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School Social Work NOW!
Supporting Innovative Practice,
Effective Leadership, and Applied Research
Vol 4, Issue 27
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On October 6th, ACSSW will be hosting its 2nd annual Mental Health in Schools Institute in Pewaukee, WI, just west of Milwaukee. This will again be a multi-disciplinary event and will include community mental health providers. Details are still being finalized, but topics will include: anxiety and school refusal, boundaries/ethics and technology, Signs of Suicide Program, bullying prevention, assisting students in military families, managing conflict in the workplace, and more! Click here to learn more.
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Save the dates--January 26 and 27, 2015! ACSSW is once again heading to beautiful New Orleans for the 4th annual National School Mental Health Institute for School Social Workers. Watch the newsletter and ACSSW website for more news in the future!
Judith Kullas Shine
President
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In the old days, high school kids wrote nasty things about each other on lockers and bathroom walls. Now, the gossip has moved online - much of it to Yik Yak, a smartphone app that has been banned by several high schools.
Like Secret and Whisper, Yik Yak lets people post anonymous messages online, which are seen by other users within a set radius. Technically, the iOS and Android app is limited to people 17 years and older, but it's still popular with high school kids. Learn more.
The association between delinquency and victimization is a common focus in juvenile justice research. Some observers have found that victimization and delinquency largely overlap, with most victims engaging in delinquency and most delinquents being victimized at some point in their lives...The literature in the bullying and peer victimization field paints a different picture. It points to three distinct groups of children: in addition to the children who are both victims and offenders (often referred to as bully-victims or, as in this bulletin, delinquent-victims), a second group are primarily victims and a third group are primarily offenders...One may explain the contrast in this way: many studies have relied simply on measures of association between delinquency and victimization (e.g., correlation or regression analyses)...When researchers look beyond the association between delinquency and victimization (even when that association is strong), they are likely to find groups of children who are primarily victims or primarily offenders. Research has not fully explored how large these groups are and how their characteristics and experiences differ. Access report.
In the past decade, headlines reporting the tragic stories of a young person's suicide death linked in some way to bullying (physical, verbal, or online) have become regrettably common. There is so much pain and suffering associated with each of these events, affecting individuals, families, communities and our society as a whole and resulting in an increasing national outcry to "do something" about the problem of bullying and suicide.
For this reason, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other violence prevention partners and researchers have invested in learning more about the relationship between these two serious public health problems with the goal of using this knowledge to save lives and prevent future bullying.
As school administrators, teachers, and school staff in daily contact with young people, you are uniquely affected by these events and feel enormous pressure to help prevent them in the future. The purpose of this document is to provide concrete, action-oriented information based on the latest science to help you improve your schools' understanding of and ability to prevent and respond to the problem of bullying and suicide related behavior.
This resource provides:
- The most current research findings about the relationship between bullying and suicide among school-aged youth, and
- Action-oriented, evidence-based suggestions to prevent and control bullying and suicide-related behavior in schools. More.
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compliments of Brason Lee, MSW, MS
This article illustrates the challenges of assessing a bilingual five-year-old child with mild hearing loss who was misidentified as a person with autism. It illustrates the importance of cultural competence in the child assessment process. This study applies a diagnostic errors framework to identify and classify mistakes that were made in a psychoeducational assessment. Findings of diagnostic errors were categorized under four domains - faulty knowledge, faulty data gathering, faulty data processing, and faulty verification. This article contributes to the literature by applying a model to understanding the mistakes that could occur during an assessment of special education eligibility. It concludes with considerations for practice and research. Complete study.
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Are you truly committed to making a positive difference or just holding a leadership position? Are you really applying your leadership skills to impact your community? Every day you have the opportunity to connect with others and help contribute to making our world a better place.
Do you understand that you possess the ability, creativity, and talents to make our world a better place? To help you realize and accept this, there are five "connecting and leading" insights to apply so you transform your leadership potential into making our world a better place. Learn more.
We all know people who are in full control of their emotions. They're calm in a crisis, and they make decisions sensitively, however stressful the situation.
