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School Social Work NOW
Supporting Innovative Practice, Effective Leadership & Applied Research
January 2011 - Vol 1, Issue 13 |
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| Greetings! | |
Are you a SISP? On January 10th ACSSW represented its members and the profession of school social work at an exciting national meeting sponsored by the IDEA Partnership and hosted by the National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE). This meeting was held to develop a resource collection of documents and products that support Specialized Instructional Support Personnel (SISP), a new national term being used and promoted to describe those who formerly were known as "related services providers" and/or "pupil services personnel."
ACSSW was honored to participate in this event and provided input, specifically during the development of a PowerPoint that will be available in the near future. This PowerPoint will be one that can be used to inform principals, school boards, parent associations, and other groups about the valuable services SISP professionals provide to students and families. Other initial products being developed include Dialogue Guides, documents that help to begin the conversations about the services provided by SISP. Watch this newsletter for future developments.
 | | SISP PowerPoint Work Group includes ACSSW President Judie Shine (seated) |
SAVE THE DATES! The 2nd National Summit on School Social Work Research will be held June 26-28 at the Hilton Chicago Indian Lakes Resort in Bloomingdale, IL. This will be a forum in which to (1) learn about current research projects, (2) become familiar with research models you can apply in your setting and practice, and (3) showcase your projects to colleagues. Watch this newsletter for more information. Plan to join your colleagues for this unique experience! School teams are encouraged to attend.
If you wish to submit a proposal for the Summit, download the Summit Proposal Form and return to ACSSW by the February 1st deadline. Presentation time slots are very limited so don't delay.
As mentioned in previous e-blasts, the ACSSW website is undergoing some changes and updating and is currently unavailable while "Under Construction." The delay should not be long. ACSSW extends its apologies for any inconvenience you may encounter.
Due to this technological "glitch", if you wish to become an active ACSSW member, please download the ACSSW Membership Registration Form and return by fax:1-224-649-4408; email: ACSSW@milwpc.com; or the USPS (address below). On-line registration will be available shortly. If you have questions, concerns, or ideas on how to improve the newsletter, don't hesitate to contact ACSSW. Several articles and ideas have already been submitted by our members. President |
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In the News | |
Mental Health Visits Rise as Parent Deploys
Young children in military families are about 10 percent more likely to see a doctor for a mental difficulty when a parent is deployed than when the parent is home, researchers are reporting . . . in the most comprehensive study to date of such families' use of health insurance during wartime. Visits for mental health concerns, like anxiety and acting out at school, were the only kind to increase during deployment; complaints for all physical problems declined, the study found. For more, click here.
Rhode Island State Rep: Cyberbullying Torments Many Kids Yard Bullying
No parent should bury a child, and to lose a child because of relentless bullying seems unbearable.
As a member of Rhode Island State Sen. John J. Tassoni Jr.'s Task Force on Cyber Bullying, I've [Deborah Ruggiero] heard riveting testimony; the saddest was the Michalenkas of Lincoln crying as they spoke of their young son being bullied to the point of suicide.
Current Rhode Island law requires each school district to adopt an anti-bullying policy, which means we have 36 different policies in a state that has only 144,000 public school students. Read more.
Video Gamers' Prolonged Play Raises Risk of Depression, Anxiety
About 9 percent of children play such long hours of video games that they are pathological gamers, increasing risks of anxiety, depression, bad grades and social phobia, a study in Singapore found. The compulsive gamers played for a weekly average of 31 hours compared with 19 for kids not deemed pathological, according to research released today by the journal Pediatrics. Overall, 83 percent of 3,034 children in the study played video games at least occasionally. "Although children who are depressed may retreat into gaming, the gaming increases the depression," wrote the study authors, led by Douglas A. Gentile, a psychologist at Iowa State University, in Ames. The study, of children in grades 3, 4, 7 and 8, lasted two years. Kids who stopped being pathological gamers during the study period showed lower levels of depression, anxiety and social phobia compared with peers who didn't stop, the researchers said. Click here for more. |
| Request for Research Assistance | |
An Examination of Homophobia and Social Work Practice Among a Sample of School Social Workers
Milka Ramírez, MSW, a member of the American Council for School Social Work and the School Social Work Association of America and a school social worker in Chicago, is conducting her doctoral research and would like you to participate in the 30 minute survey. Please take time to support this important research. Click the following link to participate in this essential work: Homophobia & Social Work |
| Practice Points |
Have you every wondered or been confused about the eligibility criteria, benefits and rights of these three federal laws? This article will help to clarify those points. This is a good reference for parents. Read more.
School-Based Restorative Justice as an Alterntive to Zero-Tolerance Policies: Lessons from West Oakland
A pilot program to change how teachers and administrators respond to student misbehavior at an Oakland middle school led to a dramatic drop in suspensions and expulsions, according to a new study released today. During a one-year implementation of the alternative "restorative justice" program, suspensions dropped by 87 percent and expulsions dropped to zero. The study, School-Based Restorative Justice as an Alternative to Zero-Tolerance Policies, was conducted by UC Berkeley School of Law's Thelton E. Henderson Center for Social Justice.
