DC school tries paying families in truancy reduction effort

A school in Washington, D.C., is launching a program to address truancy by providing direct cash payments to families .

At the Social Justice School in Northeast, 15 families are set to receive $2,400 each over three months through weekly payments on their debit cards.

The charter school initiative will begin distributing the first payments later this month, aiming to combat truancy by providing direct financial support to families.

Mother’s Outreach Network, a nonprofit organization focused on racial justice and poverty alleviation, is overseeing the program, which is primarily funded by a grant from the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia.

“What we hope to do is demonstrate the importance of providing parents with economic security so they don’t have to struggle to get their children to school, and they don’t have to struggle to keep food on the table,” Melody Webb, executive director of Mother’s Outreach Network, told WTOP News.

“Our larger initiative really is to address poverty and to address the family instability that results from poverty that sometimes leads to unhealthy behaviors and truancy,” she said.

Webb said some families find it challenging to ensure their children attend school regularly, particularly those who occasionally depend on rideshare services.

The Social Justice School is the first in the district to offer this kind of program.

“This can provide them with extra cash to get children to school,” Webb said. “We want the city to take a more progressive approach, which is to support families rather than punish them.”

Selected families were identified as at-risk due to high exposure to gun violence or significant challenges with housing or food security.

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“The Office of the Attorney General recognizes the critical role local organizations play in helping ensure that young people have the tools and skills necessary for long-term success,” District of Columbia Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb said in a news release .

He also said prevention work, along with policing and prosecution, “is a critical component of any comprehensive public safety strategy that will help keep the District safe now and in the future.”