Oklahoma City police have taken on a new way of addressing truancy. The former truancy program averaged nearly 200 citations each year for unexcused absences. In 2021, the Youth Enrichment Services program has issued zero citations and has provided services to more than 150 families. The goal of the program is to help families and improve community relations.
Master Sgt. Michael Aleman said the department realized it was the same kids over and over who were missing school. Aleman said they shifted the focus to elementary kids to help them early. Amidst a multitude of socioeconomic reasons these students weren’t going to school, there was one repetitive issue: head lice.
To secure treatment kits for families, the department turned to Saint James the Greater Catholic Church in Oklahoma City.
With the support of Father Pruett, Deacon Marti Gulikers and the Knights of Columbus, the program soon had access to several lice kits to distribute within the community.
“This has grown into a huge ministry, where if a family needs food, they have access to a multitude of food banks. We can bypass red tape, and we can feed a family within an hour," Aleman said.
“It started small with different groups in the parish providing lice kits for them and just snowballed because it’s just a good thing,” Deacon Gulikers said. I think that’s a good way for the police to reach out to families. They see the families in need. Parishes don’t always see those families in need. We are just one parish that is helping. If everyone is doing that, it is going to be a great help to the police department.”
Father Bill Pruett said it’s important to work to establish relationships between the police department and the communities they serve, including the community of Saint James Catholic Church, which has a large Hispanic population.
Saint James also hosts a Red Andrews Dinner at Christmas, invites police officers to visit the school and works through Deacon Fernando Hernandez to help at-risk youth.
While the program began with the support of Saint James, it has expanded to include several local organizations.
“This is a new way of doing community-based policing and to get embedded in our communities,” Aleman said. “We help each other rather than penalizing each other.”
Sgt. Jordan Wacker reached out to food banks and other agencies, creating new partnerships within the community.
“Those partnerships have allowed us to provide goods, clothing and food, and to be able to get those needs met that day, immediately, which is huge for us,” Wacker said. “You don’t want to go out to a family, and they say, ‘We’re starving,’ and get back to them in a couple of days. Partnerships with Saint James, Urban Mission, Pivot and Sharing Tree have been invaluable.”
Now, when police respond to a call where a child was exposed to a traumatic event, they create an alert within the system, which alerts the school system and the truancy program that a child was exposed to trauma.
“The longer we have worked with the schools and dealt with these families, most of the time they are not missing school, especially in elementary, because of behavior. There is usually some type of life stress or basic need. Instead of punishing them, we help meet their needs. Then, it’s a lot easier to concentrate on the day-to-day stuff,” Wacker said.
Tabitha Narvaiz, executive director of the Sharing Tree, an Oklahoma City-based nonprofit, said it’s especially important to partner with OCPD because they're so passionate about helping people.
“This is profound,” Narvaiz said, “this is unlike any other school district I have seen. I think they are on the cutting edge of what these services can do.”
Organizations like the Sharing Tree comprise essential partnerships for the newly named Youth Enrichment Services program.
“We have a facility stocked with clothing, shoes, etc. Clients come in and shop based on their needs and preferences, and we want to make sure their clients come in and feel valued, special, dignified.”
Eliana Tedrow is a freelance writer for the Sooner Catholic.
Photo: Sgt. Jordan Wacker, Dcn. Marti Gulikers Fr. Bill Pruett and Msgt. Michael Aleman of Youth Enrichment Services for the Oklahoma City Police Department. Photo provided.