Truancy Court

The Truancy Court in Warwick is a nationally recognized program being used as a model for effectively addressing the underlying causes of truancy. By recognizing that truancy is an early symptom of far more complex problems, the groundbreaking program seeks positive, meaningful interventions to hardships facing students and their families. The truancy program provides real help for families in many forms—including counseling, mentoring and tutoring—rather than imposing punitive measures that often only exacerbate attendance problems. The result is a non-adversarial relationship between children, their families, and the schools; the ability to provide needed services without delay; significantly better school attendance; and children with a much brighter future.

With the cooperation of the Rhode Island Family Court, Warwick Public School Department and the City of Warwick, Youth Programs and Prevention Department we have been working on bring children back to school.

The primary motivation of the Truancy Program is to address the concerns and issues that the children bring to school from their homes that prevent them from doing well. We are making a commitment to both students and families… We are setting goals together. Parents will learn ways to provide better support and guidance for their children. We offer a wrap-around approach and embrace services from all over our community to restore the well-being of each student and family who are determined to succeed.

Truancy Court Mission Statement

The Goal of the RI Family Court Truancy Court is to reach out to individual communitites to help reduce the truancy rate. It is our mission to collaborate with local school departments, community muntal health providers, and fmailies to address the causes of truancy and provide children with the opportunity for a better education.