<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div><br><br><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Alissa Leavitt, MPH, MCHES<br><a href="mailto:green.alissa@gmail.com">green.alissa@gmail.com</a><br><a href="tel:503-358-2331" x-apple-data-detectors="true" x-apple-data-detectors-type="telephone" x-apple-data-detectors-result="3/1">503-358-2331</a></span><div><br></div><div>Sent via iPhone. Please excuse any grammatical errors. </div><div><div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div></div></div></div><div><br>Begin forwarded message:<br><br></div><blockquote type="cite"><div><b>From:</b> Tia Henderson <<a href="mailto:tia@upstreampublichealth.org">tia@upstreampublichealth.org</a>><br><b>Date:</b> October 13, 2014 at 4:47:57 PM PDT<br><b>To:</b> GREENE Kari <<a href="mailto:kari.greene@state.or.us">kari.greene@state.or.us</a>>, Isabelle S BARBOUR <<a href="mailto:isabelle.s.barbour@state.or.us">isabelle.s.barbour@state.or.us</a>>, Kasandra Griffin <<a href="mailto:kasandra@upstreampublichealth.org">kasandra@upstreampublichealth.org</a>>, Ann Curry-Stevens <<a href="mailto:currya@pdx.edu">currya@pdx.edu</a>>, Maureen Hinman <<a href="mailto:maureen@osbha.org">maureen@osbha.org</a>>, Inge Aldersebaes <<a href="mailto:inge@oeachoice.com">inge@oeachoice.com</a>>, Andrew Dyke <<a href="mailto:dyke@econw.com">dyke@econw.com</a>>, Sheldon Loman <<a href="mailto:sheldon.loman@gmail.com">sheldon.loman@gmail.com</a>>, "CHAUMETON, Nigel R" <<a href="mailto:nigel.r.chaumeton@state.or.us">nigel.r.chaumeton@state.or.us</a>>, Scott Perry <<a href="mailto:scott_perry@soesd.k12.or.us">scott_perry@soesd.k12.or.us</a>>, Alissa Green <<a href="mailto:green.alissa@gmail.com">green.alissa@gmail.com</a>>, "Charbonneau, Diana" <<a href="mailto:charbonneau.d@ghc.org">charbonneau.d@ghc.org</a>>, Peggy SAMOLINSKI <<a href="mailto:peggy.l.samolinski@multco.us">peggy.l.samolinski@multco.us</a>>, Katia Riddle <<a href="mailto:katia@childinst.org">katia@childinst.org</a>>, Hedy Chang <<a href="mailto:hedy@attendanceworks.org">hedy@attendanceworks.org</a>>, Aimee Craig <<a href="mailto:Craig@chalkboardproject.org">Craig@chalkboardproject.org</a>><br><b>Subject:</b> <b>Press release: Relationship Between Health and Student Chronic Absenteeism</b><br><br></div></blockquote><div><span></span></div><blockquote type="cite"><div><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr">Hi all,</div><div dir="ltr">Please disseminate our new report among your networks :) Kasandra will send it out to the HKLB list, fyi.</div><div dir="ltr">Thank you!</div><div dir="ltr">Tia<br>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Palatino"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Palatino">FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE</span></b><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Palatino"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Palatino">October 13, 2014</span></b><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Palatino"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Palatino"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Palatino">Contact: </span></b><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Palatino">Tia Henderson, Research Manager, <a href="tel:503-284-6390" value="+15032846390" target="_blank">503-284-6390</a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Palatino">Kasandra Griffin, Policy Manager Food
and School Health, <a href="tel:503-284-6390" value="+15032846390" target="_blank">503-284-6390</a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Palatino"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Palatino">Report Finds Relationship Between
Health and Student Chronic Absenteeism</span></b><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Palatino"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Palatino"> </span></b><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Palatino"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Palatino">Portland, OR – Upstream Public
Health, concerned that children’s future success is wavering because children
are not in school, released a report on how chronic absenteeism is related to
health. Oregon’s students have some of the highest chronic absenteeism rates in
the country. Chronic absenteeism is when a child misses 10% of
school days for any reason - just two days a month on average - during the
school year. The topic emerged recently as a new education priority critical to
attaining Oregon’s graduation goals.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Palatino"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Palatino"><a href="http://www.upstreampublichealth.org/resources/ChronicAbsenteeismReport" target="_blank">The report</a> looks “upstream” at factors in
communities, at home, and at schools that lead to chronic absenteeism. The
report reviews data and research on student absences – finding that unexpected
factors such as unstable housing, fear of bullying, and punitive school
discipline policies, as well as health conditions such as hunger, dental pain,
respiratory illness, and depression contribute to absenteeism. The
report puts forward policy recommendations that begin with schools using a
common definition of chronic absenteeism. It also recommends that chronic
absence data be used as one factor in allocating and coordinating social
service delivery to schools. “We need that village - when educators work with
social services and health professionals they can get the resources that our
most vulnerable kids need to be healthy and engaged in school,” suggests Dr.
