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School Social Work Now!
Supporting Innovative Practice, Effective
Leadership & Applied Research
June 2012 - Vol 2, Issue 35 |
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Summer Schedule |
With the June 21st issue of School Social Work Now, the newsletter will begin its summer schedule of every other week. Resumption of the weekly schedule will be in Fall. |
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Dear (Contact First Name), |
IMPORTANT NEWS for CHILDREN IN POVERTY. Please take the time . . .
ACSSW recently received a request regarding a petition to end childhood poverty in the United States. The petition is online. ACSSW strongly supports this effort. We ask that you seriously consider signing the petition. It is officially supported by the National Alliance of Children's Trust and Prevention Funds, and the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth. We share this request with you here:
"I am writing to ask for your support of a petition to eliminate child poverty in the U.S. Our country has one of the highest child poverty rates in the developed world at 21.7% -- a sad and unacceptable rate. Most alarming is the devastating effect poverty has on children and their potential to become successful and productive citizens.
Please view and sign the Eliminate Child Poverty in the United States Petition on the White House's "We the People" website. If we collect 25,000 signatures over the next 30 days (to June 30th), the administration will officially respond and consider steps to remedy child poverty.
To sign the petition, access the website at the White House's "We the People" website and find the petition "Eliminate Child Poverty in the United States", and click on it. You will need to:
1) Create an account. Scroll down and click on "Create an Account" and fill out the brief form. After you complete the form, again click on "Create an Account."
2) You'll then get an email from the White House that contains your password (write it down), then click on the email's link to verify your new account.
3) When you click on the email's verification link, you'll be taken back to the petition and that's when you sign it by clicking the green "Sign this Petition" button. (Note: If you have problems, close your browser and re-enter the "We the People" website and then use your password to log on and sign the petition).
Thank you for helping eliminate child poverty in the United States!"
For more information, rationale, and petition proposers click 2012 Child Poverty Petition.
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SUMMIT EARLY BIRD DEADLINE: JUNE 8TH!
HOTEL RESERVATION DEADLINE: JUNE 8th
Still trying to decide whether to participate in the 3rd National ACSSW Research-to-Practice Summit, Evidence-Based Practices in Action? This interactive event will be held June 24-26, 2012 in Bloomingdale, IL, a Chicago suburb.
Consider: Let's Look at Playing Hooky: It's Perils and Our Practices -This seminar presents information regarding the scope, prevalence, and correlates of chronic absenteeism among school children in the country. The rationale for addressing early truancy will become evident, especially in relation to risk factors associated with these issues. Protective factors will also be examined. Best practices for early truancy intervention and a model for intervening with young children and their families will be demonstrated. Research showing the effectiveness of the model will be shared.
And Consider: The last two of the Top Ten Reasons to Attend Evidence-Based Practices in Action:
#2 - You want to have a voice in shaping the future of school social work.
#1 - You want to have fun, laugh and relax with a group of passionate, determined school social workers and colleagues!
This Summit is designed for independent thinking school social workers, those who enjoy critical conversations, seek out what is important to the practice of school social work, and who understand that research and evidence-based interventions are foundational to a successful practice. Challenge yourself!
ACT NOW! Download the ACSSW Summit Brochure. This is not your "average" learning experience. Earn up to 12.25 CEUs. Take advantage of the Early Bird, Team, and Leadership discounts. Register online here!! Space is limited!
Make your hotel reservations now. Deadline is June 8th. The Hilton will offer the room rate beyond June 8th, depending on room availability. Room rate is $99/single through quad. Visit the Hilton Chicago Indian Lakes Resort (Bloomingdale, IL) to check out the amenities and make your reservation today.
