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School Social Work NOW!
Supporting Innovative Practice,
Effective Leadership, and Applied Research
Vol 4, Issue 16
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ALERT for those who have registered for the ACSSW New Orleans School Social Work Conference -- if you have registered and have not received a confirmation via email, please contact Sally Carlson. If you prefer to reach her by phone, dial 414-659-5853.
All registrants will receive email confirmation. However, some persons have faxed in a registration and the fax did not come through to us with sufficient information to complete the registration. (If you have received confirmation, you are all set!)
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NEW CONFERENCE WORKSHOPS
It is with great pleasure that we announce the following new breakouts by outstanding presenters:
- Dealing with Stress in the School Setting: Taking Care of Children, Families, and Yourself
- Resilience as a Career Strategy: A Marathon, Not a Sprint
- Motivational Interviewing as a Tool to Enhance Practice
A revised brochure has been posted. Click brochure to read brief descriptions.
You can still register. By investing in yourself, you will k eep abreast of changes and new developments in the field. This is a national conference with exceptional national speakers and presenters who bring news of the most current educational reforms--and how school social workers can be leaders in reform by using tools that are effective and easy to use.
Other breakout offerings include topics such as: resilience and self-care, motivational interviewing, stress, ethics, LGBTQ concerns, ELL and the SSW, relational aggression, oppositional children and their parents, psychotropic medication and the DSM-V, tier 2 behavioral supports, PBIS, the Interconnected Systems Framework (NEW!!), functional behavior assessments, school anxiety and refusal--and more.
NEW ORLEANS!
Why attend?
- Become a stronger resource for your administrators and colleagues
- Learn new ways to address your district's or parish's goals
- Gain an understanding of national education initiatives and reforms that affect your school's students
- Increase your knowledge base and freshen old skills
- Participate in all-day Psychological First Aid training
- Challenge yourself with new ideas and ways of thinking
- Gain insight into programs that affect student learning
- Network with colleagues from across the country
- Meet and interact with expert presenters on various topics
- Earn up to 12.5 CEUs (included in conference cost)
- Have FUN!
This national conference is interactive and enriching. The brochure is available online and has information about the hotels as well as the workshops and speakers. Discounts are available for teams of 3 or more from the same school, parish, or district.
See you soon!
Judith Kullas Shine
President
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Recommended Read for February
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Twelve Years A Slave
by Solomon Northup, Ira Berlin (introduction), &
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (editor)
Perhaps the best written of all the slave narratives, Twelve Years a Slave is a harrowing memoir about one of the darkest periods in American history. It recounts how Solomon Northup, born a free man in New York, was lured to Washington, D.C., in 1841 with the promise of fast money, then drugged and beaten and sold into slavery. He spent the next twelve years of his life
 in captivity on a Louisiana cotton plantation. After his rescue, Northup published this exceptionally vivid and detailed account of slave life. It became an immediate bestseller and today is recognized for its unusual insight and eloquence as one of the very few portraits of American slavery produced by someone as educated as Solomon Northup, or by someone with the dual perspective of having been both a free man and a slave.
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by Charles E. Lewis, Jr., PhD
Congressionsl Research Institute for Social Work and Policy
NASW conducted focus groups on the public's perception of social work in 2004 and found that public awareness about the profession was limited to a few areas of social work practice. The study found the public was generally confused about who was a social worker and the level of education needed to be a social worker. Jeffrey Olin wrote in a 2013 [article] on the public's perception of social work that social workers must actively participate in creating a public image [emphasis mine] and not leave the task of defining the profession to the media or other outside entities.
There is still much ambiguity about just who qualifies as a social worker. The most accepted litmus test obviously is having a certifiable license to practice social work. But the issue of certification remains muddied. Even the possession of a degree in social work does not qualify one to be a professional social worker in the eyes of some. Case in point, I engaged in a conversation with a neighbor in my building and when she stated that she was a social worker, I proudly retorted that I, too, was a social worker. Her next question was: "Do you have a license?" I responded that I did not but had earned my Ph.D. at Columbia University School of Social Work. She stated emphatically, "you are not a social worker!" Read more of Congressman Lewis' Remarks.
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Come to NOLA
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SAVE THE DATES!
February 10-11, 2014
NEW ORLEANS!
School Social Workers:
Inspiring HOPE. . .
Advocating for JUSTICE
Learn More Now!
