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School Social Work NOW!
Supporting Innovative Practice,
Effective Leadership, and Applied Research
Vol 4, Issue 28
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The Youth Lens Photo Project "is a national photo contest and [the] mission is to engage youth in promoting the youth voice through the power of photography. [The] hope is to run bi-annual National Photo Contests to support increased awareness of mental health and wellness. This round of the contest is focused on stigma... To participate, a young person can enter as an individual or a small group or class can enter... Ten National Honorees will each receive a $50.00 gift card and have their submission displayed in an online art gallery on Twitter @YLPContest." Deadline is May 31st. This is a great yet simple youth project! Learn more!
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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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Summary: In [the] article, authors Meg Walkley, MSW and Tory L, Cox, LCSW / PPS, discuss the effects of trauma on the development of children and adolescents, describing how "trauma-informed" care can help to improve outcomes. Children are exposed to a range of stressors, some of which help to build important coping skills. Traumatic stressors, such as child abuse, domestic and community violence, accidents, chronic pain, and natural disasters, can negatively affect development. More.
Every continuing education credit hour is $3. Free State Social Work offers on-line continuing education CEUs for social workers, counselors, and therapists using carefully selected academic journals, government reports, and other professional resources. Academic articles are chosen for their ability to enhance professional practice, values, skills, and knowledge. They cover a range of subjects including issues of aging, health, children and families, addictions, ethics, and mental health. Before enrolling, check with your state licensing board to determine whether these CEUs are acceptable. $3 CEUs.
Heroin use is increasing among youth. "Heroin produces a "downer" effect that rapidly induces a state of relaxation and euphoria (related to chemical changes in the pleasure centers of the brain). Like other opiates, heroin use blocks the brain's ability to perceive pain. Heroin abusers, particularly those with prior history of drug abuse, may initially be able to conceal signs and symptoms of their heroin use." Learn about the signs and symptoms of heroin use. National data finds increase in use.
Children and adolescents with intellectual and developmental disabilities are...at risk for various self-injurious behaviors, although they are typically not cognizant of the behavior. Research suggests that persons at high risk for suicide include those who use clandestine means to avoid detection of DSH [deliberate self-harm]; those who use highly lethal methods to hurt themselves, such as shooting; those who express a strong or unremitting death wish; and those who have comorbid psychiatric disorders...
As our understanding of the mechanisms that underlie DSH improves, better management methods can be implemented. Clinicians are often flummoxed by the seemingly paradoxical self-injurious behavior of children and adolescents. Etiological models are traditionally construed in an attempt to understand suicidality, while the self-harming behavior of a child or adolescent is often viewed as the result of diverse socioeconomic influences...
Research has identified various conducive factors (eg, peers, school, family, religious milieu) that affect suicidal ideation and self-derogation in adolescents. Recent research links the aggravated effects of bullying (including cyberbullying) to DSH and suicidal ideation...
Research reveals that nonsuicidal DSH in adolescents reflects underlying hopelessness and low self-esteem as well as other factors that precipitate attempts to deal with unacceptable inner feelings and/or affect the behaviors of others, such as peers or family members Complete article.
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The model is helpful because it uses a team-based approach to problem solving and to business-process improvement, and this makes it particularly useful for solving cross-departmental process issues. Also, it encourages people to rely on objective data rather than on personal opinions, and this improves the quality of the outcome.
It has five steps:
- Find the problem.
- Organize a team.
- Clarify the problem.
- Understand the problem.
- Select a solution. Learn more.
We tend to characterize (or label) people and put them into boxes or categories. If you do that, it's not a character flaw on your part, but a way of trying to simplify the world. In fact, our brains are wired to do this automatically. Brains are wonderful information reduction and labeling machines. They classify, label, and organize information to make our lives easier. Unfortunately, while our brains do this labeling almost automatically, the process makes dealing with difficult people ... well ... more difficult. Here's why.
When you label a person as difficult (or stubborn, boring, or untrustworthy), you use that label to predict their behavior and actions in the immediate and longterm future. In other words, you use the labels to create expectations on your part about how the person will behave. Continue.
