To motivate students, schools help them develop academic and life goals. Some schools assign teacher or student mentors to work closely with truants to encourage their attendance, help them solve problems, provide them with a sense of belonging and security in what may otherwise be perceived as an alienating environment, and even accompany them to school. Most parents appreciate the need for children to attend school, but some are unaware that their children are truant, do not know how to increase their attendance, or may believe that meeting family needs is a satisfactory reason for absence. Some immigrant parents may not understand that attendance is compulsory. First, schools need to inform parents of their children's schedule and, as quickly as possible, of their absences.
Some schools have an automated phone system to report student absences to parents.
School personnel, in a non-confrontational and respectful way, should personally contact parents of truants, visiting their home if necessary, to work with them to overcome problems that cause absenteeism. In some school districts an attendance officer contacts parents because staff efforts have proven ineffective. Officers offer case management services to families, or initiate involvement with the juvenile or family courts. The focus of parent counseling now takes the perspective that truancy is not a child problem, and that it requires a family solution to facilitate family system changes. This helps prevent a sibling from becoming truant when another truant in the family returns to school.