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Strategies to Deal with Aggressive Children
Aggression constitutes intended harm to another individual, even if the attempt to harm fails (such as a bullet fired from a gun that misses its human target). There is no single theory about the causes of aggressive behavior in humans. Some believe aggression is innate or instinctive. Social theorists suggest the breakdown in commonly shared values, changes in traditional family patterns of child-rearing, and social isolation lead to increasing aggression in children, adolescents, and adults. Aggression in children correlates with family unemployment, strife, criminality, and psychiatric disorders.
Aggressive behavior may be intentional or unintentional. Many hyperactive, clumsy children are accidentally aggressive, but their intentions are compassionate. Careful medical evaluation and diagnostic assessments distinguish between intentional behaviors and the unintentional behaviors of emotionally disturbed children. Children in all age groups learn that aggressive behavior is a powerful way to communicate their wishes or deal with their likes and dislikes. Continue.
Welcoming Strategies for Newly Arrived Students and Their Families
Many of us work in schools with high mobility and/or very diverse populations walking through the doors of the school with little knowledge of how schools in the United States function.
"Starting a new school can be scary. Those concerned with mental health in schools can play important prevention and therapeutic roles by helping a school establish a welcoming program and ways to provide ongoing social support. Special attention must be directed at providing Office Staff with training and resources so they can create a welcoming and supportive atmosphere to everyone who enters the school. And, of course, there must be workshops and follow-up assistance for teachers to help them establish welcoming procedures and materials". Review these simple strategies.
School Counseling for Systemic Change: Bullying and Suicide Prevention for LGBTQ Youth
While this paper addresses school counselors, there is much that can be gained by school social workers from reading it. School social workers are trained in systems and systemic change and are the logical leaders in systemic change for this issue.
"By October 1st, 2010 the occurrence of five deaths by suicide of adolescent and young adult males, all the victims of anti-gay bullying and harassment, prompted the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), and the Trevor Project (a national suicide prevention organization specifically for LGBTQ Youth and their allies) to call for action at the school and community level to improve the social climate for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth (GLSEN, PFLAG, and the Trevor Project Joint Statement, 2010). The national media attention surrounding the tragic deaths of the identified youths underscores research findings related to both the stresses that LGBTQ Youths face in schools (Busseri, Willoughby, Chalmers, & Bogaert, 2008; Elze, 2002; Varjas et al, 2006), as well as the use by bullies of homo-negative slurs and related behaviors against their intended victims regardless of the victims' sexual orientation (Kosciw, Diaz, & Greytak, 2007). According to a press release from the Trevor Project: "In order to end the destructive behaviors that lead to bullying, harassment and rejection of young people who are or are perceived to be lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or questioning, it takes a cultural change." (Trevor Project, 2010). Similarly, the GLSEN-PFLAG-Trevor Project joint statement asserts that: "The horrible instances of school bullying that have led young people to take their own lives reflect the growing need for a change in our culture to value the differences of our youth". (GLSEN, PFLAG, & Trevor Project, 2010). These assertions by prominent advocacy groups highlight the need for action at both the individual-interpersonal level of interaction and also within the domain of systemic, social change." Learn more.
Free Guides for School Social Workers
Columbia University Teachers College Press published 4 guides geared to support teachers, administrators, student personnel staff, and parents. For a limited period, and as supplies last, TCP has agreed to provide FREE copies of the guides to social workers and educators working with military kids in schools including: teachers, school administrators, PPS workers, and military parents. School social workers should be aware of this wonderful, time-limited, FREE offer from TCP. Many school social workers will benefit from these guides.
The process is simple. Each individual desiring a free book would need to click on the link, select the type of book s/he desires, and fill out name, mailing address, etc. on the Qualtrix form after selecting the book desired. The book will be mailed in a few weeks.
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When David Petraeus visited the Harvard Kennedy School in 2009, one of the meetings he requested was with author Doris Kearns Goodwin. Petraeus, who holds a PhD in International Relations from Princeton, is a fan of Team of Rivals and wanted time to speak to the famed historian about her work. Apparently, the great general (and current CIA Director) is something of a bibliophile.
He's increasingly an outlier. Even as global literacy rates are high (84%), people are reading less and less deeply. The National Endowment for the Arts...has found that "[r]eading has declined among every group of adult Americans," and for the first time in American history, "less than half of the U.S. adult American population is reading literature." Literacy has been improving in countries like India and China, but that literacy may not translate into more or deeper reading.
This is terrible for leadership, where my experience suggests those trends are even more pronounced. Complete article.
