Are Attendance Gains Sustained? A Follow-up on the Educational and Child Welfare Outcomes of Students with Child Welfare Involvement for Educational Neglect

Abstract

This study reexamined the school attendance and child welfare involvement of students for whom a report of educational neglect was received by child welfare during the 2000—01 school year in one midwestern state. The majority (71.9 percent) of these students experienced a marked improvement in their school attendance in the year following their involvement with child welfare. Public education and child welfare records were reviewed for the four consecutive years following the initial study to explore whether and to what extent attendance improvements were sustained. In addition, data on a variety of student characteristics and experiences were obtained from administrative records to create a long-term perspective on the interactions between child welfare involvement and school attendance in particular, including general school outcomes such as special education participation and eligibility for free meals. Discussion of the broad policy and practice implications of the findings review the role of child welfare in educational neglect, the importance of family-centered interventions for early truancy problems, and better ways in which poor student attendance can be addressed through cross-system public interventions.