Judith Kullas Shine
President |
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Recommended Read for June | |
The Ethics of Practice with Minors
by Kim Strom-Gottfried
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Professionals who serve children address serious human needs in complex clinical, ethical, and political circumstances. Issues of confidentiality, informed consent, and self-determination become more complicated when clients' rights and choices are constrained by their age and maturity and by legal and parental prerogatives. With these issues in mind, the author introduces memorable frameworks for approaching ethical dilemmas and ethical decision making and uses the frameworks to analyze cases from an array of youth-service settings. The author's conversational style allows the reader to make sense of these complex topics. The Ethics of Practice with Minors is a valuable and practical resource for anyone working with children. Chapter 1.
Review: Journal of Social Work Values & Ethics
Lyceum Books - Strom Barnes & Noble - Strom |
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Professional Development | |
ACSSW's 3rd National Research-to-Practice Summit
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Practice Points | |
Chronic Absenteeism v Truancy: What's the Difference and How Is the Data Used?
A new report from the Everyone Graduates Center examines the issue of chronic absenteeism -- in which a student misses 10 percent of a school year for any reason -- and which differs from truancy or average daily attendance rates used for state and federal accountability. Very few state education departments, school districts, or principals can give chronic absenteeism numbers. Only Georgia, Florida, Maryland, Nebraska, Oregon, and Rhode Island track these data, and use varying metrics. These states reported chronic absentee rates from 6 to 23 percent, with high-poverty urban areas reporting up to one-third of students chronically absent, and in poor rural areas, one in four students missing at least a month's worth of school. Youngest and oldest students have the highest rates of chronic absenteeism, with third through fifth grades being most regularly attended. Chronic absenteeism rises in middle school and climbs through 12th grade, with seniors having the highest rate of all. The data also suggest that chronic absenteeism is concentrated in relatively few schools. Because students in poverty benefit the most from being in school, a key strategy to forge pathways out of poverty is to have students in school every day. This alone, even without improvements in the American education system, will drive up achievement, high school graduation, and college attainment rates. See the report.
Trauma-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy: Hope for Abused Children
With effective treatment, children can recover from sexual abuse and other traumas. In TF-CBT, one key to recovery is encouraging children to open up and talk freely about their trauma.
In the recent Penn State child sexual abuse scandal, former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky allegedly sexually assaulted or had inappropriate contact with underage boys on or near the university's campus. The fact that officials allegedly continually concealed information about these incidents reflects the secretive manner in which child sexual abuse matters are often handled. It is common for people to react to such incidents by wanting to sweep them under the rug or pretend they never happened.
But trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy (TF-CBT) is a model that encourages the very opposite. Central to this therapy is the importance of walking through the trauma via gradual exposure as a means for the child to come to terms with what happened-and move on. Read more. |
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Leadership News | |
. . . Why is it important to adjust your outlook when you start to experience success? Because being an influencer, and ultimately a leader, calls for a different set of qualities than just being a successful business owner. Leadership is a long-term play for people interested in shaping the field rather than just winning a game. Making the shift from striver to leader is not difficult, but it does take practice, mindfulness, and a reaffirmation of your core values. Here's how to get there. Complete article.
UCLA Abstract: Blueprints for education reform have become trendy. Over the last few year, President Obama, governors, chief state school officers, local superintendents' associations, policy institutes, foundations, and business leaders have formulated such documents to guide school improvement.
This new brief highlights: 1) The focus of current blueprints, 2) What's missing in most of the plans, 3) An expanded vision that directly addresses barriers to learning and teaching, and 4) Cautions that more is involved than improving coordination and services, and more is involved than specifying adoption of a community school approach. Complete document. |
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Research Highlights | |
Inclusion and Autism: Is It Working?
Autism and Asperger syndrome are described as a 'hidden' disability - they are not easily recognised and as such do not attract the same attention from society as more obvious physical disabilities. As awareness of autism amongst most of the population is very low and the nature of the disability often extremely complex 'inclusion' is harder to achieve as
it requires adjustments from others if people with autism and Asperger syndrome are to be able to participate fully in society.
The NAS report (Peacock, Forrest and Mills 1996) identified the difficulties faced by children and their families as a consequence of poor planning and co-ordination by local authorities and of inadequate support for
students with autism in the mainstream. This survey demonstrates that many schools have improved in
recent years. Parental satisfaction is increasing, but not for all age groups or for all types of provision yet.
