Truancy Prevention Case Management Services
Truancy Prevention Case Management Services are provided for all youth referred to an agency by DHS. Generally these youth have more than 8 unexcused absences. The goal of these services is to increase the capacity of the individual, family and community to provide protective support and enhance the child’s ability to reach developmental goals and function more effectively in their personal and academic environments. Services are provided for 90 days and include comprehensive assessments, a family development plan, home visits, strength-based case management (including referral and linkage to appropriate services) and follow-up.
Truancy prevention programs utilize strengths-based case management, which supports active client involvement in a participatory process to enhance social functioning. Strength-based case management, aims to help clients identify available assets and resources that can be harnessed to resolve problems.
Regional Truancy Court Services
Regional Truancy Court services are provided for all youth listed to Regional Truancy Court. Philadelphia’s eight Regional Truancy Courts are a collaboration between Family Court, the Department of Human Services, the School District of Philadelphia and funded service providers. These special courts process cases of public school students that are reported by the School District of Philadelphia as chronically truant. Generally youth referred to these courts have more than 8 unexcused absences.
Each court meets for five days per month over the course of one week. Truancy Prevention providers support youth referred to these courts in a variety of ways including guiding the family through the court process, assisting in the operations of the court, participating in testimony, recommendation and disposition of cases, providing recommendations for additional support, and participating in the PATCH Process.
Home Visits
Home visits are integral part of DHS’ Truancy Prevention Programming. Home visits occur twice a month for a minimum of an hour and are designed to help clients achieve goals on their family development plan. These contacts provide an opportunity to identify the assets and resources available to the individual/family including the informal supports that may not be evident without engaging the family in their natural environment. It also affords an opportunity to observe the family and the social interactions that occur in the home and/or neighborhood, providing us with insights that may benefit the partnership between the family and the provider. Finally, home visits provide the family with the opportunity to interact in the comfort and familiarity of their environment and reduce the potential for artificial barriers and the challenges that may occur when office visits are the only option.
The PATCH Process
The PATCH process is a community-based model of family support service delivery involving a locally-based multi-disciplinary team of human service workers. The team works to review and advise on every family seen in the regional or family court truancy system. The PATCH team consists of the community-based providers working directly with the family, a behavioral health specialist, DHS Social Worker, the family as well as other specialists who may be working with the family.
PATCH is the primary vehicle for the identification and integration of the formal and informal community based support networks. It also serves as a mechanism for monitoring the supports provided and insuring that the family receives the most appropriate services. PATCH also helps insure a smooth transition of cases and accompanying information when transfers or referrals are required. PATCH conferences occur weekly for each court.
