MORGAN CO., Alabama (WAFF) – The Morgan County District Attorney says he wants to expand the truancy program created by Decatur City Schools to the district.
The Helping Families Initiative, or HFI, works with 23 local agencies and organizations. District Attorney Scott Anderson told our news partners at Decatur Daily that he modeled the program after a similar program in Mobile County.
Anderson said he has had some success with the program since it was launched last year.
“We had a star student whose grades suddenly plummeted,” Anderson told our news partners. “She got in trouble, got suspended, and that’s why she was referred to us. Her mother had died, her father was working, and he couldn’t get her to go to school.”
Anderson said his team was able to get the young woman into therapy, where she was diagnosed with an eating disorder. After addressing that, the HFI team began helping her catch up on school work.
“A very smart young lady,” Anderson said. “She completed an entire semester of a course in one weekend. They thought she was cheating, but she was very intelligent.”
But Anderson said his team didn’t stop there. After she opened up to them and told them about her favorite hobby, they told her she could turn her hobbies into a career. Now they’re helping her apply to college.
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