“I didn’t know what social work in a school setting would look like,” explains Chelsea Guevara, an SDSU senior majoring in Social Work who was chosen to be part of United Way’s Every Student, Every Day cohort. The absence intervention initiative coordinates schools, teachers, and staff with interns who develop relationships with students that are chronically absent and their families to help understand the barriers they face getting to school every day, on time.

“I’m a big-picture, macro person,” Chelsea explains in the small office she occupies at a local elementary school. “I’ve worked on larger projects, like San Diego’s homeless population, but this was a chance to develop the micro side, to build these special relationships with the kids and their parents while watching out for their needs on campus. That’s been an important part of my work, seeing that development.”

One family on her caseload involved two sisters—Izzy (11) and Davina (6), who were chronically absent. The reasons were multiple—which is often the case with children whose home circumstances present challenges to regular attendance. “Sometimes, one of the girls was sick and the mom kept the other home as well. Their transportation was spotty, and it wasn’t clear if the mom was employed.” Adding to those challenges was Izzy’s temper: “Izzy got into fights because people annoyed her, and she hasn’t been taught positive ways to handle her emotions,” Chelsea says. “She’s also protective of her younger sister, so anyone who messes with Davina, will mess with Izzy.” As a result, Izzy was frequently suspended, which compounded the families’ challenges.

The girls’ spotty school attendance had other explanations: according to Izzy, her mother had stage four cancer, which may account for some of the girls’ absences. The other family members’ limitations also played a part. When the girls stayed with her their grandmother, it was hard for them to get to school because grandma did not drive. Visiting her often meant missing school. Meanwhile, the girls’ mom was often with an aunt. “According to my Task Supervisor,” Chelsea adds, “She stayed with her aunt to take care of her.”

To help make the holidays a bit brighter, a $200 gift card was donated to the family. “We chose Izzy and Davina’s family because it would benefit their large family – they have other siblings as well – and they have been working harder towards improving their attendance.”

As her internship continued, Chelsea started noticing that the school staff underestimated poverty’s impact on the families they served. “Everyone seemed to forget that this school may be the only regularity these families have,” she explains. In an effort to help the teachers and staff better understand the families’ struggle with scarcity, she began researching school-based “poverty simulations.”

“I had been to a poverty simulation as an undergrad and found it very impactful. I thought it could help shed some light on the situations that these families deal with, day in and day out.”

The Poverty Simulation included a 48-minute tour, simulating one month, where every 12 minutes represented a week in the life of a family in poverty. Staff and faculty were asked to go through situations similar to those of the families whose children they taught and supported.

“It was very family specific — a mom, a dad, two kids. Dad had lost his job. The family had a set amount of resources and money. How do you live that month? What if the school is shut down, or there’s a holiday?” Such obstacles were put in place to simulate what might happen; participants had to find their way through those restrictions and barriers. “For example, the pawn shop employee only spoke Spanish. What if you don’t speak Spanish? How do you do business? ‘Just speak the language we speak!’ someone shouted. We have a lot of families that don’t speak English here. It could take a while before they got a translator; resources are scarce. How do you communicate?”

At first, Chelsea admits, teachers and faculty didn’t take the simulation seriously. “But by the end, it got very intense. They were yelling at the volunteers. If they were frustrated by this imaginary experience, imagine how these parents must feel.”

Chelsea hoped the experience raised staff consciousness; she understands how it would be easy to get complacent, when you’re working every day with families who have complicated lives. “At the end, we had a 15-minute regroup session where we discussed the experience. I wanted [staff] to realize that even just five minutes of interaction with students or their families, asking ‘How’s your week going? What can I do to support you?’ could go a long way to help them feel supported and seen.”

United Way Impact Manager Nina Ghatan, Chelsea’s supervisor, mentions another convert to the cause: “What’s amazing about Chelsea is that she was able to get buy-in from the principal. He actually devoted a faculty meeting to this project, which says a lot, considering he’s only allotted two meetings a semester, so he put a lot of trust in her.”

Chelsea smiles. “He didn’t expect to be part of the simulation, but I told him, ‘Nope, you’re part of it!’ “ She also sweetened the deal by lowering the cost. “I knew [official poverty simulations for schools] cost money—like, $2,000. My homemade version looked just the same; all the information was just as impactful.”

“Chelsea continued juggling her caseload,” Nina continued, “organized this simulation, met with me weekly… she also has a job and is active in her sorority!”

“It mattered to me,” Chelsea concludes, shrugging. “And now that I know how critical absenteeism is, I won’t let it fall by the wayside. Maybe I’ll end up working on it in a different capacity. This opportunity—working hands-on with the children—was so invaluable to me.”

Chelsea graduated in May 2019 from SDSU’s Department of Social Work. Currently, she works for a company dedicated to empowering and supporting college women. Her hope is to enter the world of nonprofit in the future.

UWSD’s Every Student, Every Day initiative offers a set of interventions to increase school attendance and close the achievement gap by facilitating partnerships between schools, universities, community providers, families, and students. United Way collaborates closely with elementary schools in the San Diego region to improve outcomes for local children and their families. Every Student, Every Day has consistently produced positive results for children and families, including increased attendance for participating students.

