Expanding A Truancy Reduction Pilot That’s Making a Real Difference for DC Youth

Across the country, schools and communities are working hard to tackle high levels of truancy, and DC is no different. Nationally, only a handful of school districts have brought chronic absenteeism down to pre-pandemic levels. Here in the District, we are acutely aware that if left unchecked, this issue can easily derail a child’s future. But this challenge is solvable, and in DC we’re proving it, one student and one family at a time.

At the Department of Human Services, under our Youth Services Division (YSD), we have extensive experience with families and young people in crisis. Through the work that we’ve done with Alternatives to the Court Experience (ACE) — a multi-agency diversion program that aims to reduce the number of court-involved youth by providing them and their families with services and community supports — and Parent & Adolescent Support Services (PASS), we are extremely equipped and well positioned to be part of the broader solution to tackle truancy in our city.

That’s why, when Mayor Bowser and the DC Council passed legislation in 2024 to create a pilot program that connects truant students to services instead of referring them to DC’s child welfare or juvenile justice agencies, DHS took this on as a strategic priority, placing it firmly within our work on prevention and diversion for the District’s young people.

Studies, including a recent DC Criminal Justice Coordinating Council report, show that chronic unexcused absences and grade retention raise a student’s risk of juvenile justice involvement. DHS’s Truancy Reduction Pilot Program seeks to interrupt that trajectory and put students who are struggling on a better path. The work DHS case managers have been doing in our pilot program is similar to the work we do every day: addressing the health, housing, financial, safety, mental health, and family stability barriers that can stand in the way of success and providing DC residents with the coordinated support they need to get there.

Because of the initial success of the pilot, this school year we’re excited to be expanding the program from 10 schools to 18, which includes ALL public high schools in Wards 7 and 8, where truancy rates are highest. Other YSD programs work with truant students across the District as well, because our team often serves youth who are navigating a range of challenges, and we’re glad to support those outside this pilot too.

This 2026-27 school year marks the third year of DHS’s Truancy Reduction Pilot Program. In just two years of operation so far, DHS has made a real difference for DC students and their families. Only 36% of students referred to the pilot in Year 1 were truant again in Year 2 — a 64% reduction in truancy among participants. Compared to the 86% of students District-wide who remained truant over the same period, that’s a drop of 50 percentage points, one that shows our pilot’s interventions are delivering meaningful benefits for students and families.

Our Year Two Final Report shows that family- and youth-focused interventions are highly effective. Thirty-eight percent of students referred to Brief Case Management improved their attendance, as did 44% of students referred to PASS. Additionally, 41% of students whose parents chose to resolve their students’ truancy on their own improved their attendance, suggesting that even the pilot’s first-touch intervention can help prompt families to take action and correct course.

Who gets referred to the DHS Truancy Pilot? Schools participating in the pilot refer students who have reached 10 unexcused full-day absences in middle school or 15 in high school. DHS then steps in to provide progressive levels of interventions, based on a family assessment. Sometimes truancy can be improved by just providing truancy education to the student and their family. Or the student might receive Brief Case Management lasting 90 days. And for more complex cases the young person is referred to PASS, which is a 6-month commitment.

Our case managers are especially focused on connecting families with services that extend beyond their time in the pilot, including mental and behavioral health services, college and career readiness programs, housing and benefits support, or guidance on how to navigate educational, legal, and behavioral healthcare systems that can help them be better advocates for themselves going forward.

What we find is that families are often navigating difficult situations without much community support: older children who have to prematurely step in to help care for younger siblings; difficulties buying school uniforms; or not knowing how to connect with other benefits that could help support the household. The solution for increased school attendance should not be a punitive one. And in some cases, the best solution is supporting the entire household, creating the conditions for each family member to grow and support one another.

So what comes next? To build on the success we’ve had so far, DHS recently entered into a collaboration with the Lab @ DC to further study the impact of our truancy pilot. We are excited about this collaboration as it will give the District additional data on how to continue to improve our truancy work and develop whole-family and community approaches to tackle chronic absenteeism even more effectively in the future.

We couldn’t be prouder of the impact the pilot has had so far. I’m excited to keep learning from the amazing students and families who keep this city thriving. And as always, we are committed to finding new, innovative ways to serve District residents.