Children and youth receiving mental health services often struggle with school attendance, academic performance, and school‑related anxiety, challenges that can worsen over time if left unaddressed. This project will pilot an integrated strategy that pairs outpatient counselling at the Regional Children’s Centre and Maryvale with short, personalized virtual tutoring sessions delivered by the JonAyves Learning Club. Families whose children have missed 18 or more school days will be offered twice‑weekly coaching focused on academic skills, executive functioning, and confidence‑building. Through pre‑ and post‑intervention measures and caregiver interviews, the study will assess feasibility, school attendance, academic progress, and changes in anxiety. The findings will help determine whether combining mental health treatment with targeted academic support can improve school engagement for at‑risk children and youth in Windsor‑Essex.

Integrating mental health services with accessible academic coaching may help reduce school absenteeism, strengthen learning outcomes, and ease school‑related anxiety for vulnerable families. Early evidence from this pilot could guide larger‑scale implementation and expand support for children and youth across the region.