Truancy Court Program Adds New Manager, Mentor
September 23, 2008
Contact: University Relations
Phone: 410.837.5739
The University of Baltimore School of Law's Center for Families, Children and the Courts recently added two employees to its growing Truancy Court Program team. The new employees provide expertise and support to CFCC's initiative to address the truancy and drop-out crisis in Baltimore City's public schools.
Leigh Dalton, a 2008 School of Law cum laude graduate and former community school director for Baltimore's Barclay Elementary and Middle School, has been appointed the Truancy Court Program's manager and school liaison. In that capacity, she will collaborate with the Baltimore City Public School System and the District and Circuit Courts for Baltimore City to operate the TCP in six public schools during the 2008-09 school year.
The participating schools include: Barclay Elementary and Middle School; Highlandtown Elementary and Middle School; William H. Lemmel Middle School; Steuart Hill Academic Academy [elementary and middle school]; Patterson High School; and Walter P. Carter Elementary and Middle School. Dalton also will be responsible for coordinating efforts among program volunteers, implementing community and school outreach, and acting as a liaison between CFCC and the schools' administration, teachers, parents and guardians.
Dalton is a student in the Education Policy doctoral program at UMBC and was awarded a bachelor of arts degree in political science from Amherst College in 2003. She received the University of Baltimore Public Service Scholar Award earlier this year, and served as staff editor of the School of Law's Intellectual Property Law Journal in 2005-06.
Moses Washington, host of a local radio talk show and a former track star, has been named a mentor for the TCP. In this role, he will work with students, parents, teachers, TCP volunteer judges and others to encourage and inspire participating students to improve their school attendance, classroom behavior, and academic progress. Washington, a 2005 graduate of the masters program in human relations at the University of Oklahoma and a published playwright, will join former Baltimore Colt Anthony "Bubba" Green, the TCP mentor coordinator, in the mentoring effort.
Washington was a member of the 1997 U.S. Pan American track and field team and served as a mentor with the Big Brothers organization in Norman, Okla. He earned a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Oklahoma in 2003.
The Truancy Court Program is an innovative, early intervention and non-punitive approach to truant behavior that addresses the root causes of truancy. It is a cooperative venture with the Baltimore City Public School System, the Circuit and District Courts for Baltimore City, and the Mayor’s Office to encourage elementary and middle-school students to attend school.
The University of Baltimore is a member of the University System of Maryland and comprises the School of Law, the Yale Gordon College of Liberal Arts and the Merrick School of Business.