Mayor Bowser Announces 71% Reduction in Truancy in Pilot Program, Advances Legislation to Expand Model Citywide

(Washington, DC) - Today, Mayor Muriel Bowser and the Department of Human Services (DHS) announced mid-year results from the second year of the District's Truancy Reduction Pilot Program, which include a year-over-year reduction in truancy for 71% of participating students in the first year of the program. In her FY27 Budget, Mayor Bowser also introduced the Truancy Reduction Programs Amendment Act of 2026, legislation to expand the pilot into a citywide, prevention-focused approach to chronic absenteeism-connecting students to support services early and helping keep kids in school and on the road to success.

"When we connect students and families to the right support early, we can turn the tide on truancy," said Mayor Bowser. "Seventy-one percent of participating students showed year-over-year improvement - that's not just a statistic, that's a kid who showed up, stayed on track, and is one step closer to graduating and building a future right here in DC. And with the Truancy Reduction Programs Amendment Act, we're taking what works, scaling it up, and making every day count."

The Year Two Mid-Year Report covers August 2025 through February 2026 and highlights several key findings:

• Nearly 92% of families were provided Truancy Education during Year 1, with similar trends for Year 2.
• 71% of students who were truant in Year 1 (excluding 12th graders, who graduated out of the pilot) were not truant at the same point in Year 2, indicating a meaningful disruption or delay of early-year truancy patterns.
• 47% of contacted parents accepted case management services, up from 42% in Year 1, reflecting improved family engagement.
• Nearly half of students who completed case management in Year 1 improved attendance and behavioral functioning in as few as 90 days, with Year 2 continuing to show positive results.
• Students in DHS case management experienced smaller mid-year GPA declines than peers who received no intervention, demonstrating the program's impact on academic stability.

View the Year Two Mid-Year Report and prior Truancy Reduction Program reports.

"Our truancy pilot continues to show that early intervention works," said DHS Director A.D. Rachel Pierre. "By removing barriers that keep students from attending school, we're helping them stay engaged and on track. The program's person-centered approach ensures that each student and family receives supports tailored to their unique needs, ultimately creating stronger pathways to long-term student success."

The pilot program replaces referrals to child welfare and courts for truant students with a suite of services aimed at early intervention and comprehensive support. Families with truant students reaching 10 (middle school) or 15 (high school) full-day unexcused absences are connected to DHS-led supports tailored to their needs, including in-person, evidence-supported case management services to District youth between the ages of 10-17 years old using the Transition to Independence Process (TIP)-a strength-based, youth-driven model that supports young adults with emotional or behavioral difficulties.

Case managers provide weekly, school- and community-based interventions; foster life skills development for youth; connect families to services; and track attendance, academic progress, and functional behavior changes using the Child and Adolescent Functional Assessment Scale (CAFAS). CAFAS is a standardized tool used by youth-serving agencies across the country to measure how a young person is functioning at school, at home, and in the community. The assessment helps case managers understand the underlying factors contributing to truancy, such as emotional well-being, behavior, or family stressors, and tailor interventions accordingly. Students are assessed at intake and again at the end of services to measure improvements in functioning and stability.

Building on the results of the pilot, Mayor Bowser introduced the Truancy Reduction Programs Amendment Act of 2026 in her FY27 Budget (Title V., Subtitle F.) to expand and formalize this approach across the District. The legislation would authorize the Mayor to establish citywide truancy reduction programs, require participation from schools with the highest truancy rates, and ensure students are connected to support even earlier-within days of accumulating unexcused absences.

The proposed law would also streamline referral pathways by prioritizing prevention-focused interventions over punitive responses and require regular public reporting on attendance, academic outcomes, and student well-being. Together, the pilot results and proposed legislation reflect a shift toward a more proactive, supportive, data-driven approach to keeping students engaged in school.

As of April 2026, ten schools are participating in the program:

• Anacostia High School
• Eastern High School
• H.D. Woodson High School
• KIPP DC Legacy College Preparatory High School
• KIPP DC College Preparatory High School
• Kramer Middle School
• Cardozo Education Campus
• Dunbar High School
• Cesar Chavez Public Charter School for Public Policy
• Friendship Technology Preparatory High School

The District plans to continue expanding the Truancy Reduction Pilot Program in phases, with a goal of focusing on students in the schools and grade bands with the greatest needs and where the program's evidence-based interventions can have the largest impact. Currently, truant students aged 5-13 at schools not participating in the pilot are referred to Child and Families Services Agency at 10 full-day unexcused absences. Truant students aged 14-17 at schools not participating in the pilot are referred to Court Social Services and the Office of the Attorney General at 15 full-day unexcused absences.

The Bowser Administration has invested in a range of evidence-based strategies to improve student attendance and engagement, including High-Impact Tutoring, dual enrollment, career and technical education, and a partnership with EveryDay Labs whose "nudge" program prevented more than 20,000 absences in School Year 2024-25. Building on these results, Mayor Bowser's FY27 Budget dedicates $7 million to expand tutoring and sustain attendance initiatives. The Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) also recently launched a new public Attendance Dashboard to help families, educators, community members, and policymakers better understand student attendance trends and respond earlier when students are missing too much school.

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