City Cast DC Kids Are Playing Hooky — Is That Driving Up Youth Crime?
Mar 18, 2026
Lauren Lumpkin, Washington Post reporter who co-reported on D.C. truancy and policy, and Robert Samuels, Washington Post reporter focused on education and crime, discuss rising truancy and youth disorder in D.C. They trace trends before and after COVID. They examine data gaps, why kids skip school, after-school program effects, enforcement vs services, and policy moves to reroute truancy reports.
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Truancy Predated COVID And Tied To Youth Crime
- Truancy in D.C. is a long-running problem that predates COVID and contributed to youth crime increases.
- Journalists found rising middle-school truancy over a decade, with systemic promises (after-school, mental health, child-welfare follow-up) left unfulfilled.
Promises Were Made But Not Implemented
- District promises (after-school funding, child-welfare follow-up, school mental health) were made but not followed through, weakening systems meant to curb truancy.
- Leaders repeatedly set goals like '30 after-school programs' but funding cuts and leadership changes left many schools below targets.
Child Welfare Ignored Most Truancy Referrals
- Thousands of school-generated truancy reports to Child and Family Services went uninvestigated, leaving families disconnected from help.
- Reporting found more than 18,000 uninvestigated reports over three years because CFSA prioritized only high-risk abuse cases.