Report Title:

Truancy Court

Description:

Establishes the truancy court program within the family court system to handle all truancy cases for the public school system.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

1562

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2003

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

relating to school attendance.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that while truancy is extremely prevalent in the public schools, truant students often go unpunished, allowing their behavior to continue unchecked. Not only does truancy deprive students of their education, but it contributes to students participating in illicit or otherwise harmful activities.

Unfortunately, the department of education and the family court do not have the resources to adequately deal with the problem of student truancy. Not only do students need to be held accountable for school attendance, but they must also be offered counseling to help guide them and reinforce the importance of education.

A program that could take most truancy cases out of the hands of the family court would not only allow the State to deal with truant students more effectively, but it would provide much-needed relief to the family court system. Such a program would be attached to the family court, and would process truancy cases in cooperation with the department of education and the juvenile crime prevention bureaus of the county police departments.

Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to establish the truancy court program within the family court system to process student truancy cases.

SECTION 2. Chapter 571, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§571- Truancy court program. a) There is established within the family court, the truancy court program, which shall be responsible for processing student truancy cases. The program shall work in cooperation with the department of education and the juvenile crime prevention bureaus of the county police departments.

(b) The truancy court program shall be responsible for all family court proceedings relating solely to student truancy. The program shall also provide counseling services to truant students and parents of truant students or may refer students or parents to existing services being provided by the department of education, police departments, or both."

SECTION 3. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:

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