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School Social Work NOW!
Supporting Innovative Practice,
Effective Leadership, and Applied Research
Vol 4, Issue 32
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Please consider submitting a workshop proposal for the ACSSW 4th National School Mental Health Institute, January 26-27, 2015 in fabulous New Orleans (NOLA). As a "seasoned" practitioner you've learned a few things! You have a great deal of experience with evidence-informed and researched-based best practices. And you have some thoughts about what works and what doesn't with various student populations. Seriously think about sharing your practice wisdom with your colleagues from across the country. It is the experience of practitioners that "makes or breaks" the theories and provides other practitioners with ideas and thoughts that can be applied to their own practices. Complete the Call for Proposals today. All submissions will be considered. Submission deadline is August 15th.
Once more we are excited to be working with Tulane University which will be the site of the Institute in the Lavin-Bernick Center with the additional support of Louisiana State University--two premier institutions of social work. So, save the dates--January 26 and 27, 2015! Pre-registration is available at Registration.
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On October 6th, ACSSW will be hosting its 2nd annual, multidisciplinary, Wisconsin-based Mental Health in Schools Institute. Check out the WI Mental Health in Schools Brochure to view the topics which include: child maltreatment and related trauma treatment, anxiety and school refusal, boundaries/ethics and technology, Signs of Suicide Program, bullying prevention, assisting students in military families, managing conflict in the workplace, violence assessment, and more! Register today. Seating is limited.
Next newsletter will be July 10th.
Judith Kullas Shine
President
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This is not a small issue in education. A great many students come to school with emotional and behavioral difficulties that pose serious barriers to their learning. In a study of 2,100 elementary students in 10 schools in Spokane, Wash., for example, researchers from Washington State University found that more than 20 percent had two or more ACEs (experiences that include having been homeless, witnessing domestic violence or having a parent who uses drugs or is incarcerated). Compared with children with no known stresses, these kids are two to four times more likely to have problems with attendance, behavior, academics and health. As the number of ACEs increase, the students fare considerably worse on all counts.
"When kids have undergone a lot of adversity, it changes how they respond to people and challenges in their environment, including very simple things that we might not think about - like how many transitions you ask them to do before lunch," explains Chris Blodgett, a clinical psychologist who directs the CLEAR Trauma Center at Washington State University. "For traumatized people, changes are encoded largely as danger."
Read more.
A Guide to Federal Education Programs That Can Fund K-12 Universal Prevention and Social and Emotional Learning Activities
The Center for Health and Health Care in Schools and the Center on Education Policy, both at The George Washington University, analyzed dozens of federally funded programs administered by the U.S. Department of Education. Based on this research, A Guide to Federal Education Programs That Can Fund K-12 Universal Prevention and Social and Emotional Learning Activities was developed to help districts take advantage of those funds by identifying K-12 grant programs in the U.S. Department of Education that could be used to implement prevention efforts in elementary and secondary schools. Funding Guide to SEL.
Growing Together: Expanding Roles for Social Work Practice in Early Childhood Settings
A number of factors are contributing to increased attention on the early childhood years, which are usually defined as from birth to age six. Particularly influential are research findings that demonstrate the powerful impact of early life experiences on the growth and structure of the brain as well as on the development of complex emotions, social skills, and the capacity for learning. Numerous studies have shown that experiences and relationships in the first five years of life play a major role in future school performance and in a person's ability to form successful and meaningful relationships in childhood and beyond (Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000). Full article.
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"There's too much wrangling and maneuvering going on - I just hate this office politicking". "Joe, well he's a smart political mover - knows exactly how to get what he wants and how to get on." Whether you hate it, admire it, practice it or avoid it, office politics is a fact of life in any organization. And, like it or not, it's something that you need to understand and master to be sure of your own success.
"Office politics" are the strategies that people play to gain advantage, personally or for a cause they support. The term often has a negative connotation, in that it refers to strategies people use to seek advantage at the expense of others or the greater good. In this context, it often adversely affects the working environment and relationships within it. Good "office politics", on the other hand, help you fairly promote yourself and your cause, and is more often called networking and stakeholder management. Learn more.
