Guidelines for responding to immediate crisis situations in attendance and strategies for longterm prevention are presented in this handbook, which stresses the need for interagency cooperation. The handbook serves as a model for both content and process, with the ultimate aim of promoting an arena in which the most appropriate service delivery can occur. Following the introduction, the second section provides information about student nonattendance, examining causes and effects of absenteeism. Immediate considerations for schools are discussed next, such as the identification of truants, assessment, and development of a process model for intervention. Ways to utilize the service district attendance officer are described in the fourth section. The fifth section offers suggestions for developing attendance policy and procedure, and section 6 presents Oregon laws regarding attendance issues. A community resources index and one figure are included. (23 notes; 51 references) (LMI)