ORANGE : Truant Teens Will Get Special Attention

Students who play hooky this fall will run the risk of being picked up by police and delivered to the Orange Unified School District’s new Truancy Learning Center.

After a ride to the center at Richland High School, the teen-agers will be greeted by counselors ready to investigate the cause of their truancy.

“The TLC program is not punitive,” said Frank Boehler, an administrator in the district’s child welfare and attendance department. “It is proactive and designed to interact with the problem kid.”

The School Board voted 7-0 Thursday to apply a $25,000 federal grant for Drug-Free Schools to the truancy center, the second to be established in the county.

Orange County Youth and Family Services, which will run the program with the district and the Orange Police Department, began a pilot for the truancy program in Garden Grove last year.

“We were aiming to service 150 students, we ended up servicing 400 of them, maybe more,” said Teresa Segura, a counselor at the Garden Grove site.

The designation of Family Services to run the program is no coincidence. The school district’s staff reported that research shows truancy to be a warning signal of serious future problems: substance abuse, delinquency, and criminal and violent behavior.

“It’s not always the case, but we will find that many of the minors that come through the learning center have problems at home--neglect, alcoholism, child abuse,” Segura said.

Students picked up will stay at the center for at least several hours for an evaluation, then their parents will be called in, Boehler said. At that point, counseling referrals can be considered if necessary.