Six Emotional Leadership Styles: Choosing the Right Style for the Situation
Imagine that you work with a positive, charismatic leader. She's excited about the future of the organization, and she shares this excitement with her team. She makes sure that people understand how their efforts contribute to this future, and this inclusion sparks loyalty and intense effort in the team.
Generally, morale and job satisfaction are high, because team members feel that they're making a difference.
However, some people in her team don't respond well to this style of leadership. And when there's a crisis, she struggles to get some of them to focus on short-term objectives.
She could be more effective... Read on.
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 The negative social, physical and mental health effects of childhood bullying are still evident nearly 40 years later, according to new research. The study is the first to look at the effects of bullying beyond early adulthood. Just over a quarter of children in the study (28%) had been bullied occasionally, and 15% bullied frequently -- similar to rates in the UK today. Individuals who were bullied in childhood were more likely to have poorer physical and psychological health and cognitive functioning at age 50. Individuals who were frequently bullied in childhood were at an increased risk of depression, anxiety disorders, and suicidal thoughts. Learn more. This report summarizes results from three large-scale reviews of research on the impact of social and emotional learning (SEL) programs on elementary and middle-school students - that is, programs that seek to promote various social and emotional skills. Collectively the three reviews included 317 studies and involved 324,303 children. SEL programs yielded multiple benefi ts in each review and were effective in both school and after-school settings and for students with and without behavioral and emotional problems. They were also effective across the K-8 grade range and for racially and ethnically diverse students from urban, rural, and suburban settings. SEL programs improved students' social-emotional skills, attitudes about self and others, connection to school, positive social behavior, and academic performance; they also reduced students' conduct problems and emotional distress. Access report. |
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October 6, 2014
A multi-professional perspective
Pewaukee, WI
January 26-27, 2015
ACSSW National Institute on
Mental Health in Schools for School Social Workers
New Orleans, LA
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Recommended Read for June-July
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An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness
by Kay Redfield Jamison
Dr. Jamison is one of the foremost authorities on manic-depressive (bipolar) illness; she has also experienced it firsthand. For even while she was pursuing her career in academic medicine, Jamison found herself succumbing to the same exhilarating highs and catastrophic depressions that afflicted many of her patients, as her disorder launched her into ruinous spending sprees, episodes of violence, and an attempted suicide.
Here Jamison examines bipolar illness from the dual perspectives of the healer and the healed, revealing both its terrors and the cruel allure that at times prompted her to resist taking medication. An Unquiet Mind is a memoir of enormous candor, vividness, and wisdom--a deeply powerful book that has both transformed and saved lives.
This book will help you understand what it feels like to be bi-polar and how persons with this disorder think and why they so frequently go on/off their medication.
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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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Springdale, AR
Phoenix, AZ
Eureka, CA
Connecticut (various)
Washington, DC
Macon, GA
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Streamwood, IL
Indianapolis, IN-SW coordinator
Wichita, KS
Springfield, MA
Lewiston/Auburn, ME
Dearborn Heights, MI
Harper Woods, MI
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Washington, MO
Durham, NC
Bronx, NY
Lancaster, PA
Providence, RI
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As the two big national teachers unions prepare for their conventions this summer, they are struggling to navigate one of the most tumultuous moments in their history. Long among the most powerful forces in American politics, the unions are contending with falling revenue and declining membership, damaging court cases, the defection of once-loyal Democratic allies - and a multimillion-dollar public relations campaign portraying them as greedy and selfish. . .
Leaders of both the NEA and AFT have sought to rally the public to their side by talking up their vision for improving public education: More arts classes and fewer standardized tests, more equitable funding and fewer school closures. Those are popular stances. But union leaders can't spend all their time promoting them: They must also represent their members. And that's meant publicly defending laws that strike even many liberals as wrong-headed, such as requiring districts to lay off their most junior teachers first, regardless of how effective they are in the classroom. Read more.
