O.C. nonprofit uses family approach to get chronically absent kids back to school

A nonprofit based in Orange County is helping to get students who aren’t going to school back into the classroom.

Olive Crest takes a family-based approach to identify what’s causing each child not to come to school. Nina Frankman, director of educational services, tells KNX News’ Margaret Carrero the lack of attendance is just the tip of the iceberg.

“We get into the family and try to go underneath the water to what really isn't as obvious to understand the reasons that this is happening,” she said.

Olive Crest has a contract with about 20 different school districts in Los Angeles and Orange counties. When a family is referred to the organization, they’re connected with a four-person team, including a therapist.

Frankman described working with a student who wasn’t going to school and was physically aggressive toward his mother. The mom would become frustrated because of her son’s refusal to get out of bed, which led to her being “pretty harsh with him.”

Olive Crest’s team taught the mom to try a softer approach.

“We said, what if you get up and you make him breakfast? And so then he would be more apt to get out of bed and to have a pleasant way to start his morning,” she said. “And then we helped them develop their relationship outside of that morning time, when they could just do fun things together to enjoy each other’s company, and that really made a huge difference.”

They also worked to address the son staying up late playing video games, which made it hard for him to get up. Frankman said they’ve been working with the family for about two years, and the student is now going to school every day.

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Since launching the program in October 2020, Frankman says they’ve supported over 500 families.

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