SECTIONS 18236-18237 - California Statutes

WELFARE AND INSTITUTIONS CODE

SECTION 18236-18237

18236. (a) The director may approve school attendance demonstration
projects in San Diego and Merced Counties, at the option of each
county, to demonstrate means of increasing school attendance and
graduation rates of children or teens who receive benefits under the
CalWORKs program. The project shall emphasize a social service
approach to children and families who are experiencing truancy
problems, and shall include collaboration with the academic community
to support a successful school experience. Families shall be
provided a range of services, resources, and tools to assist them in
coping with issues related to their children's school problems. These
shall include integrated services involving the county and the
appropriate school districts. After all other avenues to encourage a
student to attend school have been exhausted and a family has failed
to correct the truancy of a child in the family unit, a participating
county may reduce a family grant by the amount of the truant child's
portion grant. The full grant shall be replaced upon a showing that
the student has attended school full-time for one month or has
otherwise cooperated with an education or training plan developed
with the county and the school district.
(b) Participating counties shall measure their success in
achieving the following outcomes:
(1) Increased attendance and graduation.
(2) Decreased truancy.
(3) Higher grade point averages.
(4) Increased ADA.
(5) Decreased dropout rates.
(6) Increased collaboration among agencies providing services for
children.
(7) Reinforcement of parental responsibility.
(c) Prior to being selected as a demonstration project site, the
governing board of each school district shall approve the project and
a clear delineation of the county's and the school or school
district's responsibilities shall be established in a memorandum of
understanding.
(d) Each county shall identify how it plans to attain the goals of
the demonstration project and the evaluation methodology and funding
source that will be used to evaluate the extent to which the goals
are attained.
(e) The director shall report annually to the chairpersons of the
relevant policy committee of each house of the Legislature and the
Chairperson of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee on the progress
of the demonstration projects, including the extent to which they
are attaining the outcomes described in subdivision (b), the number
of families sanctioned, and the average length of time of the
sanctions.

18237. (a) The department, in conjunction with the State Department
of Education and the Attorney General, may evaluate the
effectiveness of one program, as described in this section in a
county that chooses to operate such a program.
(b) The truancy coordinator in the district attorney's office
shall provide assistance to school districts to address cases of
habitual truancy as defined in Section 48262 of the Education Code.
(c) The county truancy coordinator shall perform, at a minimum,
all of the following duties:
(1) Represent the district attorney on the county school
attendance review board pursuant to Section 48321 of the Education
Code.
(2) Prepare letters as requested by local school districts that
provide a warning notice to parents of truant pupils subject to
criminal prosecution and penalties pursuant to Section 48293 of the
Education Code.
(3) Develop a district truancy mediation program, as defined in
Section 48263.5 of the Education Code, unless the county probation
department has elected to provide the program.
(d) The school attendance review board shall assist the district
attorney and the court in ensuring that every parent or guardian and
truant pupil prosecuted and convicted under Chapter 2 (commencing
with Section 48200) of Part 2 of the Education Code, complies with
the sentence of the court, including, but not limited to, collection
of fines, ensuring the performance of community service and providing
certification of school attendance.