BALTIMORE, Dec. 3, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake today joined officials
from AT&T, the University of
Baltimore (UB) and the UB Foundation, and other local guests
to announce a $300,000 AT&T
Aspire contribution to the UB Foundation to support the UB School
of Law's Center for Families, Children and the Courts and its
Truancy Court Program.
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The announcement was made at the University
of Baltimore's John and Frances Angelos Law Center.
The AT&T Aspire contribution will be used to help develop,
implement and analyze the Truancy Court Program in four
Baltimore City schools that serve
eighth and/or ninth graders. As a result of this
contribution, the program will include enhanced case management;
training on how to intervene if a student is truant; and school
assemblies, small group discussions, and mentoring sessions that
focus on attendance issues for all students at participating
schools.
The UB Foundation is one of 47 contribution recipients
nationwide that together shared more than $10 million under AT&T Aspire this year, one
of the largest corporate commitments in the United States focused on helping more
students graduate from high school ready for college and
careers. AT&T announced an additional
quarter-billion-dollar expansion to the program earlier this year,
bringing the total commitment to $350
million since the program's 2008 launch.
"The Truancy Court Program is a unique project that is designed
to keep students in school and out of the justice system," said
J. Michael Schweder, president of
AT&T Mid Atlantic. "Programs like this, coupled with
Mayor Rawlings-Blake's efforts to promote education and public
safety in the city, will help put students on a path to future
success."
Schweder added that through Aspire, AT&T has supported other
dropout-prevention initiatives in Maryland since 2008. The company has
made contributions to the Center for Social Organization of Schools
at Johns Hopkins University and to
America's Promise in support of the 2009 statewide
dropout-prevention summit. In collaboration with Junior
Achievement, hundreds of students across Maryland also have participated in
job-shadowing events at AT&T facilities in the state, giving
students a chance to make the connection between school and the
workplace.
Aspire applicants were evaluated based on their accomplishments
in serving students at risk of dropping out of high school and on
their ability to use data in demonstrating the effectiveness of
their work. After a rigorous and competitive process, the
Truancy Court Program was identified as making a real difference in
Baltimore by intervening early and
often into the lives of truant students, reducing the number of
their unexcused absences by two-thirds and strengthening the
attachments among the student, the parents and the school.
"In the past few years, our students have made tremendous
progress: the graduation rate is up, and the dropout rate is half
what it was in 2007. But more can and must be done," said Mayor
Rawlings-Blake. "Partnerships like the one between the University of Baltimore and AT&T will help our
great city keep up the momentum—and create brighter futures for our
children."
According to University of Baltimore
President Robert L. Bogomolny,
truancy can be the first step to a lifetime of problems. The
Truancy Court Program is based on a therapeutic, holistic and
nonpunitive model.
"Since it began in 2005, the Truancy Court Program has improved
the lives of more than 1,000 Baltimore
City students and families," Bogomolny said. "Even after
they finish the program, they stay connected and keep learning. I'm
pleased to have AT&T as our partner in expanding and
strengthening the program. Together, we can support those students
for whom school attendance is less than a sure thing. By improving
those odds, we make Baltimore's
future significantly brighter."
The program consists of 10 weekly in-school sessions with a
Baltimore City judge, a team of
school representatives, a center staff person, a University of
Baltimore School of Law student, the
child and the child's family. The team identifies the reasons
underlying a student's truant behavior and then develops and
implements a plan to engage or re-engage the student and the family
with the school. The program also includes a mentor program
and a volunteer initiative that bring mentors and tutors to each
participating school.
University of Baltimore School of
Law students who have been involved in the Truancy Court
Program have seen how the legal system can impact education in the
Baltimore.
"My participation in the Truancy Court Program as a CFCC Student
Fellow dramatically affected my view of the legal system's impact
on our communities," said Catherine
Jackson, a recent graduate of the University of Baltimore School of Law. "I saw firsthand how
judges, sitting side by side with school administrators, teachers,
parents and children, were able to identify and address the
problems underlying truant behavior. I learned how much more
effective we, as lawyers, could be when using a holistic and
therapeutic approach."
Established in 2000, the Center for Families, Children and the
Courts is a center of excellence within the University of
Baltimore School of Law and is a
national leader in promoting family justice-system reform. The
center's mission is to create, foster and support local, state and
national movements to integrate communities, families and the
justice system in order to improve the lives of families and the
health of the community.
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