Fall Symposium Recap
Here’s What You Missed if You Could Not Attend
Pictured L-R: Deputy Mayor of Education Paul Kinh, DCAAP President Jessie Weisz, MD; Maya Martin Cadogan – Parents Amplifying Voices in Education (PAVE); Shawn Hardnett – Statesmen College Preparatory Academy; Amanda Stewart – MD, MPH, FAAP, At-Large Board Member; Nathaniel Beers, MD, MPA, FAAP – Children’s National Hospital; Danielle Robinette -Children’s Law Center; Alicia Washington – Office of Attorney General.
On Thursday night (10/17), nearly 100 pediatric, government, school and community leaders, as well as parents registered to attend the Chapter’s Annual Fall Symposium focused on chronic absenteeism. Deputy Mayor of Education Paul Kinh opened the meeting with an overview of why attendance matter and how the DC government is focused on addressing the challenges parents and children face attending school through the city’s “Every Day Counts” initiative.
Jaytoya Manget, DNP and a DCAAP at-large board member, built on the deputy mayor’s talk by sharing an update on CARE-H (a Collaborative for Attendance Resources in Education and Health), and its aims to align resources and support for students to improve academic and health outcomes while decreasing absenteeism. Resources are available for all DC schools. More information on CARE-H will be added to the School Health Toolkit on AAPDC.org.
A panel then followed the preliminary presentations to discuss medicaland mental health interventions as well as social barriers to improving school attendance. The panelists shared many stories about the obstacles children face trying to attend school. Attendees were asked to share their stories and thoughts on potential solutions. A Google form is available if you would like to share some of the stories you see in practice that may be used for future Chapter advocacy efforts.
As part of the Chapter’s Prescription for the District (Rx4DC), we will continue this discussion with those who participated and as well as any others who would still like to weigh in on the right solutions to addressing chronic absenteeism. As pediatric care providers, we know there are many reasons children struggle to attend school. We are committed to being a part of the solution. If you are interested in this work, please reach out to Jaytoya Manget, Jess Weisz, or any of the chapter board members to become more involved.