In 2010, as an eager and well-intentioned school counselling intern, I picked up the phone and dialed my local child and family services office to report a concern about a student who had been missing from school for several weeks and whose parents were not responding to my invitations to discuss this concern. I understood, or thought I understood, the role of this office in responding to concerns about potential neglect. In placing this call, I naively hoped that a social worker might be sent out to visit the family, ensuring that my young student was back at school and ready to learn starting the next day. As you might imagine, reality was waiting for me on the other end of that phone line. “We don’t deal with attendance issues”, the intake clinician told me. I was surprised but not deterred. I started to explain that what I was witnessing was obviously parental neglect; what else could it be? How could a parent not insist their child attend school? The intake clinician was rushed, and she cut me off immediately: “Right, sorry. We don’t deal with attendance issues. That’s a school issue.” (Click.)
That brief exchange has replayed in my mind at several points in my school counselling career, accompanied by a feeling of helplessness. Whose responsibility is it to oversee school attendance concerns? And how? Over the years, I have learned that the answer to this question is much more complex than I initially understood. School attendance is a highly complicated issue. Of course, attendance is closely correlated with academic success, and chronic absenteeism is among the strongest predictors of academic failure and early dropout (Germain et al., 2024). However, attendance is not just an academic indicator; it is a direct reflection of our students’ sense of belonging, engagement, and wellbeing. Students struggling with anxiety, depression, or attention problems are also those most likely to miss school (Krause et al., 2025), and one study found that students with both ADHD and depressive symptoms missed the most school days of all, highlighting how these comorbidities exacerbate the likelihood of attendance challenges (Darby et al., 2023). Parents who view school attendance as solely the school’s responsibility have children with higher absence rates (Darby et al., 2023). Darby et al. (2023) also reported a strong association between children’s mental-health profiles and parents’ school-involvement beliefs (Spearman’s ρ = –.52, p < .001), and noted that children whose parents viewed attendance as primarily the school’s responsibility had higher absence rates. These findings remind us that absenteeism reflects the health of both the child and the systems surrounding them.
The research shows that absenteeism rarely stems from one cause. Edwards (2013) identified several overlapping contributors: family factors such as poverty or unstable home environments, school dynamics like unmet learning needs or negative teacher relationships, economic barriers including transportation or childcare, and student issues such as mental health or social challenges. Each absence represents a web of stressors that may be appropriate for exploration with a school counsellor.
Despite widespread concern, Canada still lacks a coherent framework for addressing absenteeism. Birioukov (2021) noted that while data collection is consistent across provinces, there are few frameworks to guide intervention. This absence of structure often leaves schools to interpret attendance through an administrative lens, tracking numbers but rarely asking why. School counsellors can help fill this gap. Trained to look beneath behaviour, we can document and share effective strategies, adding the qualitative stories that data alone cannot tell. As Birioukov (2021) suggested, we are in a position to “document and share localized practices that work” (p. 728).
Evidence from Practice
Effective interventions combine structure, relationship, and recognition. Edwards (2013) described an urban middle school program with three key components: weekly attendance monitoring, incentive-based recognition, and short-term counselling sessions. Over the span of one school year, chronic absenteeism dropped from 26.9% to 19.6%. Darby et al. (2023) similarly highlighted how addressing mental health and parental engagement together yielded stronger outcomes. Students with emotional difficulties improved when their parents were included in collaborative planning. Counsellors can adapt this strategy by reaching out to families early, reframing attendance discussions as partnerships rather than corrections. Ultimately, the research shows that relationships are what drives change.
From Punishment to Partnership
Traditionally absenteeism has been treated as a compliance issue. Punitive responses like detentions, suspensions, and piling on missed work may temporarily enforce attendance but do little to foster sustainable engagement between families and the school system. In fact, Birioukov (2021) warned that punitive measures have the opposite effect, reinforcing disengagement. By contrast, Edwards (2013) showed that incentive programs combined with supportive counselling built motivation and trust.
Attendance, then, is less about rule-following than relationship-building. Darby et al. (2023) and Krause et al. (2025) both link attendance to emotional safety and school climate. When schools adopt restorative, collaborative approaches, students can experience showing up not as obligation but as part of belonging to their community.
