Truancy Intervention: Approaches to Increased Attendance and School Success

The Truancy Intervention Project  (TIP) is an organization that strives to decrease chronic absenteeism by pairing trained volunteers with children and their families to provide them with the advocacy, resources and services necessary to ensure good attendance and success in school. Executive Director, Jessica Pennington, joins us for a conversation to discuss how things have changed since COVID-19, given the increase in dropout numbers. Since 1995, Jessica has overseen education programs, legal services and community relations for the statewide organization at her time with TIP. She is the recipient of the Distinguished Alumnae in Practice Award from the University of Georgia, School of Social Work and a Celebrating Service Pro Bono Award from the Atlanta Bar  Association. She is a past Policy Fellow with the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education and a current Fellow with the Southern Education Foundation’s Policy & Practice Network. Jessica received her undergraduate degree from Georgia State University and a Masters in Social Work from the University of Georgia. She has worked in private child welfare and juvenile justice organizations for over thirty years, beginning her career working with children at the Council on Battered Women and Easter Seals of North Georgia. Residing in Atlanta, she is happily married to elementary school Principal, Caroline Brown, and has a teenage son. Tune in on Wednesday, April 14 @ 12pm EST!