Michigan to Partner Schools with CPS on Medicaid Programs

Whether or not this is a productive concept for children is left open for future discussion, after the program is launched.

What troubles me the most is the fast-track of privitization for child welfare service agencies when there is no oversight.

Here in Detroit, including the two municipal enclaves, the child poverty rate is hovering around 50%, with concentrations centered around some schools at 70%.

Michigan has cut its social safety net to the bare bones, kicking many off assistance, even those who work full-time.

If a child is chronically truant, there is a strong possibility that there are cognitive and psychological unmet needs.  Many parents cannot access proper assistance as most services are 9 to 5 and difficult to even schedule an appointment.

I can only hope there are provisions in these Bills which would allow advocacy groups to work with families navigating the child welfare system.

Any "intervention" will be a Medicaid cost reimbursement.

Bills aim to keep Michigan kids in school, out of trouble

Legislation aimed at keeping kids in school — and away from trouble that could lead them to prison — is designed to establish consistent guidelines for labeling a child truant and require schools to intervene before missing school becomes a serious problem.

"We have a number of kids who are just truant and nothing gets done as a safety net to save them," said Sen. Tonya Schuitmaker, R-Lawton. "If they're not going to school and they're not getting educated, more than likely they're falling into a life of crime."

The legislation includes four bills — two of which were sponsored by Schuitmaker. As part of the bills, truancy would be defined as missing 10 unexcused days in a school year, while chronic absenteeism would be defined as missing 10% of the number of days scheduled for the school year, excused or unexcused. School districts would have to report data on both.

Data already shows many schools and districts are struggling to ensure all kids are in school every day.

Statewide, more than 25% of students are chronically absent, which is now defined as missing more than 10 days in a school year. Exactly how many are truant is unclear.

Part of the problem, some say, is the lack of reliable data on truancy. Districts must submit data annually to the state, but there is little consistency in how districts derive that data. The state no longer even reports it.

Gov. Rick Snyder called for truancy reform during his last State of the State address in January. "If we don't know what the truancy numbers are, how do you solve the problem, and we're not doing our data appropriately in the state," he said at the time.

Midland County Judge Dorene Allen, who handles juvenile and probate cases, said kids who miss a ton of school aren't the stereotypical "teen hanging out on the corner."

"We have truancy starting in elementary school because of things happening out of that child's control, in the home," said Allen, who chairs the Michigan School-Justice Partnership, a statewide effort to keep kids in school and out of the school-to-prison pipeline.

In many cases, she said, truancy happens because of neglect and abuse in the home, a single parent who can't afford the gas money to both drive to work and drop kids off at school, kids who have to babysit their siblings or a lack of basic resources such as water, electricity, shoes or coats.

There is clear evidence chronic absenteeism and truancy must be addressed, said Carolyn Claerhout, manager of pupil, corporate and district services for Oakland Schools, Oakland County's intermediate school district. But she's not sure the legislation in its current form will do it.

She said she believes the legislation improperly lumps the two problems together.

"Chronic absenteeism is a good alarm system, but it shouldn't be part of truancy enforcement," said Claerhout, whose ISD has worked with the Oakland County Prosecutor's Office to create a truancy protocol for the 28 local school districts in the county.

The bill does treat the two somewhat separately. While one of the bills would require that truant students younger than 17 be referred to family court, the same wouldn't happen to students who are chronically absent.

In both cases, school districts would be required to intervene with students who are missing a lot of school days.

"It will require every district to take a close look at this issue. That's important in and of itself," said Chris Wigent, superintendent of the Wayne Regional Educational Service Agency, the ISD for Wayne County. It will be crucial, though, that the legislation create additional reporting requirements for schools, Wigent said.

As part of the statewide partnership, 81 of the state's 83 counties have created county-level partnerships, bringing together education, human service agencies, courts, law enforcement and the community.

The Wayne County group recently held a summit that drew representatives from more than 20 school districts and charter schools in the county.

"There are districts who are dealing with this issue in a very effective manner and then there are districts that probably could use some guidance and support," Wigent said.

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