Inclusion should never replace sensitive, individual planning. This is particularly so in the case of a complex but relatively small number of individuals. Continue.
Counseling Homosexual Students in the Secondary School Setting: Perceptions of Guidance Counselors
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, or Transgendered (LGBT) students are at risk of becoming victims of harassment in the public school setting. The effects of such harassment can be especially damaging to LGBT students and may result in not only academic underachievement but may also compromise the mental health and stability of these students. There is overwhelming evidence to suggest that harassment of LGBT students can be accepted as commonplace and even ignored at times by school officials. Such evidence can be exposed through a review of recent lawsuits and the resulting settlements that have been awarded to victims of harassment based on perceived sexual orientation. Other evidence may be exposed through a review of counselor feedback gained from earlier studies that clearly indicates common feelings of ill-preparedness and only moderate competence when addressing sexual orientation issues within the secondary school setting.
Ultimately, building administrators are responsible not only for student safety but also for student achievement and staff preparedness. No Child Left Behind appears to have heightened the expectations placed on school leaders to identify obstacles to learning and to counter the impact of these obstacles on student performance. With serious threats of penalty, school leaders are accountable to develop strategies that ensure staff is adequately prepared to meet the needs of a diverse population of students without the luxury of financial assistance.
As a result, school leaders are left to rely on low-cost methods that promise to improve student performance in a short period of time. Building-level trainings provide an economical strategy that may be facilitated by school leaders at virtually no cost to school districts. Israel and Hackett (2004) found a simple investment of 2.5 hours of training provide by individuals having a sound knowledge of issues relevant to LGBT students may significantly enhance staff knowledge with respect to counseling homosexual students in the school setting (p. 189). Full paper here. |
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In the News | |
School Social Work Group Benefits High School Students
Teenagers involved in the foster care system are far more likely to drop out of high school, get pregnant, get arrested, and become homeless. These are the same kids who do not have the benefit of a stable home environment or positive role models. This group of teenagers have the common bond of being abandoned, let down, and rejected by their parents and other adults who were entrusted with providing care for them. They have typically been shuffled through several foster homes, schools, therapists, and friends. They don't understand trust or the basic principle of permanency. They do have each other, though. These kids can benefit greatly from social work services. Read one person's experience. Go to page 10 of 32.
Mobile App Technology for Social Work
There will never be an app that does social work as we know it, but there are apps that may help social workers and other clinicians work more efficiently and effectively.
The use of mobile technology in healthcare has secured a foothold. But while opportunities exist for social workers to adopt these technologies in their practices, acceptance has been slow. The reluctance is not surprising as the foundation of social work is built on human interaction. But the research and experience thus far indicates that mobile application technology has the capability to support the social worker-client relationship.
"The mental health field tends to be slower in terms of adopting new technology than other sectors of healthcare," says Adrian Aguilera, PhD, an assistant professor in the University of California, Berkeley School of Social Welfare. "That's because our focus is naturally on relationships with clients. I think in some ways social workers are threatened by technology and believe it could be a barrier to forming relationships. But the truth is that its adoption is inevitable. . ." Read more. |
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Webinars |
Addressing Transition Issues for Young Foster Children
The National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) is hosting faculty from Tulane University School of Medicine to discuss the many transitions experienced by young traumatized children in the child welfare system, as well as the challenges related to their transitions. This webinar will be held June 7th, 2012 at 9:00 PDT. To create an account with NCTSN and participate in this webinar series click here.
Of all the substances ingested during pregnancy, alcohol produces the most long-ranging damage to the brain. Children and youth within the justice system are disproportionately affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD), with ramifications for a variety of cases including delinqency, abuse and neglect, and education. This program will help lawyers recognize individuals with FASD, especially those with IQ's above 70. Speakers will discuss how courts should treat individuals with FASD, the services they should receive and the accommodations that courts should provide. This webinar will be held June 12th, 1-2:30 ET.
