School Refusal Books and Resources for Parents

The most useful starting points are Christopher Kearney's parent book Getting Your Child Back to School for a full plan, and the free school refusal fact sheet from the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry for a ten-minute overview.

Everything here was checked on October 1, 2026: each book's details were confirmed against its author's or publisher's listing or a library catalog record, and each web page loaded. We left out anything we could not confirm, and we do not use affiliate links, prices or star ratings.

A book is not a substitute for an assessment. If school has been missed for more than a week or your child is very distressed, read alongside getting help, not instead of it.

Books for parents on school refusal

All three are published by Oxford University Press and written or co-written by Christopher Kearney, a psychologist at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, whose model of why children refuse school is widely used by clinicians.

Getting Your Child Back to School (Kearney, 2021)

Getting Your Child Back to School: A Parent's Guide to Solving School Attendance Problems, Revised and Updated Edition, by Christopher A. Kearney. Oxford University Press, 2021.

This is the current parent book and the one to read if you read only one. It is built around working out why your child is avoiding school and matching your response to that reason. It suits parents who want a structured plan.

Getting Your Child to Say "Yes" to School (Kearney, 2007)

Getting Your Child to Say "Yes" to School: A Guide for Parents of Youth with School Refusal Behavior, by Christopher A. Kearney. Oxford University Press, 2007.

The earlier parent guide by the same author. No later edition is listed, and Kearney's own page still names it as a parent resource. If you are buying one book, choose the 2021 title above.

When Children Refuse School: Parent Workbook (Kearney and Albano, 2018)

When Children Refuse School: A Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Approach, Parent Workbook, 3rd edition, by Christopher A. Kearney and Anne Marie Albano. Oxford University Press, 2018.

This workbook is the parent half of a treatment program, and a matching Therapist Guide exists. It is meant to be used alongside a therapist who is following the program, not on its own. Our guide to finding a school refusal therapist covers how to find one who works this way.

Books and programs on parenting an anxious child

Breaking Free of Child Anxiety and OCD (Lebowitz, 2021)

Breaking Free of Child Anxiety and OCD: A Scientifically Proven Program for Parents, by Eli R. Lebowitz. Oxford University Press, 2021.

This book teaches SPACE (Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions), a program in which parents change how they respond to anxiety and reduce accommodation. It suits parents whose child's avoidance is clearly driven by anxiety, and parents of a child who will not go to therapy, because the child does not need to take part.

A word on the subtitle. SPACE was tested in a 2020 randomized trial of 124 children aged 7 to 14 with anxiety disorders, where it was not meaningfully worse than CBT for anxiety. That trial did not enroll children for school refusal and did not measure attendance. So treat it as an approach tested for child anxiety. That trial did not test it for school refusal.

SPACE Treatment website

spacetreatment.net is the program's own site, run by its developer. It describes the program as "a parent-based treatment program for children and adolescents with anxiety, OCD, and related problems" and links to a directory of SPACE providers.

Free online guides

These are free, written for parents, and published by professional bodies or children's hospitals.

AACAP: School Refusal (Facts for Families No. 7)

The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry's School Refusal fact sheet was updated in August 2026. It is the best short overview: what school refusal is, common causes, what an evaluation involves and what treatment looks like. It is short enough to send to a relative who does not understand what is going on.

American Academy of Pediatrics: School Avoidance

School Avoidance: Tips for Concerned Parents on HealthyChildren.org, last updated September 26, 2024. It is practical and firm in tone, with an example of a three-day stepped return. It suits parents of a child whose avoidance is recent.

Children's Hospital Colorado: How to Handle School Refusal

How to Handle School Refusal features psychologist Jessica Hawks, PhD. It is a local source for Colorado families and stresses clear, consistent expectations and making rewards depend on attendance.

Cincinnati Children's: School Refusal

School Refusal, last updated April 2022. This is the most detailed of the hospital pages on routines: mornings, evenings, what to say and when to keep a child home. It suits parents who want a step-by-step morning script. Its stance is stricter than some others here.

