By Lester Chang
The Cupertino City Council honored Saratoga resident Terry Mullen this month for helping at-risk high school and elementary students stay in school.
Mullen, for many years a probation officer with Santa Clara County, was recognized for spearheading Cupertino's Youth Outreach Program, which aims to prevents delinquency and divert offenders from the juvenile justice system. He has also been credited with helping set up a truancy court that encourages students to stay in school.
The Fremont Union High School District Board of Trustees also honored Mullen at its April 2 meeting.
"To get recognized for doing something I love doing is the icing on the cake," said Mullen upon receiving the council's proclamation.
Mullen, a 30-year veteran of the probation department, retired April 12 of this year.
The National School Boards Association selected the outreach program as a recipient of the Outstanding 1991 California Community Organization award.
The program is a collaborative effort of the Cupertino Union School District, the Fremont district, the city of Cupertino, the probation department and the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department.
Since the program began in 1990, Mullen worked with offenders, parents and schools to resolve behavioral problems by emphasizing prevention rather than punishment.
Mullen helped students who committed delinquent violations such as petty theft or minor vandalism. He determined whether a student would work on community service projects in Cupertino, attend a class or write an essay about the work experience. He also arranged counseling services when necessary.
Mullen also visited schools and homes to counsel students who were at risk. If youths had no problems for two years, they did not get a police record. If a second violation occurred during the two years, the youth would be sent through the juvenile justice system.
The truancy court also helped encourage students to stay in school. Mullen sits on the School Attendance Review Board, whose makeup includes law enforcement and school officials.
If the review board can not resolve a truancy case, it is sent to truancy court. There, a judge, in an attempt to encourage school attendance, orders parents to deliver a child to school, Mullen said.
Officials in Alameda and Sonoma counties, impressed by the results of the truancy court, are developing systems similar to the Cupertino model, Mullen said.
Mullen said he plans to continue his work on an informal basis after his retirement. He is working with others on legislation that would keep truant offenders from getting their drivers license.
To get a license under the proposed law, teenagers would have to provide documentation to the California Department of Motor Vehicle that they have not been habitually truant,
"People wonder why I want to to do this after I retire," Mullen said. "I am doing it because I just want to help."
This article appeared in the Saratoga News, April 17, 1996.
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