Copenhagen to Offer Support Groups for Parents of Children Missing School

Copenhagen is starting support groups for parents with children facing long school absences. This help applies if your child misses 20 percent of school over two quarters.

That missing time equals about ten days in a single quarter. Prolonged absence often relates to a child's poor well-being at school.

The City of Copenhagen funds the initial support groups for local families. Each group will include eight or nine parents meeting monthly. A family therapist will lead these group meetings with a parent helper.

A new parents' group signed a four-year deal with the city. Louise Gielov and Jens Langorn helped start this parent group. They appeared in a Danish TV documentary about children missing school. After the show, they got over 1,000 messages from parents.

The association now has 2,545 members across the country. They also raised 7 million Danish kroner from private foundations. Long school absence increased from 2.4 percent to 5.1 percent in recent years. This news was reported by Folkeskolen.dk and CPH Post.