School Social Workers An Integral Part of the Education Team
Social work services provided in the setting of an educational agency by credentialed or licensed school social workers. This specialty in social work is oriented toward helping students make satisfactory adjustments and coordinating and influencing the efforts of the school, the family, and the community to achieve this goal. Competence in school social work includes all relevant educational and experiential requirements, demonstrated ability through meeting licensing and certification requirements, and the ability to carry out work assignments and achieve goals while adhering to the values and the code of ethics of the profession. Citation: NASW Standards for School Social Work Services. (2002). Retrieved March 1, 2010 from http://www.socialworkers.org/practice/standards/nasw_ssws.pdf
Who we are: School social work originated in 1906-07 in New York City, Boston, and Hartford. The Women s Education Association of Boston placed visiting teachers in several schools to foster harmony between school and home. Rochester, New York Board of Education was the first to finance a visiting teachers program in 1913. By 1918, most states had passed compulsory school attendance laws and attendance became another focus of concern of the school social worker. The role of the school social worker during this time was mostly defined as: acting as a home-schoolcommunity liaison. Citation: Meares, P. (1991). The contribution of social workers to schooling. In R. Constable, J. Flynn, & S. McDonald (Eds.) School Social Work (p.5) Lyceum Books, Inc.
Education requirements: The Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) is the national accrediting body for social work education at the bachelor and master degree level. "Social work education is grounded in the liberal arts and contains a coherent, integrated professional foundation in social work practice from which an advanced practice curriculum is built at the graduate level." (CSWE, Educational Programs and Accreditation Standards, www.cswe.org, 2010) Individual states set standards for certification or licensure of school social workers Individual Board of Education or LEA s then set standards for school social workers with most requiring a masters degree in social work The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) offers a Specialty Certificate in school social work but it is not required for employment in the school setting
What we do: Focus on helping students/families overcome barriers to school attendance in compliance with the Tennessee Compulsory Attendance Law Apply an ecological perspective of social work practice to identify client needs Serve as a liaison between home and school Assist students/families with obtaining appropriate community resources and/or services Integrate prevention and intervention measures to ensure the overall health and well-being of the child, school, home and community Enhance the Department of Education s ability to meet its academic mission
Service Provisions: School social workers play vital roles across the spectrum of service provision: from the micro level providing psycho education, identifying and managing maladaptive behaviors in response to stress and change to the macro level collaborating with community resources and advocating for funding for needed services Citation: Issurdatt, S. (2009) The economic downturn : Implications for school social work. NASW Practice Update Online. Retrieved March 1, 2010 from www.socialworkers.org
Tennessee Association of School Social Workers: www.tassw.org School Social Work Association of America: www.sswaa.org American Council for School Social Work: http://www.schoolsocialworknow.com National Association of Social Workers: www.socialworkers.org Council on Social Work Education: http://www.cswe.org