Tia Henderson, Research Manager at Upstream Public Health and lead author of
the report. Hedy Chang, the Director of Attendance Works agrees with a
collaborative approach. “Improving attendance is not just up to
schools. Across the country, we see the most gains occurring when
educators and community partners join forces to examine absence data in real
time in order to leverage shared resources to take action.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Palatino"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Palatino">This report goes beyond the problem
to identifying solutions. It gives case study examples of communities working
to address chronic absenteeism locally and beyond Oregon. “Chronic absence
is a corrosive and debilitating problem in Oregon, one that threatens our most
vulnerable population of children and demands immediate action,"
states Katia Riddle, Senior Communications and Policy Associate at the
Children’s Institute. "The Children's Institute applauds Upstream Public
Health for issuing this important report and in so doing raising awareness
around chronic absence and helping the state of Oregon to understand it
thoroughly.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Palatino"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Palatino">About Upstream Public Health</span></b><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Palatino"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Palatino">Upstream Public Health (Upstream) was
founded in 2003 to improve health and reduce health disparities in Oregon by
implementing innovative solutions to prevent the root causes of premature death
and disease. Upstream advances policy and program solutions designed to change
the factors that contribute to poor health - the places where we live, work,
and play. In other words, our focus is on preventing sickness, rather than
treating it. Upstream is currently working to create healthy school
environments and to promote early childhood preventive services. We believe
that all kids should have the opportunity to eat healthy school lunches and
that everyone should have access to dental services to prevent and treat
painful cavities. We also work to improve active transportation options and
decrease tobacco use among teens.</span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Palatino"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Palatino">Please let me know if you have any
questions,</span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Palatino"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Palatino">Tia Henderson</span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Palatino"></span></p>
<div><div><div dir="ltr"><span style="font-family:Helvetica,Verdana,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:12px;color:rgb(85,85,85);line-height:15px"><a href="http://www.upstreampublichealth.org/" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.upstreampublichealth.org/sites/all/themes/upstream/logo_sig.png" alt="" style="float:left;border:none;margin:0px 17px 0px 0px"></a><div style="float:left;margin:7px 0px"><b style="color:rgb(126,177,181)">Tia Henderson, PhD</b> Research Manager at <a href="http://www.upstreampublichealth.org/" title="visit Upstream Public Health" style="color:rgb(126,177,181);white-space:nowrap" target="_blank">Upstream Public Health</a><br><a href="mailto:tia@upstreampublichealth.org" style="color:rgb(126,177,181)" target="_blank">tia@upstreampublichealth.org</a> <span style="color:rgb(204,204,204)">|</span>office <a style="color:rgb(85,85,85);text-decoration:none">503-284-6390</a> <span style="color:rgb(204,204,204)">|</span></div></span></div></div>
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