This book is the first detailed survey of absenteeism in Europe. It is the result of a research carried out by the partners of the EU project "Absenteeism - Strategies, Concepts and Materials to Fight Truancy" in 17 European countries. The country reports include detailed information about national statistics on absenteeism as well as general strategies and exemplary projects to fight truancy The book is completed by summarized recommendations for dealing with the problem of absenteeism and includes a glossary.
The Chief Local Government Auditor reports on absenteeism based on data requested from the 26 councils on an annual basis. The data is analysed over a three year period to counter the impact of annual fluctuations in absenteeism which could distort findings particularly within smaller councils. In 2009-10, Northern Ireland councils employed over 9,800 staff at a cost of £299 million. Staff costs account for 42% of the councils' expenditure. The report sets out a number of main findings and recommendations, including: Northern Ireland councils as a whole lost almost 122,000 days to absenteeism in 2009-10, an increase of around 700 days compared to 2008-09; there is a resultant absenteeism rate of 12.39 days for each full time equivalent employee which reflects a marginal reduction of 0.04 days. This absenteeism rate for all Northern Ireland councils is now lower than any annual rate recorded this decade with a reduction of 16%. Stress, depression, mental health and fatigue remains the largest cause of days lost due to absenteeism, responsible for 22% of days lost in 2009-10, down 1% from 2008-09. As in previous reports, the NIAO recommends that councils with high and rising absenteeism rates should review their own management practices and benchmark these against those councils with low and falling absenteeism rates. In general there was an improvement in the quality of absenteeism data presented by the councils.
School absenteeism is a pervasive and difficult problem faced by mental health and school-based professionals. Even in mild forms, school absenteeism has been shown to be a significant risk factor for social, behavioral, and academic problems in middle childhood and adolescence, as well as psychiatric, economic, and occupational difficulties in adulthood. Problematic absenteeism has been examined for decades by professionals of many different disciplines, leading to a considerably fractured literature. Managing School Absenteeism at Multiple Tiers provides an integrative strategy for preventing, assessing, and addressing cases of youth with school absenteeism at multiple levels of severity and complexity. Dr. Christopher Kearney presents a multi-tiered framework based on prevention (Tier 1), early intervention for emerging cases (Tier 2), and more extensive intervention and systemic strategies for severe cases (Tier 3). Each tier is based on empirically supported strategies from the literature, and emphasis is placed on specific, implementable recommendations. This approach is based on a Response to Intervention model that has emerged as a powerful guide to prevention, assessment, and treatment of social and academic problems in schools. Response to Intervention is based upon tenets that parallel developments in the school absenteeism literature: (1) a proactive focus on early identification of learning and behavior problems and immediate, effective intervention, (2) universal, targeted, and intensive interventions, (3) frequent progress monitoring, (4) functional behavioral assessment, (5) empirically supported treatment procedures and protocols to reduce obstacles to academic achievement (including absenteeism), and (6) a team-based approach for implementation. This user-friendly, practical guide will be useful to mental health professionals, school administrators, guidance counselors, social workers and psychologists, as well as others who address kids with problematic absenteeism such as pediatricians and probation officers.
