This truancy prevention publication provides a general background discussion on the issue of truancy but mainly centers on the nuts and bolts of developing and implementing an effective community wide collaborative to address truancy. The first section provides some understanding of the factors associated with truancy and the resulting high costs to society. It attempts to develop one's understanding and need for community collaboration by asserting that no one agency can address the problem successfully. This section also includes a discussion on the importance of building strong social networks so that the entire community creates a sense of ownership and responsibility for the issues the community faces. It ends with a discussion of five types of collaborative relationships as identified by Anderson-Butcher and Ashton (2004). The next chapters introduce and discuss nine strategies for building community collaborations. It includes a Logic Model to graphically display the flow of resources, activities, areas of responsibility, and expected outcomes, both short-and long-term. The final major section provides an in-depth look at three programs in different areas of the United States that have proven to be effective.