O'Connell Children's Shelter asks County Commission for two truancy case managers as referrals surge

O'Connell Children's Shelter representatives told the County Commission they have seen a marked rise in truancy referrals across elementary, middle and high school levels and are asking the county to fund two additional prevention-program case managers.

The county staff member leading the session said O'Connell requested two additional prevention case managers in its supplemental budget submission. An O'Connell representative described a new MOU with the school district, the district attorney's office and the state child welfare agency that enables earlier, pre‑truancy intervention. “We have 72 kids on our high school truancy program,” the representative said, noting referrals are increasing as the program reaches students sooner.

The shelter said the earlier intervention is producing results but has sharply increased caseloads. Staff and partners explained they have begun a tiered model to provide case management and referrals to families even if a mentor is not yet assigned; that list was described in the meeting as a “monitoring list” rather than an absence of services. County commissioners pressed whether schools or foundations had been tapped for funding; O'Connell said statewide few school districts operate these interventions and that the shelter supplements its budget with fundraising while pursuing new state grant funding that may offset some caseloads.

Commissioners raised the practical consequences if the request is not funded. O'Connell said it would be the first time it would need to institute a waiting list for services, and emphasized it relies on hired full‑time staff for intensive in‑home and school‑based case management rather than volunteer mentors. The commission did not take a formal vote during this session; staff said they would return to commissioners with further budget details as the process continues.