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School Social Work NOW!
Supporting Innovative Practice,
Effective Leadership, and Applied Research
Vol 4, Issue 19
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Next week, March 2nd through 8th, is National School Social Work Week. You can download free School Social Week Posters and oodles of ideas that will help you celebrate and spread the word. Just click here to download. Let everyone know about your contributions to educating our nation's children! * * * * *
ACSSW is very pleased to announce an opportunity for any school social worker to earn 1.5 FREE CEUs due to ACSSW's sponsorship of an excellent program:
Plan, Prepare, Prevent: The SOS Online
Gatekeeper Training Module
The SOS Signs of Suicide® Prevention Program is an award winning, nationally recognized program designed for middle and high school-age students. The program teaches students how to identify the symptoms of depression and suicidality in themselves or their friends, and encourages help-seeking through the use of the ACT® technique (Acknowledge, Care, Tell).
The Middle and High School SOS Programs also include gatekeeper training tools. Plan, Prepare, Prevent: The SOS Online Gatekeeper Training Module is a 90-minute interactive course providing in-depth suicide prevention education and guidance on implementation of the SOS Program. This course is available free to school social workers. With sponsorship from ACSSW, all learners will receive 1.5 contact hours upon completion. Click to Learn More. To register call 781-239-0071 or email SOS Registration and mention that you'd like to register.
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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2nd National School Social Work Survey
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So far over 1500 surveys have been submitted, 158 through ACSSW channels. School social workers don't often have the opportunity to have their voice heard at the national level. This is your chance! Many of you have clicked the link but have not completed the survey. Please consider giving 20 minutes of your time to this effort that will inform the field of school social work for many years, providing data that will assist not only school social workers in their practice but decision-makers as well.
This important survey has two broad aims: (1) to capture data from the largest number of practicing SSWs in order to enrich the understanding of the daily practices, skills, competencies, and barriers; and (2) to inform state association and university efforts to enhance our professional development and training.
Your input is essential. If you can't complete the survey in one sitting, you can return to it. Please participate. Click:
National SSW Survey
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Would You Like to Participate in Field Research of the NEW BASC-3?
Pearson is currently developing the
Behavior Assessment System for Children-3 (BASC-3) and is seeking professionals to aid in field testing. Accepted examiners will be recruiting children and young adults to be assessed with BASC-3 and other rating forms as part of the Standardization. Enroll as an examiner now to ensure your place in this exciting project. Click here to learn more.
On September 7, 2012, 15-year-old Amanda Todd uploaded a video to YouTube. Using handwritten flashcards, she silently told her story. She had been coaxed into flashing a man on the Internet. He blackmailed her and then sent the images to her friends, family and peers, igniting a series of cyberbullying attacks. Struggling with depression, anxiety, cutting and thoughts of suicide, she changed schools, but the bullying only escalated.
On October 10, Amanda was found in her home. She had killed herself.
Research shows that sexual bullying starts in elementary school, usually in the form of verbal insults, typically by boys and directed toward girls. But sometimes girls are the instigators. Complete article.
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School social workers can take a national leadership role in developing and implementing practices and policies that will increase awareness of MC students, foster understanding of their unique culture, and address their needs. Social workers have the capacity to address and integrate issues of policy, to sensitize school staff to diverse cultures, bring evidence-based practices to MC schools, improve school climate, and work with military families.
These students and their families experience multiple deployments-often to war zones-as well as family separation, frequent transitions and relocations, and other stressful life events that their nonmilitary peers do not undergo (DePedro, Astor, Gilreath, Benbenishty, & Esqueda, 2013). More.
Although with adults much work in CBT, especially with patients with neurotic disorders, is concerned with correcting maladaptive and dysfunctional distortions of thinking, many children have major deficits in social skills or interpersonal problem-solving. Training in social skills and problem-solving are a part of interventions not only for children with conduct disorder, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or empathy disorders, but also for children with depression or anxiety and whose impaired social relationships are a strong predictor of poor recovery (Goodyer et al, 1991). Complete article.
Ever since the Internet began offering users an unlimited supply of information and, more recently, significantly opened social circles to include everyone from friends to frenemies to strangers, cautious observers have worked to protect vulnerable populations from what they may find, see, or learn online.
Recent cases in which cyberbullying has led to self-harm and suicide have made this seem even more important. As a result of these occurrences, social media often has been cast as a villain, linked directly to the deaths of young adults throughout the United States and the world.
This correlation, however, only presents one side. The link between social media and suicide is not solely negative and could in fact be positive. Today, researchers, clinicians, and other professionals both in and outside of the public health and social work fields seek to determine how social media can be used to prevent suicide. Complete article.