We also know people who can read the emotions of others. They understand what to say to make people feel better, and they know how to inspire them to take action. People like this have high emotional intelligence (EI). They have strong relationships, and they manage difficult situations calmly and effectively. They're also likely to be resilient in the face of adversity.
So, how emotionally intelligent are you, and how can you develop further? Take the quiz!
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Abstract: Military-connected (MC) children can face emotional and academic challenges, but little is known about how these affect schools. This study gathered the perceptions of principals, school counselors, and teachers at eight MC public schools. Analyses of interview, focus group, and survey responses revealed that transitions and deployments had an impact on educators' work in specific ways. Areas of impact were thematically summarized in domains of academic support, social-emotional support, administration and student records, cultural responsiveness, and school-military-community partnerships. These domains complement prior research describing areas ofMCstudent needs. Findings are situated within a framework of responsiveness that integrates school reform with professional standards for school social workers and school counselors. Recommendations include coordination among school-based professionals to promote success across domains. Full study.
Protective factors are conditions or attributes of individuals, families, communities, or the larger society that, when present, promote well-being and reduce the risk for negative outcomes. A growing body of evidence suggests that protective factors "buffer" the effects of risk exposure and, importantly, may help individuals and families negotiate difficult circumstances and fare better in school, work, and life.
Positive long-term outcomes related to health, school success, and successful transitions to adulthood typically do not occur as the result of single interventions. Focusing on protective factors offers a way to track child and adolescent development by increasing resilience in the short term and contributing to the development of skills, personal characteristics, knowledge, relationships, and opportunities that offset risk exposure and contribute to improved well-being and positive outcomes in the long term. In this sense, protective factors can be used as interim results to monitor for progress over time towards the desired impacts that may not be realized for many years. Complete report. |
School Violence in Context:
Culture, Neighborhood, Family, School & Gender
by Rami Benbenishty & Ron Avi Astor
This empirical contrast of universal with culturally specific patterns is sorely needed in the school violence literature. The authors' innovative research maps the contours of verbal, social, physical, and sexual victimization and weapons possession, as well as staff-initiated violence against students, presenting some startling findings along the way. When comparing schools in Israel with schools in California, the authors demonstrate for the first time that for most violent events the patterns of violent behaviors have the same relationship for different age groups, genders, and nations. Conversely, they highlight specific kinds of violence that are strongly influenced by culture... They reveal, for example, how Arab boys encounter much more boy-to-boy sexual harassment than their Jewish peers, and that teacher-initiated victimization of students constitutes a significant and often overlooked type of school violence, especially among certain cultural groups. Crucially, the authors expand the paradigm of understanding school violence to encompass the intersection of cultural, ethnic, neighborhood, and family characteristics with intra-school factors such as teacher-student dynamics, anti-violence policies, student participation, grade level, and religious and gender divisions. It is only by understanding the multiple contexts of school violence, they argue, that truly effective prevention programs, interventions, research agendas, and policies can be implemented.--OUP Related.
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Free 1.5 CEUs for School Social Workers
ACSSW is very pleased to offer 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). 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.