Fifty-six books over four weeks. Jackson Ellis may have set a record at last summer’s Readers in the Heights (RITH), a literacy initiative, coordinated by United Way of San Diego County, that brings summer enrichment opportunities to elementary students in City Heights.

“It was shocking to us, too,” said his mother, Ann, “but he’s competitive; he was given a challenge.”

That challenge was collecting “book bucks”— a model used in collaboration with Traveling Stories, a partner program that helps kids fall in love with reading by offering incentives. The more books a student reads, the more “bucks” they earn; the more bucks they earn, the better the prize. By summer’s end, book bucks bring bonanzas from board games to basketballs. “Jackson was reading at home every night so he could get those book bucks!”

Readers in the Heights keeps students reading and learning all summer long, a time when many students regress because they’re out of school. Summer learning loss—or summer slide — puts students behind in reading achievement, which impacts their overall school success.

Jackson struggled in second and third grade, his mom said, “but now he’s become a more confident reader. Smoother, with better comprehension.” And he’s developed some bookish habits. “When we were getting ready for vacation, he packed books in case he had time. He also wrote in his journal during vacation.”

Summer 2019 was RITH’s fourth year of operation. United Way plans to use the motivational techniques learned here to help literacy in other parts of the county soon.

Meanwhile, Ann is grateful for the support it offers and has already signed up Jackson’s younger sister for the summer program. “You have to start kids early. I encourage parents to take advantage of these opportunities, like Readers in the Heights. It really does take a village — you can’t do it by yourself.”

What did the tall fifth grader get when he cashed in his book bucks, anyway? Jackson grins. “A basketball!”

Building Blocks to Everyday Attendance

Second-grader Samuel didn’t turn in his homework a single day. Not once. Chronically absent, he struggled to get to school on time, and social work intern Haley Smith needed to find out why.

“He used to have his head down in class. Now he loves school, and he turns in his homework every day, and he’s at 100 percent,” Haley reports. “He holds his head up high.”

How does she account for the change? She credits United Way’s attendance intervention initiative, Every Student, Every Day,

“We figured out his goals, what he wants to do with his life. Lately, he wants to move to New York and become a police officer.”

New York?

“I know!” she laughs. “He must have seen it on television. Whatever the reason, he’s feeling a sense of pride—what it’s like to be here every day, to do his homework. If he keeps it up, we’ll draw a picture together on big paper. That’s one of his incentives!”

Other kids on Haley’s caseload at Franklin Elementary in City Heights are also keen on managing their futures, no doubt due to her “Kiddo Aptitude Test,” an interest survey that gives students a chance to try on a variety of careers by reading a check list of activities central to that job.

“Haley built on that entrepreneurial spirit, connecting him to his interests. She encouraged him to … believe that many things were possible.”

Habitat for Humanity has a checklist of typical tasks as well as an FAQ for the larger picture. It also encourages them to tally their check marks to determine their top choices.

Haley’s supervisor (United Way’s Impact Manager, Camille Novello, MSW, ASW) mentions another student on Haley’s caseload, Angel, who spends a lot of time in Mexico. He initially aspired to run his own chiclet cart.

“Haley did a great job building on that entrepreneurial spirit, connecting Angel to his interests. Maybe you’ll be a business owner, she asked him. What would you need? She didn’t denigrate his original idea; she just encouraged him to make it bigger and better. To believe that many things were possible.”

At last check, Angel wanted to become a botanist.

The Role Parents Play in Everyday Attendance

When asked about the critical role the parents play in the everyday attendance challenge, Haley explains the many factors that conspire to challenge low-income parents when it comes to their children’s absence.

“I think it’s important that you show parents you understand, that you aren’t just being critical—‘Your kid was absent again….’

“There’s a hierarchy of needs. The parents’ top priority might be work, making sure there’s food on the table. Of course, education is important…coming to school on time is important, but it can fall down [the list] when you’re dealing with so many big life issues.

When the student is chronically absent, better to approach the parents as if they are members of the team: “How can we work together? How can we get this streamlined for you? What are the barriers?”

“I have good relationships with the parents of my students,” she adds. “They pick up my calls, they’re on board.”

She encourages the parents as well as the students. “I want them to understand that education does need to be a priority…that I understand it’s hard to get them here every day on time, but it’s what’s necessary to give the child the education they deserve.”

Making Progress

In March, Haley was already seeing the change. “Back in January, I would ask Samuel if his parents checked on his homework. Did they help him pack it? Why was it always missing? It turns out they used to never check for homework; it wasn’t on their radar.”

But now it is.

“I heard they listen to rock music and do homework as a family. They all sit together, including his two younger siblings.”

As the school year ended, a quick check-in reveals promising news: “Both students have significantly improved in their attendance this year as compared to last year.”

Officer Samuel and Dr. Angel hover a bit closer now.

United Way’s Every Student, Every Day absence-intervention initiative is just one example of our work: aligning partners (schools, teachers, principals, parents) around a shared goal (every day attendance), leveraging partner expertise with rigorous data and best practices to find the most successful ways to transform chronic absence into everyday attendance for all San Diego students!