1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Chronic Absenteeism Reduction Act . 2. Findings Congress finds the following: (1) Students who are chronically absent—meaning they miss 10 percent or more of the school year—are more likely to experience hardships later in life and 68 percent less likely than their peers to graduate. (2) The Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights Data Collection found that over 6.8 million students were chronically absent during the 2013–2014 school year. This makes up 14 percent of all students. (3) Chronically absent students are more likely to become high school drop outs. This leaves them prone to living in poverty, suffering from diminished health, and being involved in the criminal justice system later in life. Nineteen percent of high school students are chronically absent. (4) The Department of Education has found that, Chronic absenteeism is widespread and Research suggests the reasons for chronic absenteeism are as varied as the challenges our students and families face—including poor health, limited transportation, and a lack of safety—which can be particularly acute in disadvantaged communities and areas of poverty. . (5) A report by the Everyone Graduates Center found that chronic absenteeism can stem from a wide range of often overlapping internal and external factors. External factors include homelessness, family dysfunction, and transportation