Solving this problem will do more to reduce crime than locking kids up:
1 out of 3 9th graders missing 1 out of 3 days of school...
D.C. mayor’s bill targets truancy, mandates aggressive prosecution
The District’s deputy mayor for public safety and justice said she was ‘okay’ if the bill meant more youths would be locked behind bars
Published April 3, 2024
D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) unveiled legislation Wednesday that would require the Office of the Attorney General in D.C. to more aggressively prosecute children and teens who commit certain crimes and take action to resolve all truancy cases — a proposal that would limit prosecutorial discretion as local leaders try to address a crisis among young people in the District.
In a move decried by some advocates and attorneys, the bill would restrict prosecutors from using plea agreements for youths charged with violent offenses and ban diversion programs for those facing gun charges. The District’s deputy mayor for public safety and justice said she was “okay” if the bill meant more youths would be locked behind bars, continuing the administration’s push for more punitive criminal justice policies after a historically violent 2023 in the nation’s capital.
“If it increases commitment, we’re okay with that,” Lindsey Appiah, the deputy mayor, said of the bill. “We’re committed to ensuring that our kids get the right services [and] supports to make them and the community safe.”
The bill, which targets changes in the criminal justice system and schools, comes as elected officials face pressure to address two separate issues hurting children and teens in the District: an increase in violence and alarmingly high truancy rates.
Local leaders have been careful not to link the two issues, as most kids who miss school are not committing crimes. But Bowser and members of the D.C. Council have said that increasing school attendance is a necessary part of keeping children safe and out of trouble. Two council members recently introduced separate measures addressing truancy — defined as a student missing at least 10 full days of school without a formal excuse — and absenteeism.
The Office of the Attorney General has publicly stated that it does not view prosecution as the appropriate response to truancy, a position echoed in a 2019 report commissioned by the mayor. Last year, the office received 295 truancy referrals — a fraction of the number of students who are often absent from D.C. schools.
Some research suggests the potential of more legal consequences for children is not helpful. A study published by the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, an independent D.C. agency, found that recidivism for children and teens in a 2018 cohort increased as they moved deeper into the system. In the last fiscal year, the attorney general’s office said it diverted 15 cases with a lead charge of violence.
The office declined to comment on the mayor’s proposal. “We just received the bill this morning and are reviewing,” a spokesperson said. “We look forward to offering an analysis once we’ve had a chance to assess it in full.”
The mayor’s bill, which she unveiled with her long-awaited
$21 billion budget for the next fiscal year, would also allow middle school principals to suspend students who bring drugs or weapons to school, create an alternative campus for students with severe behavioral problems, and modify the referral process for children with poor attendance.
“We are glad that there’s some focus and attention on the issue of school disengagement and absenteeism,” said Danielle Robinette, a senior policy attorney at Children’s Law Center in D.C. “I think the ‘but’ there is that the focus really needs to be on breaking down those barriers. When we’re thinking about commonly reported barriers to attendance, it comes down to things like health-care access, behavioral-health-care concerns, unstable housing, food insecurity, not feeling safe in their communities, not having transportation to begin with.”
Last year in D.C., 37 percent of students — and 47 percent of high-schoolers — were truant. Overall, 43 percent of students
were chronically absent, which includes excused and unexcused absences, for at least 10 percent of the school year, or about 18 days. Those figures are improvements from the 2021-2022 school year, but still higher than pre-pandemic attendance levels, mirroring patterns nationwide as schools struggle to get students in the habit of attending every day.
Meanwhile,
106 children and teens were shot in 2023, 16 of them fatally. Two other youths were fatally beaten and another was fatally stabbed. More youths were also accused of pulling the trigger last year than in the previous one.
Last week, three girls ages 12 and 13 were charged with fatally beating a man. None of the girls had previous arrests, but all three had long-standing truancy issues,
according to information released in court. Bowser, in a recent
television interview addressing the crime, teased the forthcoming bill.
Under the mayor’s bill, the city would refer students who are truant but have fewer than 25 absences to the Department of Human Services, to give families resources such as case management and group therapy to determine why a child is missing class. Children between 5 and 13 would be sent to the agency after 10 unexcused absences. Older students would be referred after 15 absences.
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