Program Description
The Truancy Court Prevention Project (TCPP) is in partnership with CREC, the Village, Hartford Judges and CCA. The TCPP's goal is to provide holistic interventions and education programming to improve the attendance, academic performance and pro-social engagement of truant youth. CREC collaborates with the Village for Families and the identified schools (Burr and Milner Elementary School) to provide social, educational and emotional interventions both during and after the school day. Hartford Judges meet with students and parents in informal court sessions providing goals and support. Students meet bi-weekly with a certified English teacher to implement a Cross Age Tutoring Program. Case managers meet with parents/guardians in students' homes to help them support their children's school attendance and to identify services needed by the family to reduce barriers to school attendance. Case managers also facilitate referrals for students and their families to other community organizations, positive youth development and state services. Lawyers from the Center for Children's Advocacy (CCA) analyze the school-, community- and home-based barriers to each child's attendance and determine whether students have access to sufficient and appropriate services to overcome these barriers.

CREC is providing the incentive based educational component that addresses the goals of attendance, behavior and academic achievement. Participating students who successfully demonstrate improved goals receive incentives based upon the partnership of TCPP protocols. Parents also receive incentives when their children have monthly perfect attendance.

The Incentive based Cross-Age Tutoring program consists of three components:
   • Pull out instructional time that focuses on the higher order thinking skills necessary for students to achieve success with reading and writing on the CMTs and applying lessons for 7th and 8th graders reading aloud to 1st graders
   • Applying lessons that reinforce higher order thinking skills for reading aloud to first graders during the after school program
   • An after school educational program that develops reading for information, comprehension, and writing skills essential to succeeding on standardized tests

The targeted 60 middle school truant students from Burr and Milner Schools will equate school with a positive experience. Cross-Age incentive protocols have been established to help set the stage for achieving learning successes. CREC also collaborates with Mega Education and their incentive program and the highly successful Everybody Wins! CT: Readers as Leaders Program, who provide a staff member for educational support. CREC’s goal is to effect positive change and get students to equate school with a positive and successful experience.