Teens, Parents Often Lie About Illicit Drug Use
Researchers surveyed more than 200 teens and 200 caregivers. No teens said they'd recently
used opiates such as heroin or prescription painkillers, but hair tests showed that nearly 7% had. Among parents, 3% admitted using opiates while testing revealed use by 7%. About 1% of teens reported recent cocaine use, while testing revealed the actual number with about one-third. Hair analysis showed 28% of parents had used cocaine but only about 6% admitted it. The under reporting leads researchers to conclude that healthcare providers have to rely on other methods than self-reports. Click here for more. |
| Leadership News | |
The leader's style is "contagious" - he or she sets the emotional tone of the group that either makes people want to come along and work towards common goals, or pushes them away and causes discomfort and uncertainty. The best leaders build resonance with their teams; they are in tune with the group's emotions and needs and are able to drive emotions positively, to bring out the best in everyone. Such leaders lead with empathy, enthusiasm, and conviction. This doesn't mean that leaders ignore difficult situations or shrink from conflict. Learn more. |
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| Research Highlights |
 Toddlers with Autism Show Improved Social Skills Following Targeted Intervention
Targeting the core social deficits of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in early intervention programs yielded sustained improvements in social and communication skills even in very young children who have ASD, according to a study funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), part of the National Institutes of Health. The study was published online July 28, 2010, in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. Read more.
Child Poverty Expected to Rise
A new study by researchers at Columbia University to be published in March estimates poverty rates for 2007 using a calculation similar to the U.S. Census Bureau's supplemental poverty measure, and finds that under this method, 2007 poverty rates would rise from 12.4 percent to 16 percent, including a 3 percent increase in child poverty and 7 percent increase in elder poverty. For more, click here.
Seven Social and Character Development Programs Have No Impact
The Institute of Education Sciences announces the release of a report, Efficacy of Schoolwide Programs to Promote Social and Character Development and Reduce Problem Behavior in Elementary School Children and the data from a study on the impacts of social and character development (SACD) programs on primary school students. Under the Social and Character Development Research Program seven research teams received funding through a peer reviewed competitive application process from the National Center for Education Research (NCER) in the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) and the Division of Violence Prevention in the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to evaluate one SACD program of their choosing under an experimental design. Schools were randomly assigned to implement one of the seven SACD programs for three years (the treatment group) or continue with their traditional SACD activities (the control group). |
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| Diversity News | |
Latino Children of Immigrants in the Child Welfare System: Findings From the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being
Children in immigrant families are often considered to be at increased risk of maltreatment due
to the stress and pressure experienced by immigrant families as a result of their experiences with immigration and acculturation. Beginning with the immigration experience, families face considerable risks entering the United States, including violence, robbery, and sexual assault during the migration process (Solis, 2003). These risks are compounded for immigrants crossing multiple borders. Once in the new country, families continue to experience stress resulting from language barriers, unfamiliar customs, and isolation. Additional pressures resulting from acculturation can lead to a variety of strains and difficulties on family systems, as parents and children experience changing cultural contexts along with the loss of previously established support systems. Undocumented immigrants experience additional stress, as they live with ongoing fear of discovery and deportation. Combined with cultural differences in parenting styles (Jambunathan, Burts, & Pierce, 2000; Olayo Mendez, 2006) and child discipline (Fontes, 2002), these factors may affect the safety and well-being of children in immigrant families and lead to involvement with the child welfare system. Read more. |
| Grants & Funding | |
Do Something Seed Grants
Do Something Grants put money directly into the hands of young people by providing community action grants that help turn dream projects into a reality and take existing projects to the next level. Past grantees have used the money to create a community-run organic farm, publish a youth-written literary magazine for women of color, and even created an organization that teaches sick kids how to fly. For more, visit the website.
OJJDP To Fund Tribal Youth Research
The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) has released a solicitation for proposals to fund research and programs for tribal youth. Tribal Youth Field Initiated Research and Evaluation Programs will fund studies on effective programs, policies, and strategies for the prevention and intervention of tribal youth delinquency. Applicants must register and submit their proposals by February 28, 2011. To download the solicitation visit: Tribal Youth Field Initiated Research and Evaluation Programs. |
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Request for Proposals | |
CSMH Request for Proposals
Proposals are now being accepted for the 16th Annual Conference on Advancing School Mental Health to be held September 22-24, 2011 at the Charleston Area Convention Center, Charleston, S.C. The Conference is sponsored by the Center for School Mental Health (CSMH) and the IDEA Partnership (funded by the Office of Special Education Programs [OSEP], sponsored by the National Association of State Directors of Special Education). The theme of this year's conference is School Mental Health: Achieving Student Success through Family, School, and Community Partnerships. The conference features twelve specialty tracks and offers speakers and participants numerous opportunities to advance knowledge and skills and to network related to school mental health practice, research, training, and policy. The deadline for submissions is January 31, 2011--all proposals must be submitted online: University of Maryland, Center for School Mental Health |
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ACSSW Activities | |
ACSSW's present major activities include:
- increasing research projects and their application within the school environment,
- developing a national school social work role paper,
- a more long-term goal, establishing a National Center for School Social Work Research, and,
- developing the 2nd National School Social work Research Summit to be held June 26-28.
If you have interest in assisting with one or more of these projects, don't hesitate to contact Judie Shine. ACSSW strives to be inclusive and transparent in all of its activities and welcomes the participation, whether short or lengthy, of its members. |
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