About Us
The Canadian School Attendance Partnership (CSAP) began in 2017, when the Executive Director of Crossroads Children’s Mental Health Centre reached out to researchers at the University of Ottawa to propose a research partnership. The goal was simple: to use real-world data to improve services for children, youth, and families.
Over time, this partnership has grown to include researchers and community mental health service providers across the Ottawa region. As we learned more, our focus shifted to the key issue of school attendance.
Our Aim
The Canadian School Attendance Partnership (CSAP) aims to increase what is known about child and youth school attendance (being present for class), and what attendance or absence means. We see school attendance data as a starting point for research on topics like:
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Mental health
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Substance use and health
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Bullying
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Family well-being
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Inequality and access to support
Our goal is to provide evidence that can improve policy, research, and practice in Canada.
What We Do
We co-develop, conduct and publish Canadian school attendance research.
Who We Are
We’re a Canadian research collaborative interested in school attendance and its implications. We work in partnership with:
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People with lived experience
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Researchers and professionals in education, health, and social services
Together, we aim to build better understanding and better solutions for school attendance challenges in Canada.