools are having to adjust to a lot of things as well. You’ve got virtual versus live learning situations.

When a student has missed days, are they covid-related or not? I think the schools are doing a good job of trying to stay on top of why kids are missing school.”

Zimmerman said Families In Need of Services cases, which include truancy, are very time- consuming and work-intensive for her staff.

The cases can be initiated by school officials, the prosecuting attorney, by family members or other interested people who file a petition alleging a juvenile meets one of the criteria for such a case, she said. Criteria include being habitually absent from home, being habitually absent from school or being habitually disobedient to the reasonable and lawful commands of his parent or custodian.

Zimmerman said the state recognized the heavy load of juvenile cases in Washington County when it approved the second juvenile court judge position. The court’s four delinquency intake officers had an average daily caseload of 50 juveniles over the threeyear period from 2017 to 2019, according to information Zimmerman gathered. The court’s five delinquency probation officers had an average daily caseload of 45 juveniles.

During that same time, the court’s two intake officers for Families In Need of Services had an average daily caseload of 60 juveniles or families. The court’s three probation officers for those cases had an average daily load of 60 juveniles or families.

The recommended maximum ratio is 25 cases per officer with that dropping to 12 cases per officer with highrisk juveniles, according to the National Advisory Committee for Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

The number of formal cases doesn’t accurately reflect the workload of the juvenile officers, Zimmerman said. Work in each case begins weeks or months before any court appearance and may continue for years after a case has been adjudicated. Some of her officers are still dealing with cases that originated as far back as 2018, Zimmerman said.

Brittany Thornton, lead Families In Need of Services officer for Zimmerman’s court, said the officers have 82 schools they have dealings with in Washington County, including some of the largest in the state. She said the schools are the source of the largest number of referrals, with parents being second.

Thornton said the first response of the officers is to determine what resources may be available to help address the specific problems of any of the juveniles referred to the court. She said many cases are diverted away from the system before a formal case is filed.

“Lots of families show up who need services, but not knowing where to go,” she said.

Zimmerman’s court also operates several diversion programs for students, including Teen Court, the Youth Reporting Center, the Summer Youth Academy, Girls Circle and others, to try to keep them in school and avoid the need for juvenile detention.

Both Zimmerman and Smith said they have also seen more juveniles and their families who have struggled with homelessness during the pandemic. Zimmerman said she has seen families who lost their homes and then lived in hotels while they could afford it and then subsequently have been living in cars or making use of the 7Hills Homeless Center. Moving from one living situation to another complicates the work of the schools and courts, who have to be able to keep in touch with the juveniles and their families.

Jim Davis is assistant superintendent for secondary schools in the Rogers School District. Davis said the district recognized the problems facing the district, students and families during the 20202021 school year and adopted a new approach for this school year.

Davis said the district hired “student success advocates” at all seven of the district’s schools for grades 6 through 12. Davis said the district hopes the student advocates can reduce the need to make use of the juvenile courts.

“We want to be proactive and avoid FINS,” Davis said. “The advocates aren’t administrators, they aren’t school resource officers. They are advocates for all our kids. They’re in the hallways. They’re having breakfast and lunch with the students. They’re gathering data on kids who have been absent and working with the families and students.”

Davis said the advocates’ work isn’t confined to the campus.

“They do home visits on a weekly basis,” he said. “They try to get people to understand what’s happening. We’ve got to bring down the walls and barriers and partner with them.”

Davis said, while the covid-19 pandemic has been difficult to cope with, it may also be an impetus for positive change through programs like the student advocates.

“We know covid has made us change and adjust in our education environment,” he said. “That will probably last for a long time, if not forever.”