This webinar is designed for educators, administrators, social workers, children's mental health providers and any other professionals working with families and their children with mental health needs. Culture is embodied in the ordinary things we do--how we speak, greet parents, organize a meeting, or provide a service. When important belief systems are breached, providers run the risk of offending a family, even when that is not the intent. This presentation, given by a unique panel of parents who are also advocates and experts in diversity, will suggest strategies they have found to be effective for building collaboration with families. This activity is made possible with funding from a federal grant from the Substance Abuse Mental Health Service Agency. Date:Thursday, June 14, 2012; 1 - 2:30 PM CDT. Register now. After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.
Child Abuse and Neglect in Military Families
The National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) is hosting a webinar titled, Abuse and Neglect in Military Families: Community and Military Partnerships. Faculty will present on current efforts by community-based organizations to support U.S. Military Family Advocacy Programs related to issues of child abuse and child maltreatment. The presentation will also describe evidence-based interventions and coordinated models of care for addressing issues of child abuse in military families. The webinar will be held on June 19th, 2012 at 10am (PDT). To create an account with NCTSN and participate in this webinar register here.
The Institute of Education Sciences will host a series of funding opportunities webinars in April - August, 2012. These webinars will focus on a wide range of topics for applicants to the FY 2013 grant programs, including the application process, grant writing, and overviews of specific funding opportunities. Full descriptions of the webinars are available and registration is now open. For further information and to register, click here.
ARCHIVED & AVAILABLE
This Teen Screen Webinar has been archived and is now available for your viewing. Listen to a discussion on the signs and symptoms of eating disorders, the latest treatment strategies, and co-managing these disorders with the clinical team to avoid relapse and achieve a successful outcome. Access archive. |
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SSW Job Links | |
New this week: Berlin, CT Bloomington, MN Chelsea, MA
Escondido, CA Falcon, CO Swanzey, NH
Continued this week: Bellevue, WA Bethel, AK (3 positions) Berwyn, IL
Bronx, NY Burr Ridge, IL Evanston, IL Gages Lake, IL (SPED) Gary, IN
Johnston, IA (PT) Julian, CA Lake Forest, IL Lawrence, KS
Leeds, MA Long Island, New York New Orleans, LA Pittsburg, KS
Revere, MA Rush City, MN Tenafly, NJ
Topeka, KS Tucson, AZ White Bear Lake, MN
Connecticut (Various Locations)
Director of Social Work, Bilingual, Chicago, IL |
| Call for Papers | |
Special Edition of Social Work and Christianity: Towards A Christian Critique of Evidence-based Practice in Social Work
Deadline: September 1, 2012
Guest Editors: Michael S. Kelly, Loyola University Chicago School of Social Work & Cynthia Franklin, University of Texas-Austin
Evidence-based Practice (EBP) is now entering its second decade in social work scholarship and practice. This special issue seeks to add a Christian perspective to the literature on the implementation of EBP in social work practice, policy, and education. Many scholars and practitioners hail EBP's impact on client outcomes and argue that it represents a deepening of our ethical commitment to empowering practitioners with a process and tools that lead to the best possible client care, while other scholars point out the limitations of the EBP approach. This special issue of Social Work & Christianity seeks to expand the epistemological and practical discussions about EBP to add a further (and we believe, necessary) complication to the debate over EBP in social work: namely, how can EBP be practiced in the multitude of Christian social work contexts we see around the world? This special issue seeks to further debate the pros and cons of using EBP in social work by asking simply, "How can Christian social workers incorporate EBP into their work?" Papers for this special issue are encouraged to look at EBP as a process that integrates clinical expertise, client circumstances, research evidence, and client values and to formulate a paper discussing one or all of those dimension from a Christian perspective. Papers can employ a variety of methodologies, though special emphasis will be given to papers that use a conceptual lens to build a foundation to either critique or defend EBP from a Christian social work perspective. Papers can be up to 20 pages, double-spaced and in APA style (6th Ed.). Contact Michael Kelly at Loyola University Chicago with any questions and to submit papers as email attachments. |
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Grants & Funding | |
Search Tool Helps Users Find Grants to Fund Youth Programs
The Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs has created an online Web Tool that allows users to search for federal grant opportunities by youth topic or federal agency. The tool uses a filter to search for grants that are likely to fund youth programs. To learn more and determine if you are eligible, click here.