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In order for children to focus on learning and teachers to focus on teaching, SISP (Specialized Instructional Support Personnel) provide services, therapies, and other individual and school-wide interventions to
reduce the barriers to learning and teaching and to promote better outcomes for students and schools. Reports on various strategies are listed in this research brief by the National Association of Specialized Instructional Support Personnel (NASISP). Research brief. Since the start of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, more than 2 million children in the United States have been directly affected by the deployment of a parent. There are few recent empirical investigations that examine interventions designed to help children within military-connected (MC) schools. The purpose of this article is to provide a brief overview of relevant studies, review some interventions, and call for more research studies to help MC schools develop effective practices and programs to address the unique needs of MC students. 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. Full brief.
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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
Connecticut (various)
Washington, DC
Washington, DC #2
Jacksonville, FL
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Griffin, GA
Macon, GA
Heartland, IA AEA
Lake Bluff, IL
Northbrook, IL
Rockford, IL anticipated
Garden City, KS
Kansas City, KS
Fitchburg, MA
Moorhead, MN
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Washington, MO
Kinnelon, NJ
Bronx, NY
Providence, RI
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Robots are opening new channels of communication for students on the autism spectrum or those with other disabilities. Educators at New York City's special education District 75 say the NAO robot-a bright-eyed, two-foot-tall humanoid developed by Aldebaran Robotics-is now considered a virtual classmate by some students.
Students can talk and read to the friendly and mobile robots, which can respond verbally and with head nods and hand gestures. The students also can sing songs with the robots and work on color- and word-matching exercises, among other activities. The district also has trained its teachers to program the robot to perform new functions, such as reading stories back to students, District 75 STEM Director Leslie Schecht says. Read more.
When Does Discipline in School Border on Cruelty?
At Carver Collegiate, the family handbook describes in great detail precisely how students should walk, talk, dress, sit, raise their hand, and move their eyes.
Volume levels at lunch are hushed (level 2), and silent in the hallways (level 0).
Demerits are given if a student does not lock their elbow while raising their hand, does not smile while shaking hands, does not walk on the taped line in the hallway, does not track the speaker with their eyes, or if both feet are not flat on the floor while seated.
The handbook instructs "scholars" to always be grateful: "Scholars say 'Thank you' when they receive something - even the opportunity of being called upon to answer a question during a class." And how to answer questions: "If you ask a scholar, 'Did you have a nice weekend?' a scholar will respond, 'It was nice. How was yours?'"
According to the handbook: "If a scholar is passing an adult in the hallway, he or she should make eye contact with the adult and smile." Full article.
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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.
Supportive School Discipline Webinar Series Event: School Discipline Laws and Regulations
June 11, 2014, 3:30 - 5:00 pm EST
The U.S. Departments of Education and Justice are pleased to inform you about the next Supportive School Discipline Webinar Series event. This webinar will take place on June 11, 2014 and review the School Discipline Guidance Package's Compendium of School Discipline Laws and Regulations, discuss latest trends in policymaking related to school discipline, and feature a practitioner who is implementing a new policy. The School Discipline Guidance Package was jointly issued by the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Justice on January 8, 2014. For more information and to register, click here.
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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"Now Is the Time", Project AWARE Grants
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.
The School Climate Transformation Grant-Local Educational Agency Program provides competitive grants to local educational agencies (LEAs) to develop, enhance, or expand systems of support for, and technical assistance to, schools implementing an evidence-based multi-tiered behavioral framework for improving behavioral outcomes and learning conditions for all students. Projects should: (1) build capacity for implementing a sustained, school-wide multi-tiered behavioral framework; (2) enhance capacity by providing training and technical assistance to schools; and (3) include an assurance that the applicant will work with a technical assistance provider, such as the PBIS Technical Assistance Center funded by the Department, to ensure that technical assistance related to implementing program activities is provided. Deadline: June 23, 2014. Eligibility. Applicant info.
This program provides funding to LEAs to increase their capacity both to identify, assess, and serve students exposed to pervasive violence, helping to ensure that affected students are offered mental health services for trauma or anxiety; support conflict resolution programs; and implement other school-based violence prevention strategies in order to reduce the likelihood that these students will later commit violent acts. These projects must offer students: (1) access to school-based counseling services, or referrals to community-based counseling services, for assistance in coping with trauma or anxiety; (2) school-based social and emotional supports for students to help address the effects of violence; (3) conflict resolution and other school-based strategies to prevent future violence; and (4) a safer and improved school environment, which may include, among others, activities to decrease the incidence of harassment, bullying, violence, gang involvement, and substance use. Applicants must address all four subparts of this absolute priority. Deadline: June 30, 2014. Eligibility. Applicant info.
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