Scott Bloom, Director of School Mental Health Services, Department of Education, City of New York, has granted ACSSW permission to make available this article.  By training, Scott is a school social worker and has been a lead facilitator for the IDEA Partnership Practice Group, Learning the Language: Promoting Effective Ways for Interdisciplinary Collaboration

Schools are faced with the challenge of increased responsibility for academic success even as high rates of student mental health problems negatively impact school climate.  This article posits that by learning the language of the educators, group workers can establish effective school-based collaborations.  By analyzing key school factors, practitioners can align therapeutic goals with the academic agenda and implement group interventions that effectively address students' emotional needs while integrating group work into the daily running of the school.  An exploration of cross-system dynamics and administrative challenges will be addressed, with suggestions for various types of group interventions.  Link to full article.             

Electronic Media and Youth Violence: A CDC Issue Brief for Educators and Caregivers     

Technology and adolescents seem destined for each other; both are young, fast paced, and ever changing. In previous generations teens readily embraced new technologies, such as record players, TVs, cassette players, computers, and VCRs, but the past two decades have witnessed a virtual explosion in new technology, including cell phones, iPods, MP-3s, DVDs, and PDAs (personal digital assistants). This new technology has been eagerly embraced by adolescents and has led to an expanded vocabulary, including instant messaging ("IMing"), blogging, and text messaging. New technology has many social and educational benefits, but caregivers and educators have expressed concern about the dangers young people can be exposed to through these technologies. . .  This brief focuses on the phenomena of electronic aggression:  any kind of aggression perpetrated through technology . . .  Read more.  

Certification of School Social Workers & Curriculum Content of Programs Offering Training in School Social Work  

This article examines the status of certification requirements for school social workers across the United States and the policy context in which certification is embedded. The article also details findings of a study on the curriculum available at various schools of social work offering training in school social work. The article makes a case for a unified set of school social work certification requirements and an increase in collaboration between those responsible for school social work curriculum offerings and the credentialing requirements.  Read the PDF document.   

This brief PowerPoint on leadership, presented at the 2010 annual conference for the National Association of State Directors of Special Education, is informative and motivating while also being entertaining and amusing.  It is a presentation that can be shared with state
school social work association boards and will lead to discussion about what makes a true leader

and how leaders can--and do--inspire others.  To download, click here.