Volunteers for Youth Justice, with the Caddo District Attorney, Caddo School Board and Willis-Knighton Health System and the help of local law enforcement, plans to launch an enhanced Truancy Initiative in Caddo Parish.
Details of the undertaking will be announced at a 10 a.m. press conference Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2016, at the Caddo Parish School Board’s Welfare and Attendance Department, 1638 Murphy St.
That is where the new Truancy Assessment and Service Center, or TASC, will be located. Designed to focus on truancy issues in children grades K-5, it will work to identify families early and provide rapid assessment and services in order to reduce school absences.
“Last year, VYJ served nearly 1,500 children in grades K-5 who were identified as being truant,” says Volunteers for Youth Justice Executive Director Kelli Todd. “Our goal is to cut this number in half by intervening with the families early on and providing services that will assist the family in making sure their child is attending school.
“The overall outcome of this project will be to increase attendance which will ultimately improve our local education system while at the same time decreasing juvenile delinquency,” she said.
Media attending the conference are asked to parallel park in front of the school building next to the police cars to be allowed access to the front entry.
For more information, call Kelli Todd, executive director of Volunteers for Youth Justice at (318) 425-4413 or email her at kelli.todd@vyjla.org.
Local Non-Profit, DA, Others Join to Fight Truancy
