CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Kanawha County Prosecuting Attorney Mark Plants unveiled his plan to crack down on elementary school-aged truants on Wednesday in an effort to keep kids in school and out of the criminal justice system.

"Statistically, 75 percent of kids who are habitually truant in elementary school don't graduate from high school," Plants said. "Two thirds of prison inmates are high school dropouts."

Kanawha County has about 26,000 elementary school-aged children, and more than 5,000 -- almost one in five -- frequently miss school, he said.

Once a child has more than 10 unexplained absences, parents can be held legally responsible, he said.

Under the new initiative, each of the county's 21 attendance officers will be paired with an assistant prosecutor in his office, and Plants hopes will lead to more efficient handling of the truancy cases.

Kanawha County Magistrate Ward Harshbarger, who already presides over all of juvenile offenders' initial encounters with the judicial system, will dedicate three hours a week to truancy cases, according to Plants.

The prosecutor hopes that the Child Protective Services division of the state's Department of Health and Human Resources will have a representative on hand for the hearings as well, to help connect struggling parents with the resources they need to keep their kids in school.

Harshbarger has promised to schedule hearings quickly, within two weeks, so that kids don't miss an additional 60 or 90 days while a hearing is pending, he said.

Before the first hearing, Plants wants attendance officers to conduct a home visit, so they can tell the court about the environment at home.

Plants believes that truant students most likely come from homes where parents abuse drugs or alcohol, or where Child Protective Services need to be involved with the family.

"If they're not in school, the family needs to be provided the resources to get them in school," he said.

Plants modeled the program after a similar initiative in San Francisco. He admits that the plan calls for his staff to act more like social workers, a role that makes some prosecutors, who are trained to convict defendants of crimes, uncomfortable.

"We are in a position, whether we like it or not, to really motivate people to help their kids," he said.

As part of the initiative, Plants plans on sending a pamphlet to every parent of an elementary school-age student, putting them on notice that they are responsible for making sure their child goes to school, and informing them of how they can get help if needed.

"It really is a crime for a kid not to receive an elementary school education, because the rest of their life, they're never going to recover from that. And they're two or three times more likely to be arrested," he said.

Ultimately, Plants hopes that increased attendance will lead to fewer high school dropouts, which in turn will lead to fewer crimes committed in Kanawha County.

In the past two years, while he has been in office, 90 percent of murders committed by defendants who are 25 or younger have involved high school dropouts, he said.

"It's true, if kids aren't in school, sooner or later I'm going to see them in the court system," he said.

Reach Andrew Clevenger at acleven...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1723.