Meeting Minutes

Meeting was called to order by Carol Johnson at 7:30am. Danetta “Beaver” Rutten led the flag salute.

Minutes:

Julie H. moved to accept Nov. 26 minutes, seconded by Jack G. Motion carried.

Guests:

None

Announcements:

Edna announced the soft opening of Panto this Thursday night.

Debbie announced that CRTC and Pennies for Quarters received a $50K grant check from First Federal.

Rep. Kilmer attended the tour of CRTC.

Cherie is selling Elegant Gourmet coupon books.

Carol said members will vote on the 2020 Budget and PABA Board Nominees next which which is also the PABA Christmas Party. It starts at 7:30am and breakfast will be a buffet for $15. There will be door prizes, a short CASA Program, and more.

Program:  Danetta “Beaver” Rutten – Board Chair of the Community Truancy Board

They meet twice a month and are responsible for finding out why a child is not in school. Sometimes it involves the mental health of parents who have no motivation to keep them in school. The team creates a contract with the child that everyone signs. If they don’t follow through, they go to Truancy Court. Parents can be fined up to $25 a day for a child missing school and they may put a child in juvenile detention, one of six detention centers in the state.

New legislation mandates children shouldn’t have to be in detention, They have a new Juvenile Court judge and now need to come up with new consequences.

In 2018-19 they had 27 elementary and 23 middle school petitions. Of those, 16 elementary and 9 middle school were referred to the Truancy Board. Of those 9 elementary and 5 middle school were successes.

Teams are community members, mostly retired, with skills in working with kids.

They have gone through Child Protective Services training and have a role.

Success is determined by kids being in school and graduating, or having some kind of education.

Seattle has caused the new Detention Center legislation, not wanting kids to be with other offenders. Rural areas are different.

Homeless parents seem more focused than alcohol driven parents and they do referrals for emergency shelter.

Parenting Skills Programs exist through the schools.

Beaver talked about resiliency, screen addiction, marijuana as a gateway drug, how local schools can’t choose curriculum, high schoolers won’t be sent back to the Truancy Board if they go through Juvenile Court. Home school is moot if there is no negative behavior, and how the YMCA and Boys and Girls Club help.

There are no stats for fatherless homes but she guesses 50/50 and doesn’t know how to change the fathers’ rights in family court.

To help, they need a booklet with resources for kids. We can mentor a child once a week, they need 2 people to do high school, service organizations can help announce resources and people need to keep speaking up.

Discussion followed about group homes and volunteers, and motivation. Peopel have liability now if they take in a child on their own. Beaver believes it’s slowly getting better. She will research other country’s truancy programs.

Discussion about kids needing jobs and things to do. It should be easier for them to get a paying job.

Upcoming Meeting:

Dec 10: Christmas Party
Dec 17: Marc Abshire, Chamber of Commerce

Meeting adjourned at 8:45am.