Lois Lenski Covey Foundation: Grants for Books
The Lois Lenski Covey Foundation annually awards grants for purchasing books published for young people preschool through grade 8 to libraries or organizations that serve economically or socially at-risk children, have limited book budgets, and demonstrate real need. Maximum award: $3,000, specifically for book purchases. Eligibility: public libraries, school libraries, and non-traditional libraries operated by 501(c)3 agencies. Deadline: June 15, 2012. Details.
HRSA Mental and Behavioral Health Education and Training Grants
The Health Resources and Services Administration's (HRSA's) Mental and Behavioral Health Education and Training Grants Program supports eligible institutions of higher education to recruit students and provide education and clinical experience in mental and behavioral health. The program aims to increase the number of social workers and psychologists who pursue clinical work with high-need and high-demand populations. For this funding opportunity, "high need" and "high demand" refer to rural, vulnerable, and/or underserved populations, and veterans and military personnel and their families. Eligible applicants are accredited schools of social work and psychology. Up to 20 grants at a maximum level of $480,275 will be awarded. The submission deadline is June 15, 2012. View full grant announcement.
Social Work Education, Research, and Practice Grant Program
The New York Community Trust will provide funding to academic institutions and nonprofits that partner with academic institutions both nationwide and in New York City that build an evidence base for social work intervention. Grants may be used to support projects that are innovative in both the classroom and field and connect training and research to communities, make macro practice a priority and improve training in policy, management, and leadership, and support research that helps social workers improve practice and addresses larger social issues. The deadline is September 28, 2012, although applications are accepted year round. Awards in December. For more information and to apply click here.
Good News for SSWs: Race to the Top Grant Applications
NAPSO co-chair, Myrna Mandlawitz, shared information on the new RTTT grant applications. The "eligible applicants" are school districts, consortia of school districts, and education service agencies. Applicants can focus in on a few schools within a district, specific grades, or even specific subject areas. The only caveat is that a school district can only be part of one application. The other important feature is the heavy emphasis on "personalizing" and "individualizing" education. In fact, "personalized learning environment" is an absolute priority all applicants must meet.
Applications are expected out in early July and will be due in October, with the hope of awarding of 15-20 grants in December. It is important to check if your school/district is applying for the grant. If so, it is an opportunity to "get to the table" and help the district to address the social and emotional needs of students and recognize that school social workers provide many services in these arenas. More information.
CVS/Caremark Community Grants
CVS/Caremark Community Grants are currently accepting proposals for programs, targeting children under age 21 with disabilities, which address health and rehabilitation services or enabling physical movement and play. Maximum award: $5,000. Eligibility: non-profits located in states that also have CVS stores. Deadline: October 31, 2012. More info. |
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ACSSW Activities | |
ACSSW's present activities include:
- increasing research projects and their application within the school environment;
- developing a national school social work role framework paper;
- establishing a National Center for School Social Work Practice, Leadership and Research, a long-term goal,
- hosting the 2nd Louisiana State-wide School Social Work Conference, February 18-19, 2013, in New Orleans, LA, at the Tulane University Lavin-Bernick Center.
- presenting the 3rd National School Social Work Research Summit to be held June 24-26, 2012, in Bloomingdale, IL (a Chicago suburb) at the Hilton Chicago/Indian Lakes Resort.
If you have interest in participating in any of these activities, contact Judie Shine. ACSSW strives to be inclusive and transparent in all of its activities and welcomes, whether lengthy or short, the participation of its members. |
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