Truancy assessment centers tell senators early intervention model reduces court referrals; lawmakers push for wider coverage

Directors and program managers for Louisiana's Truancy Assessment Service (TAS) centers briefed the Senate Education Committee on March 18 about the centers' early-intervention model, how school referrals are handled and how the centers interface with district attorneys and juvenile court when parents do not comply with attendance agreements.

Program witnesses said the TAS model began in 1999 with pilot centers in Jefferson and Caddo parishes after research linked early chronic absenteeism to later juvenile justice involvement. Directors told the committee the centers focus primarily on K— students to prevent entrenched absenteeism; they described a rapid-assessment process that is triggered by a school referral (frequently after five unexcused absences), an in-school conference with parents, an individualized assessment of family barriers (transportation, uniforms, childcare, employment scheduling) and a time-limited attendance contract monitored weekly by center staff and school staff.

Witnesses said the centers provide or coordinate wraparound supports in the school neighborhood: connections to food or clothing assistance, referrals to social services, short-term summer-camp placements, and help securing school uniforms or transportation when feasible. Directors said most families attend the first in-school conference, but attendance rates at initial meetings have fallen over the past decade and centers must sometimes employ outreach and subpoenas to secure later conferences. If families fail to comply after repeated contacts and case-management meetings, centers said they forward cases to the district attorney's office for petitioning in juvenile court; directors said the informal court or diversion hearing models used in some parishes have high success rates and keep children out of formal juvenile adjudication.

Committee members said the work is valuable and asked for more centers and sustained support. Directors said the program now operates about 14 sites covering roughly 20 parishes; East Baton Rouge directors said their parish's program serves 16 schools in high-need neighborhoods and that their informal-court model had been used for more than a decade to produce measurable local results. Jefferson Parish directors said their program has low formal-court referral rates relative to the number of families served (for example, Jefferson reported only about 20 court referrals out of roughly 980 active cases in the current cycle), and they urged the committee to consider stable funding to maintain current coverage and expand into additional parishes.

Lawmakers said the centers' early-focus approach aligns with other department reforms and with work to improve reading and math outcomes; several senators signaled they would pursue statutory and budget options during the session to expand coverage and to tighten attendance enforcement where needed.

Notes: Directors provided parish-level descriptions, emphasized the importance of local partnerships (school districts, DAs, non-profits), and flagged that centers operate at varying capacities depending on local funding and administrative support.