Congress No Longer "Combating" Autism
In a win for self-advocates, lawmakers said this week that they will no longer seek to include the term "combating" in the title of the nation's primary autism legislation.
A bill to reauthorize hundreds of millions of dollars in federal spending for prevalence tracking, research, early identification efforts and other autism initiatives will move forward under a new name - the Autism Collaboration, Accountability, Research, Education and Support Act, or Autism CARES.
The new name emerged earlier this week in a U.S. Senate proposal to renew the law previously known as the Combating Autism Act. A committee in the U.S. House of Representatives quickly followed suit by attaching the new title to its version of the bill and voting to move the measure on for consideration by the full House. Continue.
For Mississippi Special Education Students, Diplomas, Jobs Increasingly Elusive
Four weeks into a medical assistant program at Antonelli College, Nikki Mclendon eagerly took her parents to the college's student appreciation day. The 20-year-old looked forward to discussing her progress and pre-registering for the next term, but instead received devastating news.
School officials told the Mclendons their daughter was ineligible to continue. Without warning, the career technical college that accepted Mclendon a year after she finished high school said the "occupational diploma" she'd received from Forrest County Agricultural High School disqualified her. . .
Mclendon had no way of knowing the alternate diploma many Mississippi special education students choose if they cannot meet the academic requirements of a regular diplomawould be a roadblock to higher education and a career - one the state can ill afford. In Mississippi, some 20 percent of youth ages 16-24 are not in school or the workplace, the highest rate in the U.S. More.
House Passes the Strengthening Education Through Research Act
On May 8, 2014, the House of Representatives passed the Strengthening Education Through Research Act (SETRA) which is now awaiting action by the Senate. The Act oversees the Institute of Education Sciences, the research arm of the U.S. Department of Education - includes key recommendations from the Council for Exceptional Children. SETRA will increase funding for special education research. Review Act.
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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 July 24th.
FREE - July 8, 2014, 3:00-4:30 EDT
Since its release in May 2013, clinicians and outside organizations have expressed to the APA and SAMHSA a need to know more about DSM-5's approach to diagnostic coding. This knowledge is critical, as ICD codes are reported to insurance companies for the purposes of providing reimbursement for clinical services. Clinicians need to understand and appropriately use DSM-5's codes in order to avoid barriers to or delays in treatment. This program will help clinicians to better understand the coding changes in DSM-5; how DSM-5's approach is similar to and differs from that in DSM-IV; the rationale behind the revisions; and specific clinical implications.
By the end of the program, participants will be able to: explain the ways in which the ICD coding structure of DSM-5 compares to that of DSM-IV; identify the different uses of DSM-5's ICD-9-CM and ICD-10-CM codes; and describe specific coding corrections that have occurred post-publication that clinicians should implement in patient care.
Only the first 1,000 registrants will be able to take part in the webinar. Note that the webinar will be viewable after July 8 at View Later.
Can You Hear Us Now? Amplifying Key Messages About the Importance of Attendance
August 6, 2014, 1-2:30 ET
When parents and youth understand the link between good attendance and their hopes and dreams for the future, they are motivated to do whatever they can to get to school every day. When they hear that message from friends, mentors, teachers, counselors, pastors, coaches, doctors, business owners, mayors - in short, the entire community speaking with one voice - it can have a tremendous impact on student attendance.
Join Hedy Chang, Director of Attendance Works, and a cross-section of speakers as they discuss how to engage youth and parents authentically in building a local culture of attendance, as well as share strategies for how to rally leaders from every walk of life to speak in unison during Attendance Awareness Month. This webinar will also feature the newest resources from Attendance Works including our teacher toolkit, Teaching Attendance, our principal toolkit, Leading Attendance and a new video tailored for parents of young children. Don't miss out on this free webinar! Register.
Archived
School Mental Health: A Federal Perspective
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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School Climate Transformation Grant
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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