Nationwide Children's: School Refusal

School Refusal, last reviewed September 1, 2025. A brief health-library page covering symptoms and what parents can do, including asking the school not to send a child home without good reason.

Child Mind Institute: When Kids Refuse to Go to School

When Kids Refuse to Go to School is a readable article from a nonprofit children's mental health organization. It is good at describing the less obvious forms: frequent lateness, leaving early and repeated visits to the nurse.

International OCD Foundation: school avoidance and OCD

Managing School Avoidance in Children With Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, published September 30, 2026. It is written for families where OCD is part of the picture, and is less relevant otherwise.

YoungMinds (UK): School Anxiety and Refusal

School Anxiety and Refusal, reviewed December 2025, comes from a UK charity. It is the gentlest in tone and good on how to talk with your child about feelings. The school procedures and helpline it describes are British, so use it for wording and not for how US schools work.

AACAP: PHPs and IOPs (Facts for Families No. 146)

Partial Hospitalization Programs (PHPs) and Intensive Outpatient Programs (IOPs), dated February 2026. It explains the programs between weekly therapy and hospital care. Read it with our guide on when outpatient therapy is not enough.

Organizations

For free and low-cost support in the Denver area, including peer support groups, see our Denver mental health resources page.

School Avoidance Alliance

schoolavoidance.org offers courses and a community for parents and for schools. It describes itself as educating families and schools. Read it as education and peer support, not as clinical care.

Attendance Works

Attendance Works is a national nonprofit focused on chronic absence from any cause, with data and handouts for families. Chronic absence is a much broader category than school refusal.

988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline

If your child talks about suicide or self-harm, call or text 988. In Colorado this reaches the 988 Colorado Mental Health Line. The 988 Lifeline is free, confidential and open at all hours, and its site states that people do not have to be suicidal to call. Call 911 if there is immediate danger.

For educators and other professionals

These are worth passing to a counselor, teacher, school nurse or pediatrician who is helping with your child's plan.

Children's Hospital Colorado: Treating School Refusal in Youth

Treating School Refusal in Youth, by Jerrica Cherry, LPC, and Benjamin Mullin, PhD, is written for primary care providers. It is a good page to share with your pediatrician.

Christopher Kearney's information page

Information on school refusal behavior summarizes the four functions of school refusal in the researcher's own words. It is short and suits school staff who want the framework without reading a manual.

When Children Refuse School: Therapist Guide (Kearney and Albano, 2018)

When Children Refuse School: A Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Approach, Therapist Guide, 3rd edition, Oxford University Press, 2018. The clinician manual that pairs with the Parent Workbook above. It is for therapists and school mental health staff, not for parents.

International Network for School Attendance (INSA)

INSA is a network of researchers and practitioners with paid membership. It suits professionals who want to follow the research more than it suits parents.

How to use what you read

You will notice the sources do not fully agree. US pediatric sources lean toward insisting on attendance, while YoungMinds advises against forcing a child into school. The common ground is to acknowledge the feeling, keep the expectation that school is where your child belongs, change what is making school hard, and never use physical force or punishment for anxiety.

Books also read more confidently than the research behind them. The trial evidence for school refusal treatment is small, and older students tend to respond less well than younger children. Our page on school refusal treatment options sets out what the studies found.

If you would like help putting a plan into practice, Mountainside Behavioral Health offers outpatient CBT, DBT and parent training for ages 8 and up and their parents. See school refusal support in Denver.

If your child talks about wanting to die, is harming themselves, or you are worried about their safety, call or text 988 to reach the 988 Colorado Mental Health Line (free, confidential, 24/7). If anyone is in immediate danger, call 911.

Frequently asked questions

Related reading

• School refusal treatment options
• Finding a school refusal therapist
• What to do when your child refuses school
• How to talk to the school
• Parent Training With CBT Techniques: Support for Families in Denver
• Denver Mental Health Resources

All school refusal resources →

This page is general education, not medical or legal advice, and it does not replace an evaluation by a licensed professional who knows your child. Laws, district policies and program details change; confirm them with your school district or the organization named.