HOME ABOUT US CURRENT PROJECTS CAROLINA DREAMS INITIATIVE LLETE CURRICULUM STAMP ACADEMY MODEL EXCELLENCE LEADERSHIP INTEGRITY COMMUNITY TEAMWORK Current Projects Truancy Triage Center OneVoice Institute of Business and Entrepreneurship’s (OneVIBE) leadership in this Project maximizes the success of this venture based on its core philosophy: engage a community regarding its own welfare and lasting change will occur. The Truancy Triage Center embodies this concept by utilizing naturally occurring resources within the greater community of Durham. The Truancy Triage Center (TTC) was established to ensure that children in elementary, middle and high school who experience attendance problems have a single portal of entry in order to receive prevention and intervention services. The intervention services of the TTC include mental health, substance abuse and basic reading and math assessments. Data collected from these sources will be used in the development of a Student Success Plan (SSP) for each child. Prevention will take the form of providing pro-social activities and tutoring to ensure that identified students remain successfully engaged in school. The TTC works collaboratively with law enforcement, judges, school personnel, private mental health providers, the District Attorney’s Office, John Avery Boys and Girls Club, the Local Management Entity and the Literacy Council of Durham. The joint efforts of these entities ensures that children and their families will receive appropriate care using best practice models within the System of Care philosophy. Compulsory education law requires that a child attend school until the age of sixteen. In elementary school, the burden of compliance falls squarely on the shoulders of the child’s parent or guardian. When an elementary school child fails to attend school for ten consecutive days the parent/guardian faces up to 30 days in jail. This process will only occur when all other interventions established by the TTC have failed. The support of the DA’s office ensures that “creative sentencing” can be used to motivate parents to change. Therefore, parents will be “sentenced” to 30 days of attending their child’s school including at least three Parent Teacher Association (PTA) meetings within six months. Parents will also be required to attend literacy classes, which will be offered through the Literacy Council. Interventions for middle and high school aged juveniles will vary depending on who is most at fault, parent or juvenile, for the child not making it to school daily. As children age so does the burden of proof. Therefore, close attention will be paid to school history pertaining to behavior problems and academic failure. When these two factors are noted for individual students, the TTC team will work diligently with school personnel to determine the best course of action to re-engage the student and family in the school setting. The outcomes for the TTC include:   · reduction in truancy;   · increased performance on End of Grade tests;   · decreased drop-out rates;   · decreased juveniles entering the Juvenile Justice System;   · assistance in closing the achievement gap for minority students;   · increased pro-social activities;   · reduction in court costs;   · increased links to community programming and Mental Health;   · reduction in supply of available youth for gang recruiting. TOP OneVoice Institute of Business and Entrepreneurship, Inc. (OneVIBE) · 110 East Geer Street, Ste. 1 · Durham, NC 27701 · onevibe@onevibe.org