If You Want to Lead, Read These 10 Books
...When I recently asked a group of successful professional women to list their favorite books about entrepreneurship, the list skewed largely male. Not too long ago, my list did too. And that is a problem. Unless of course, we believe women have nothing to offer as leaders. Click here to learn what books are recommended...and why.
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Empowerment has become an attractive concept for practitioners working with adolescents (Chiu & Wong, 1999; Claus & Ogden, 1999; Lee, 1999; Ravindran & Duggan, 2001). It acknowledges that young people have a distinct capacity for facing life challenges and achieving positive development. It also focuses on raising youths' consciousness to address society's institutional or structural problems that adversely affect their lives. While many practitioners adopt the empowerment approach in rendering youth services, however, little attempt has been made to examine the concept of empowerment and its relevance to school social work. While education affects adolescents' future trajectory of life and school social work is a significant auxiliary service in the school setting, there is a need for practitioners to explore the possibilities for generating empowering practices. Access study.
As a profession, school-based social work has recognized the ethical need to offer school-based practitioners ways to critically appraise the research evidence and, therefore, be able to offer youths the most effective and evidence-based services to meet their needs (Powers, Bowen, Weber, & Bowen, 2011). Substantial attention over the past decade has been given toward the development; implementation; dissemination; and, in some countries, the mandate of identifying the most efficacious school-based practices to address the needs of the world's youths (for example, Franklin, Hams, & Allen-Meares, 2013).
In the past decade, much attention has been given to viewing school-based intervention through a three-tiered lens (compare Kutash, Duchnowski, & Lynn, 2006; Sugai, 2007). Researchers estimate that approximately 95 percent to 99 percent of school-aged youths can have their treatment needs met though tier 1 (universal) and tier 2 (selective) interventions (Stormont, Reinke, Herman, & Lembke, 2012). More.
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Retired Michigan school social worker, Richard Spring, submitted the question chosen to be answered on the recent "Big Block of Cheese Day." Richard's high interest in politics prepared him well for the task. Congratulations, Richard!
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19th Annual Conference on Advancing School Mental Health
Proposals are now being accepted for the 19th Annual Conference on Advancing School Mental Health to be held September 18-20, 2014 at the Wyndham Grand Pittsburgh Downtown in Pittsburgh, PA. Last year, there was an increase in school-employed presenters--school social workers, school psychologists, and school counselors--and this was not only well received but enriched the conference.
The Conference is hosted 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 the conference is School Mental Health: Enhancing Safe, Supportive and Healthy Schools. The conference features twelve specialty tracks, including one co-facilitated by ACSSW, ASCA and NASP, and also includes a special topic area on funding and sustainability in school mental health. This Annual Conference offers speakers and participants numerous opportunities to advance knowledge and skills related to school mental health practice, research, training, and policy. It emphasizes a shared school-family-community agenda to bring high quality and evidence-based mental health promotion, prevention, and intervention to students and families. The intended audience for the conference includes school mental health providers, clinicians, educators, administrators, youth and family members, researchers, primary care providers, advocates, and other youth-serving professionals.
The deadline for submissions is February 4, 2014.
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Deadline: February 14, 2014, 5 p.m. EST
For more than 65 years, Lowe's has supported the communities we call home. At a time when schools and community groups are struggling to support the basic needs of their communities, the Lowe's Charitable and Educational Foundation recognizes the importance of financial support. This year, as a foundation, we are challenging ourselves to seek ways to provide the tools that help our educators and parent groups through today's challenging times efficiently, while providing the greatest impact, with basic necessities taking priority.
The Spring 2014 cycle is now open. However, if 1500 applications are received before the application deadline, then the application process will close. Learn more.
Children's Foundation Medical Grants for Children in Need
These grants are designed to cover financial expenses for a child's medical needs beyond a family's health benefit plan. Families can directly apply online for these grants of up to $5,000. Details.
Do Something Seed Grants
Do Something Seed Grants for youth can be used towards project ideas and programs that are just getting started, or to jump-start a program and realize ideas for the first time. These grants can also be used towards projects that are already developed and sustainable, towards the next steps of a project and organization as it looks to expand and grow impact. Maximum award: $500. Eligibility: community projects that are youth-led and driven. Deadline: rolling. Application.
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archived
Group mentoring is an increasingly popular strategy for providing positive relationships and activities to youth in need. In fact, over 20% of youth mentoring programs offer some form of group mentoring, while a survey of American volunteers finds that over half say they work with more than one young person at a time. But compared to one-to-one mentoring, the research on the group approach is still emerging, and programs often wonder when group mentoring might be the right fit and how to implement these models for maximum effectiveness. Access online.
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