In an effort to reinforce to parents the importance of getting their children to school, the Johnson County Prosecutor’s Office has taken the rare step to file criminal charges of educational neglect against 10 moms and dads.
The goal isn’t to send them to jail, but rather to emphasize the importance of education and hold parents responsible, said Joseph Villanueva, chief deputy of the Johnson County Prosecutor’s Office.
Villanueva, who has worked for the prosecutor’s office for 19 years, said this is the only time he can remember the office pursuing educational neglect cases to the extent it is now. No singular event inspired the shift in focus, but rather the general lack of consequence for parents who didn’t comply with school attendance requirements, he said.
“I think it’s important for our young people to go to school and stay in school. Parents in our community need to be held accountable. If kids are not in school, it’s not only a detriment to their education and future, but if they’re not in school they’re bound to get in trouble,” Villanueva said.
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“It’s a two-pronged approach. One is to get kids an education, the other is for (parents) not to do things they shouldn’t be. We’re hopeful we correct the behavior.”
The seven cases involve 10 parents whose children had at least 20 unexcused absences during the 2017-18 school year. One of the cases was dismissed, after the parent moved to another county and began complying with social service agencies and getting her child to school more often. The other cases are still ongoing.
A legal case is the last resort when it comes to truancy, Villanueva said.
Once a child racks up five unexcused absences in the same school year, schools notify parents of the issue. After 10 such absences, schools refer students and their families to the Family Resource program, a program Johnson County Community Corrections organizes with the intent of helping families overcome any barriers that might be preventing them from sending their children to school.
The family resource program has a success rate of 81.5 percent during the 2017-18 school year, according to statistics from the program. Parents who don’t cooperate with the program, however, can be charged with educational neglect, as 10 of them were earlier this year.
The prosecutor’s office typically gets involved if a student has 18 or more unexcused absences in a school year, Villanueva said.
Once educational neglect goes to court, it’s usually because a parent is neglecting their child’s education, as meeting with a family resource officer did not improve the parent’s behavior, Superior Court 3 Judge Lance Hamner said.
“Generally, the parent has just been neglectful and we’re letting them know there are things you can neglect in life, but one of them is not the upbringing of your child,” Hamner said.
Parents who don’t send their children to school often have drug or alcohol addictions, or are not strong-willed enough to overcome a child’s unwillingness to go to school, Villanueva said.
“In either event, we expect the parent to step up and be a parent,” Villanueva said.
Once he sees an educational neglect case, Hamner will likely recommend the parent be put on probation, Hamner said.
Educational neglect is a Class B misdemeanor. If a parent is found guilty, they would likely get 180 days of probation, during which they’d have to maintain a clean arrest record, stay off of illegal drugs, complete a parenting wisely program, an online course about responsible parenting, and send their children to school regularly, Villanueva said.
To date, the county hasn’t seen anyone violate probation in an educational neglect case. If they do, they could face more serious consequences, such as house arrest, and eventually, jail, Hamner said.
“The objective is to find an alternative to incarceration,” Hamner said. “We don’t want to send people to jail. We want to change behavior.”
