Truancy Prevention Through Mediation Program
What is Truancy Mediation?
Truancy Mediation is a process that helps parents, caregivers, and schools find a fair and workable solution to children’s truancy problems.
The mediation process consists of an informal meeting where people come together with a mediator to talk about the causes of truancy and how those problems can be resolved.
The mediator is a neutral person who does not take sides. The role of the mediator is to make sure that everyone has an opportunity to speak, that all sides understand each other, and that both families and schools work togetherto resolve issues.
Truancy Mediation is not about winning or losing. Truancy Mediation is about giving parents or caregivers the opportunity to get more involved in their children’s education and to help them learn.
Why Mediation?
Because mediation is:
- Informal
- Free
- Confidential
Because mediation:
- Improves communication between the family and the school
- Allows the family to design its own solution to the attendance problem
- Is proven to be effective
The truancy mediation program allows you to settle truancy problems without going to court.
How Does Mediation Work?
Parents or caregivers and teachers meet privately with the mediator. The mediator will set some basic rules and then each side will speak. Parties will be asked to listen closely to what is being said. It is important that everyone understand the issues involved and each other’s points of view.
The mediator will identify and summarize the issues that are being addressed. Both sides will be allowed to conclude, and then each person will be asked to come up with possible solutions.
Both sides will share their ideas to create an agreement, then all involved must commit to being responsible for making the agreement work.
About the Truancy Mediation Program
A student missing several days each month may be developing a pattern of truancy. This is a cause for concern, since chronically truant children often drop out of school and become juvenile delinquents.
If truancy is a problem, this program offers help. It is based on the belief that mediation can be an effective means of improving school attendance, reducing the dropout rate, and reducing juvenile delinquency.
You and your family can work together with people in the school, and occasionally in social service agencies, to address the root causes of an attendance problem. Research shows that the combination of mediation, counseling, and connecting to helpful people in the schools and the community has greatly reduced truancy.
For more information please contact:
Edward M. Krauss
The Ohio Commission on Dispute Resolution and Conflict Management
77 South High Street, 24 th Floor
Columbus, Ohio 43266-0124
Phone: (614) 752-9681
ed.krauss@cdr.state.oh.us
Dispute Resolution Section
Supreme Court of Ohio
65 South Front Street, 6th Floor
Columbus, OH 43215-3431
Phone: 614-387-9423
Fax: 614-387-9409
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