In her testimony before the Council of the District of Columbia in June of 2013, Brenda Donald, the director to the Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA), discusses the number of educational neglect referrals CFSA has received for school year 2012 and 2013 and risk factors for truancy.
Risk factors for educational neglect are then identified and include a caretaker history of mental health issues, children with behavioral issues, domestic violence, caretaker lack of interest in the children’s education, children have excessive absences from school due to illness and parents do not provide formal medical slips from a doctor to support the absences, lack of uniforms for the children, and caretakers’ erratic work schedules. It is noted that a common thread among the investigations was a history with CFSA and previous substantiations for physical abuse and/or neglect.
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