In l998 Judge Joan Byer of the Circuit Court in Louisville Kentucky decided to set up an experiment in which children brought before the court for truancy could be enrolled in a program designed to help them achieve academic success. The program entailed identifying the problems and circumstances that led to truancy, the provision of remedies where possible, and weekly monitoring of each student by Judge Byer. Monitoring took place at the school where Judge Byer would appear, in her robe, with her bailiff, on Thursdays. The program was “strength-based” rather than oriented to infractions and punishments: that is, however small the success it was that rather than the failures that would be emphasized. Parents were asked to attend the weekly sessions as a show of support for the children and to reinforce their understanding of the importance of school attendance. When the adults were seen to be under stress, efforts were made to find relief for them as well. A majority of the children who participated in the 12 week program began attending school regularly and making progress in their academic work.

This success attracted the attention of the Standing Committee on Substance Abuse of the American Bar Association which saw in Judge Byer’s program a possible addition to the services offered to families through Unified Family Courts, a movement that the Committee had supported for many years. Indeed Judge Byer’s program is deeply aligned with the UFC philosophy of using the courts as a way to identify needs in a community and deliver services to fill those needs. Because studies have found that many truants are also drug abusers, the program was directly relevant to the primary interest of the Committee which is to address the causes of drug addiction and offer remedies rather than to blindly punish. Consequently the Committee applied for and received a grant to facilitate the expansion of this program elsewhere. As a first step the Committee invited Judges and associates from four cities across the country to attend a workshop given by Judge Byer in Louisville, Kentucky in May of 2000. The participants came from Baltimore, Phoenix and Kansas City. All three groups returned to their hometowns ready to take steps toward instigating similar programs. The programs in Kansas City and Phoenix are up and running and Baltimore is on the way.