MEDIA ADVISORY

What: Discussion about the relationship between truancy and adolescent health, featuring Kimberly Henry, assistant professor of psychology at Colorado State University.
When: 10 to 11:30 a.m., Tuesday, March 18
Where: Open Society Institute-Baltimore
201 North Charles Street, Suite 1300

Seating is limited. Please call Molly Farneth at 1-410-234-1092 to reserve a seat.

BALTIMORE—The Open Society Institute–Baltimore will host the third forum in its series about truancy—this one focusing on adolescents who chronically skip school and the likelihood that they will use drugs and alcohol, engage in violence, and enter the juvenile justice system.

This forum features Kimberly Henry, assistant professor of psychology at Colorado State University, who studies how truancy harms adolescents’ development. Her research concentrates on the connection between drug abuse and teens’ lack of involvement in school. Her findings suggest that truancy is linked to performing poorly in school and spending time with delinquents. Her work also suggests that the opposite is true: Attending class and being engaged in school promote healthy development and decision-making in adolescents. Henry received her doctorate in biobehavioral health from Pennsylvania State University and has studied and written about school disengagement and its devastating effects on adolescents.

Chronic absence not only undermines an adolescent’s success in school, but it also damages a young person’s physical and mental well-being. “Skipping school is the first step on a dangerous path toward many risky behaviors, including drug and alcohol abuse, violence, and even involvement with the juvenile justice system,” said Diana Morris, director of OSI-Baltimore. "This forum will give policy makers, educators, service providers, advocates, and funders an opportunity to discuss how Baltimore’s school engagement initiatives can reduce students’ academic failure and substance abuse.”

This forum series builds on OSI-Baltimore’s ongoing effort to increase the number of children who are in school every day by addressing the root causes of school absence such as limited transportation, fear of violence, poor health, the excessive use of suspension and expulsions, and unwelcoming schools. Past forum series and grants have promoted school-wide approaches to teaching good behavior, supportive services to address students’ non-academic needs, and in-school consequences for students who misbehave.

The last forum in the truancy series will be held:

10 to 11:30 a.m., April 23 – Daniel Losen is senior education law and policy associate of the Civil Rights Project at UCLA. He will discuss the impact of the federal “No Child Left Behind” Act on truancy and drop out rates. Prior to joining the Civil Rights Project, Losen practiced education law for economically disadvantaged students in Massachusetts. Before becoming a lawyer, Losen taught in public schools for ten years. His current research and advocacy work concerns the impact of federal, state, and local education law and policy on students of color, the school-to-prison pipeline, and school “push out” and “drop out."

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Founded by philanthropist George Soros, OSI-Baltimore is a private operating foundation that supports a grantmaking, educational, and capacity-building programs to expand justice and opportunity for Baltimore residents. With support from a range of investors, its current work focuses on helping Baltimore's youth succeed, reducing the social and economic costs of incarceration, tackling drug addiction, and building a corps of Community Fellows to bring innovative ideas to Baltimore's underserved communities.