Practical Strategies for School Counsellors
- Identify early. Review attendance weekly and note patterns. Reach out after 3-5 absences with a curious, non-judgmental check-in. Document the student- and/or parent- stated reasons for absence.
- Integrate mental-health support. Use a brief, repeatable check for anxiety, mood, sleep, and attention. Offer short-term, goals-focused counselling. Know your referral pathways and use them if the situation is out of your scope of practice. Avoid over-pathologising normal stress, and pair skills with concrete school adjustments.
- Engage families. Open with partnership. Provide language access and flexible meeting formats (phone, video, in person). Discuss supports needed around morning routines, transportation, arrival check-in and set a review date in the near future (two weeks). Clarify the supports offered by the school.
- Practise cultural humility. Acknowledge history and harm plainly. Many Indigenous students and families have valid reasons to feel wary of schools and systems. Ask what would make school feel safer, more respectful, or more welcoming. With consent, invite supports that families identify for themselves (e.g., Indigenous support workers, Elders, community partners), and let families set the pace for re-engagement. Build dignified pathways back that might include adjusted start times, arrival check-ins with a trusted adult, or an alternative space for the first block of the day.)
- Foster belonging. Recognition and positive reinforcement matter. Celebrate progress and embed attendance within broader wellbeing initiatives. Ensure the student has a chosen adult who will greet them and check in regularly. Connect students with purposeful roles or activities that guarantee regular contact with caring adults within the school.
- Collaborate systemically. Partner with administrators, teachers, families, and communities to integrate attendance with wellness frameworks. Share pattern insights with those who need to know. Tackle practical barriers where possible (transport, food, caregiving, etc.). Document what works and share it with others.
- Close the loop with simple data. After supports are in place, ask: What helped? Adjust supports accordingly. Protect student dignity in all conversations and share only on a need-to-know basis.
- Plan for re-entry and persistence. Use an Attendance Support Plan that documents reason patterns, arrival routines, first-block entry plan, missed-work priorities, and review dates. Define success markers (e.g., three consecutive on-time arrivals) so everyone can notice and celebrate progress. If progress stalls, widen the circle thoughtfully; if risk emerges, follow your district protocols and code of ethics.
Looking back on the moments when chronic absenteeism left me feeling helpless, I see now that what was missing was connection. The times that student attendance improved were the times when I slowed down, noticed the person in front of me, and stayed long enough for trust and relationship to build. Positive reinforcement helped, and so did time, predictability, and authentic care. Relationships can be slow to build, and early ones are fragile; they need small, steady acts like warm greetings, clear next steps, and dignified do-overs. When attendance is addressed as being about belonging rather than compliance, our ability as counsellors to impact change is enhanced. We know how to connect and build relationships; it’s what we do. As school counsellors, we are well equipped to notice who is missing, to ask gentle questions, and to respond with understanding. Each outreach call, restorative conversation, and family meeting is an act of reconnection. When we think of attendance as a measure of belonging rather than compliance, we are back within our comfort zone, able to facilitate change.
THE AUTHOR:
Lisa Porter, CCC, former school counsellor, current Associate Director at City University M.Ed. School Counselling program
References
Birioukov, A. (2021). Absent on absenteeism: Academic silence on student absenteeism in Canadian education. Canadian Journal of Education / Revue canadienne de l’éducation, 44(3), 718–731. https://doi.org/10.53967/cje-rce.v44i3.4663
Darby, A., Krause, A., & Rogers, M. (2023). Exploring school absenteeism: Reasons why, mental health profiles, and parental involvement perspectives [Poster presentation]. Carleton University.
Edwards, L. S. (2013). School counselors improving attendance. Georgia School Counselor Association Journal, 20(1), 1–5. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1072613
Germain, E., Hernández, L. E., Klevan, S., Levine, R., & Maier, A. (2024). Reducing chronic absenteeism: Lessons from community schools (Report). Learning Policy Institute. https://doi.org/10.54300/510.597
Krause, A., Rogers, M., Jiang, Y., Climie, E. A., Corkum, P., Mah, J. W. T., McBrearty, N., Smith, J. D., & Whitley, J. (2025). A longitudinal investigation of school absenteeism and mental health challenges among Canadian children and youth in the COVID-19 context. Frontiers in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 4, 1604431. https://doi.org/10.3389/frcha.2025.1604431
