Running head: CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Critical Analysis: Methodist Action Program (M.AP.)

The Youth Moving Forward Truancy Intervention Program
Wilmington University

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Critical Analysis: Methodist Action Program (M.A.P.)

The Youth Moving Forward Truancy Intervention Program
The Methodist Action program (M.A.P.) is a faith based non-profit organization that has a
few different community based youth programs that fall under the umbrella of their youth
moving forward programs. The organization is currently sponsored by the Peninsula Delaware
Conference of the United Methodist Church. The Truancy Intervention Program is a program
geared to helping the youth of New Castle County Delaware who are having problems attending
school on a regular basis. Truancy according to the Christina School District student manual
(2014) is defined as followed:
A student enrolled in grades k through 12 inclusive is considered truant if such a student
has been absent from school without valid excuse, as defined in Rules and Regulations of
the State Board of Education, for more than three (3) cumulative or consecutive school
days during a given school year. Schools will take action regarding unexcused absences
including, but not limited to, written communications, home visits, required
parent/guardian conferences, and referral of the parent for prosecution (truancy charges).
A parent/guardian who is determined to violate the States compulsory school attendance
laws is subject to penalties as described by State law.
The truancy intervention program is a program that steps in and feels the gap between truant
students, court, and school. The programs headquarters is located in the Southbridge section of
Wilmington Delaware within the Neighborhood House. The program provides guidance for
youth who are truancy court ordered to either the truancy intervention program directly or to the
Douglas Alternative School, which the truancy intervention program has partnered with. The

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program not only deals with truancy issues with the youth that are taking part but also working
on independent living skills that will help the students establish, work towards, and achieve
goals. The program provides group and individual settings to try a direct the youth in to a more
positive direction by way of decision making and caring for themselves as well as others. The
truancy intervention program will attend court dates with the youth involved in the program and
work along with the judges and school paras to give each youth fighting chance to work
themselves back to their regular home school within New Castle County Delaware. The program
will also work with the parents and guardians who need help by pairing them with services that
they may need in order to provide the best possible learning environment for the students.
The students target populations that are eligible for the program are from grades seventh
thru tenth and ages thirteen to eighteen. The students will be court ordered by truancy court 10
and are registered in a New Castle County Public, Charter, Private, or Alternative school. The
program will host anywhere from ten to twenty-five students because the program is just getting
off the ground. Anytime something is getting off the ground of course obstacles will raise and
that is when management will step in to make sure things go according to plan.
The management team is very small at the current moment with only two pay roll
employees and one intern. There is an executive director and site-supervisor that have assigned
titles and assigned responsibilities. As the intern my role is to shadow, take notes, learn, assist
when it is needed, and ask questions about thinks that I do not know or understand. That is
currently the make-up of the managerial team that is in place.
The truancy intervention program is managed in a passive/aggressive manner. Why
passive/aggressive one would ask and I would answer by saying the executive director wants

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results and he has been very successful professionally with just about everything that he has done
in his life but with that being said he hired a site supervisor and basically told him to run it but he
has not equipped him with a curriculum or any help in implementing a curriculum. He is quick
to criticize what is not being done but not recognizing what is being done and how to improve. I
would also say that the executive director is absent from the program. There is no way that a
person can have a pulse on a program by only being in the office for two to three hours a week
and you do not trust the person you hired to do a job. When it comes to the leg work he is
probably unknown to most of the school heads that the site supervisor has developed
relationships with. When it comes to the students that are involved in the program they do not
know who he is because he does not come outside of the program to represent the truancy
intervention program. If I where the director I believe my management style would be different
for the programs success.
The first thing that I would do as an executive director would be to develop the
curriculum for the program that I want to head. I would look at the history of a program with
some success and improve it to help out my clientele. I would then hire someone that I trust and
can be on the same page with when it comes to the implementation and tracking of the programs
success. I would be in the building and go with my site supervisor to the courts, schools, home
visits, and outings to develop a professional functioning relationship as well as a repor with the
clients. One person developing, implementing, and keeping track of twenty five youth that are
truant is almost impossible. Lastly, I would be there for my staff and take an interest in how I
can lead them better by being honest with myself. There are somethings that are going on
currently in the program that I do like and I would continue as the executive director. Because of
my site supervisors experience and networking abilities I would support his ability to make

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connections with other agency heads for example, principals, directors, education specialist etc
I would continue to give him the freedom to go out in the field and be present as a Black male
figure for the students in the program. A lot of the children in the program do not trust a lot of
people because people have told them that they will be there for them but they are not present
when the student looks for them. Lastly, I would keep the Peninsula Delaware Conference of the
United Methodist Church satisfied with the progress of the truancy intervention program in order
to continue the financial support that they are already supplying.
When it comes to funding and the financial stability of the program the truancy
intervention program has to have success and be influential in the communities that it services.
The Peninsula Delaware Conference of the United Methodist Church has been around for years
and is stable in its own right however that does not mean that it will support a program that is
failing in its mission or failing the students in the truancy intervention program. I would also do
some grant writing for federal, state, and local government funding to be less of a burden on the
only financial support group that the program currently has. I would also look into fund raising
that the students want to develop and have input in that way they will feel a part of the success of
the program and as the mature and get older they might give back in any way possible.
One of the ways the program will improve is by hiring other employees to continue to
build the program. If I was the director I would look for different types of employees. Although
some of these employees would be different in their own professional manner by way of
specialty areas they would all share the willingness to want to put students before themselves.
They would all be driven and versatile in the way the carry out the mission of the program. All
the employees would care for other people and they could take and give feedback but remain
professional at all times. Lastly, they would want to be a positive influence on the lives of

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troubled youth and not be afraid to think outside the box without breaking any policies or
procedures. The type of interns I would want for the program are go getters and they want to
learn the program inside and out. They would want to have such a good experience that they
know what they are doing and possibly come back to either become an employee or a volunteer.
I would like for the interns to feel comfortable and ask questions and share their experiences that
could possibly lead to new and exciting ideas.

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7
References

Christina School District (2014). Student manual. Retrieved on March, 11, 2015.
Methodist Action Program (2014). Youth moving forward: The Methodist action program
Retrieved on February 17, 2014