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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Natasha's boss mistrusted her. This wasn't because she was incompetent - rather, it seemed to be a matter of principle for him. He spent most of the day watching people to make sure they did their work correctly. He watched the clock to ensure that everyone's lunch hour was exactly one hour long. He even checked their mailboxes to make sure they weren't receiving personal messages.
Not surprisingly, Natasha and her colleagues resented their boss's mistrust. As a result, they stopped making decisions for themselves; they just asked him what he wanted when a decision had to be made, and they stopped taking responsibility for what they were doing. This reinforced the boss's belief that they weren't capable of working under their own initiative.
Have you ever seen a cyclical pattern of behavior like this in your workplace? It's common in organizations, and it's illustrated in a simple model called the Betari Box. Learn more.
How often do you set aside time to learn new skills?Chances are, not as often as you'd like! If you're like many people, you're keen to learn, but you struggle to find the time. So, how can you make this time, develop your knowledge, and increase your value, both to your organization and to future employers? Why make time for professional development? Learn why.
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Last year, the American Psychiatric Association issued new guidelines for the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. But new research from Columbia University School of Nursing in New York, NY, suggests that these guidelines could leave thousands of children who have developmental delays without autism diagnosis, meaning they will miss out on social services, educational support and medical benefits. The study findings were recently published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. Learn more here.
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The School Standards Rebellion - a College Prep Revolt
Florida students no longer need chemistry, physics or Algebra II to graduate from high school. Texas just scrapped its Algebra II requirement. And the Washington state board of education last month reversed its own resolution calling for a foreign language mandate, over concerns that it appeared too elitist.
A standards rebellion - or in the eyes of the opponents, the dumbing down of America - is sweeping red states and blue, promoted by both Republicans and Democrats. President Barack Obama has called for a rigorous college-prep curriculum for all students. States, however, are responding with defiance: They're letting teens study welding instead of Spanish, take greenhouse management in place of physics and learn car repair instead of muddling over imaginary numbers.
The backlash stems, in part, from anger over the Common Core, a set of standards that Obama has promoted as a way to guide students through a demanding college-prep curriculum from kindergarten through high school. But it's more than that. It's pushback against the idea that all students must be ready for college - even if they have no interest in going. Read more.
Disadvantaged Children Can Hurt Achievement of Others in Their Classrooms, Study Finds
Large numbers of low-income children who begin formal schooling with many disadvantages - poor medical care, homelessness, an uneducated mother, for example - not only struggle with schoolwork but hurt the achievement of other children in their classrooms, according to a new study.
A team of researchers from the University of Pennsylvania studied more than 10,000 children who were enrolled in public schools in Philadelphia from kindergarten through third grade. They found that in schools with a high concentration of children with "risk factors," the academic performance of all children - not just those with disadvantages - was negatively affected. More.
Mental Illness Risk Higher for Children of Older Fathers, Study Says
Children born to middle-aged men are more likely than those born to younger fathers to develop any of a range of mental difficulties, including attention deficits, bipolar disorder, autism and schizophrenia, according to the most comprehensive study to date of paternal age and offspring mental health.
In recent years, scientists have debated based on mixed evidence whether a father's age is linked to his child's vulnerability to individual disorders like autism and schizophrenia. Some studies have found strong associations, while others have found weak associations or none at all.
The new report, which looked at many mental disorders in Sweden, should inflame the debate, if not settle it, experts said. Continue.
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Demystifying the Language in Medicaid
March 10, 2014, 3-4 pm ET
The IDEA Partnership and the Learning the Language Practice Group of the National Community of Practice on School Mental Health will be hosting a free one hour webinar on the language in Medicaid. The goal of the presentation is to help understand and access mental health services by simplifying and clarifying Medicaid language, history, and process. The presentation will review terminology and types of reimbursement and include vignettes, audience polling, and sample documents. Please join us! Click here for registration and access details.
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Kohl's Cares
Kohl's is seeking nominations for its Kohl's Cares Program of young people who have made a difference in their communities. Maximum award: $10,000 in scholarships. Eligibility: Students between the ages of 6 and 18 as of March 15, 2014, and not yet high school graduates; each must be nominated by someone 21 years or older. Deadline: March 15, 2014. More info here.
The Libri Foundation Books for Children Grants donate new, quality, hardcover children's books for small, rural, public libraries across the country. Maximum award: varies. Eligibility: Libraries should be in a rural area, have a limited operating budget, and an active children's department. The average total operating budget of a Books for Children grant recipient must be less than $40,000. Deadline: May 15, 2014. Details.
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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