Scott County highlights diversion programs aimed at reducing truancy and child-protection entries

Scott County commissioners heard a detailed briefing June 16 on local efforts to keep students in school without immediately triggering child-protection assessments.

County quality-improvement staff and contracted partners described a stepped approach: early prevention work when absentee patterns first appear, diversion and community outreach through PASS/PATH, and—and only when outreach fails—referral to the county for a formal truancy or child-protection response. Staff emphasized that the approach is designed to engage families voluntarily and to avoid the adversarial dynamics that can arise when cases go straight to court or a child-protection assessment.

Presenters explained the program logic and screening tools used at intake. The Promoting Assessment of Protective Factors (PAP) is used at the start of services to identify parental resilience, social connections, concrete supports, children's social-emotional competence and parenting knowledge; where those protective factors improve, staff reported seeing a correlation with improved school attendance. Staff also noted practical limits to tracking outcomes if students move between districts.

Data slides prompted the most questions. Commissioners and staff discussed a spike in referrals in 2022-23 followed by different patterns in 2023-25. County staff characterized those shifts as a function of implementation: as schools adopt prevention practices, the pool of referrals narrows (a "funnel") and the remaining cases that advance toward county response are, on average, more complex. Staff said that the shift often means fewer county-level truancy cases overall but a concentration of higher-acuity families in diversion and county-level work.

Several contracted providers described their on-the-ground role. One nonprofit described acting as a mediator and 'conflict coach' for families of teenagers, helping parents and schools negotiate schedules, transportation options, or health-related barriers that prevent consistent attendance. Another provider said their role is to "be a bridge" between families and schools so teachers and administrators understand the household context that affects attendance.

Board members pressed staff on district-level variation in referrals. County staff said the Prior Lake district saw a large increase in prevention referrals after targeted outreach and training; other districts have fewer referrals because they have implemented internal prevention strategies. Commissioners also asked whether diversion work reduced downstream caseloads for the county attorney's office; the county attorney present said early diversion is preferable to court intervention and has reduced some referrals to his office.

The presentation concluded with staff and commissioners agreeing to continued focus on data quality, training for school staff so prevention practices can be sustained locally, and follow-up reporting to the board on long-term outcomes and cross-agency coordination.

Next steps: staff said they will continue school outreach, training for school mediators, and periodic reporting to the board about trends and program performance.