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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School Social Work Positions
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Continued - listed by state abbreviation
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Bethel, AK
Tucson, AZ
East Palo Alto, CA
Denver, CO
North Haven, CT
Connecticut (various)
Jacksonville, FL
Macon, GA
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Heartland, IA AEA
Elgin, IL
Lake Bluff, IL
Lombard, IL
Northbrook, IL
Rockford, IL anticipated
Garden City, KS
Fitchburg, MA
Dearborn Heights, MI
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Moorhead, MN
Washington, MO
Kinnelon, NJ
Bronx, NY
Providence, RI
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Changed Life of the Poor: Better Off but Far Behind
Is a family with a car in the driveway, a flat-screen television and a computer with an Internet connection poor? Americans - even many of the poorest - enjoy a level of material abundance unthinkable just a generation or two ago. That indisputable economic fact has become a subject of bitter political debate this year, half a century after President Lyndon B. Johnson declared a war on poverty. Starkly different views on poverty and inequality rose to the fore again on Wednesday as Democrats in the Senate were unable to muster the supermajority of 60 votes needed to overcome a Republican filibuster of a proposal to raise the incomes of the working poor by lifting the national minimum wage to $10.10 an hour. Read more. Maltreatment in Childhood Linked to More Severe, Less Responsive Mental Illness in Adulthood Adults who were maltreated as children are more likely than adults who were not maltreated to develop psychiatric disorders, including depression, anxiety and substance abuse. Based on a review of the literature examining maltreatment as a risk factor for these disorders, HMS researchers at McLean Hospital have concluded that these disorders emerge earlier in people who were abused, with greater severity, more comorbidity and a less favorable response to treatment. Maltreatment is characterized by sustained or repeated exposure to events that usually involve a betrayal of trust. "Active" examples are childhood sexual and physical abuse as well as some forms of emotional abuse. "Passive" examples are emotional and physical neglect. Continue. Schools Find Success with Pilot SEL Program Rates of problem behaviors and emotional issues among students are high. Over 3 million elementary and secondary school students are suspended a year. Twenty-eight percent of middle and high school students report being bullied at school. A quarter of adolescents have been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. For decades, schools have tried to address such challenges with programs that teach students how to understand and express feelings, manage behavior, and solve arguments. These programs, once called character education or conflict resolution, are now often called social and emotional learning (SEL) programs, a term popularized by the Collaborative for Social Emotional and Academic Learning (CASEL), a national nonprofit organization that provides training, research, and advocacy for SEL programs and policies. Schools around the country are using SEL programs - no one knows exactly how many - sometimes to meet requirements of state anti-bullying policies. More than three-quarters of teachers believe that SEL is important for academic success, according to a survey by CASEL, and the U.S. Department of Education recommended SEL in recent guidelines for improving school climate and discipline. But are these programs making enough of a difference? Read on. |
May 6th, 3-4 p.m. ET -- Free!
The school-to-prison pipeline is a metaphor for the pathway traveled by students who because of their demographic, behavioral, and educational characteristics are at risk of school failure and exclusion, and involvement with the juvenile justice system. The multi-tiered framework of behavioral support, also known as positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS), has been widely advocated to address key points along the pipeline, from preventing entry to improving outcomes for adjudicated youth. This webinar will:
(a) describe critical points along this pipeline continuum;
(b) overview the basic principles and concepts of PBIS; and
(c) explain how PBIS can help prevent entry and improve services and outcomes for affected youth.
Click to learn more and register.
SAMHSA launched the Girls Matter! webinar series to discuss challenges, opportunities, and strategies for supporting adolescent girls. Professionals working with adolescents will have a chance to learn more about the unique needs of girls ages 12-18, and how those needs impact their behavioral health and development. Each month, Girls Matter! features a free 90-minute webinar, which covers a related behavioral health topic. Review archived webinars and register for the next 2. Next webinar is May 20th.
Archived
The CSMH and the IDEA Partnership presented a webinar, School Mental Health: A Federal Perspective, on January 30, 2014. Following the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy, the President put forward a number of initiatives aimed at making schools and communities safer and to increase access to mental health services in his plan, Now is the Time. As he said, "We won't be able to stop every violent act, but if there is even one thing we can do to prevent any of these events, we have a deep obligation, all of us, to try." This webinar provided an overview of federal efforts that have already been put in place, as well as those that have been proposed for the upcoming years. Presenters David Esquith, Director for the Office of Safe and Healthy Students (OSHS) Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE), U.S. Department of Education, and Ingrid Donato, Branch Chief, Mental Health Promotion, Center for Mental Health Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), provided participants with information about other existing federal initiatives to prevent youth violence and promote positive student outcomes. Strategies that support students, schools, and communities as well as the importance of cross-system partnerships were highlighted. The webinar recording is available as well as the PowerPoint. Access here.
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Libri Foundation Books for Children Grants
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.
from Nic Dibble, WI Education Consultant for SSW
The purpose of this program is to assist local educational agencies to begin to support the training of school personnel and other adults who interact with youth in both school settings and communities to detect and respond to mental illness in children and youth, including how to encourage adolescents and their families experiencing these problems to seek treatment. The training for staff provided through the grant must be Mental Health First Aid or Youth Mental Health First Aid. Award amount: Up to $50,000/year. Deadline: June 16, 2014. Eligibility. More info.
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.
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