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The Restorative Truancy Prevention Program is a voluntary, early intervention program that addresses truancy and attendance concerns within a student’s school rather than within the legal system. This preventative approach combines the efforts of Barron, Cameron, Chetek, Cumberland, Rice Lake and Turtle Lake school districts, along with the Barron County Department of Health and Human Services and local law enforcement agencies. A Community Outreach Worker provides intervention to the student and/or family in response to referrals from the school.
Outreach Workers are trained to work from a strength-based perspective, emphasizing the student’s assets, both personal and environmental, to help the student be more successful. Whenever possible, parents are recruited as partners in the academic success of their children, and to that end, Outreach Workers provide support and practical resources to aid the family. By design, Outreach Workers play a vital liaison role between four areas.
Outreach Workers (OWs)
Working all the ‘grey’ areas between…
Through strategies of mentoring, resourcing and conferencing, the goal of the program is to decrease the number of youth entering into municipal courts or the juvenile justice system as a result of habitual truancy.
Quotes from students in the program:
“I would be in jail right now if it wasn’t for the Outreach Worker.”
“The program has helped me cope with my anxiety about coming to school.”
“I wouldn’t have had a place to live if it wasn’t for the Outreach Worker.”
Heroes – written by a truancy student
i think id have to say that my dad is one of my biggest heroes. hes overcome a lot of problems in his life, and im really proud of him. hes gone from being a heroine addict to a working class guy with a great job, and a loving (common law) wife (not my mom). other than that, id have to say Rose VanVreede. shes a good freind of mine, and one of the wisest people i know. shes a “social worker” who was assigned to my truancy case a few years ago. shes helped me more than i can put into words. she helps a lot of peole in a lot of ways, and deserves a whole lot of respect. she goes way out of her way to help people she hardly knows, and even further for the people she cares abuot. id probably be in a jail cell right now if it werent for her.
