Bureau of Youth Services & Delinquency Prevention
Division of Community Health & Prevention
Illinois Department of Human Services

Fact Sheet List

Program Page (Under Construction)

Program Description

Target

The Truancy Review Boards (TRB) serve the needs of youth identified as truant according to the grantee community's attendance guidelines. Depending on the area in which the TRB is located, the youth can be at any grade level from kindergarten through high school.

Purpose

These boards utilize community based youth services with a goal of decreasing truancy in youth and increasing school attendance. In some grantee locations, improvement of grades is another goal. It is a requirement for all grantees to comply with the federal Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA), ensuring elimination of the practice of detaining truant youth.

Services

The Truancy Review Boards have as the main goal determining what is needed by the truant youth in order to attend and complete his or her education. To that end, services include referral to mental health treatment, substance abuse treatment, arrangement of transportation, and provision of clothing, alarm clocks, etc. In addition, for youth unable or unwilling to attend in a traditional school setting, some grantees provide alternative school settings and home school facilitators.

Delivery Method

TRB's have been established in 5 counties (Adams, Iroquois-Kankakee, Madison, Peoria, Sangamon Counties) in the state of Illinois. There are three regional education providers and two county boards that are providing services to truant youth. These boards consist of the Regional Board of Education staff, local school personnel, a representative from the Local Area Network board, juvenile probation personnel, a representative of the local Comprehensive Community Based Services (CCBYS) agency, and representatives from other appropriate local youth services agencies.

Together, these entities develop policies and procedures, review individual cases, develop service plans for youth, and record case related information on the data tracking system for DHS review.

Program Data

SFY09 SFY10
Program Expenditure (Numbers in 000's) $31,172 $38,441
Number of Grantees 4 5
Number Served 528 393

NOTE: The Truancy Review Board program was a one year program that began in FY09 and ended in FY10.

Program Effectiveness

  • All providers reported output and outcome measures as defined by the federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP).
  • Of the 528 youth receiving services in FY09, 457 youth improved their attendance. This represents 87% of the youth served.
  • Of the two sites that tracked GPA improvement, there was a 66% improvement noted.