Truancy Task Force

Join the Truancy Task Force!

Over twenty years ago, Judge John C. Uhler observed that as many as 90-95% of youth appearing before him in juvenile court delinquency proceedings were habitual truants. In response to these alarming statistics, he convened the Truancy Response Group (now the Truancy Task Force) with a membership of over fifty stakeholders, including teachers and school administrators; lawyers, magisterial district judges and the courts; social service providers; the medical community; and parents, to work together to combat truancy.

This purely voluntary group of people meets bimonthly to provide a continuous gauge of the need and relevance for truancy prevention and intervention services, allowing for an open dialogue between the various stakeholders.  Also, professional development topics are presented at each meeting. These meetings are virtual and open to the public; please email TaTyana Abreu for more information at tabreu@unitedway-york.org.

 

 


Absenteeism: Improving School Attendance Webinar

United Way of York County and the York County Truancy Prevention Initiative presented in April a webinar on "Absenteeism: An Update on Recent Research and Strategies to Improving School Attendance," led by Carolyn Gentle-Genitty, PhD.

If you missed it, view slides from the webinar.

View the Perception of School Bonding Instrument here.

 

Carolyn Gentle-Genitty, PhD, is a tenured Associate Professor at Indiana University in the School of Social Work. She is a former president of the International Association for Truancy and Dropout (IATDP) and sits on the executive committee. She is one of the founding and current members of the International Network for School Attendance an international organization of over 21 countries with headquarters in the Netherlands. She was one of the leading four scholars to convene a group of 21 scholars from around the world to explore the gold standards for absenteeism in 2018. She is a researcher and author of seminal works on absenteeism and truancy. Her work is often cited in defining truancy and absenteeism in the US and around the world. 

The York County Truancy Prevention Initiative is a partnership between United Way of York County and the York County Bar Foundation.