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School Social Work NOW!
Supporting Innovative Practice,
Effective Leadership, and Applied Research
Vol 4, Issue 33
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Leadership in schools and leadership in school social work are topics people are talking about. ACSSW wants your ideas on leadership in school social work and is seeking individuals interested in working on a short term project on the issue. For more information contact:
An inquiry does not obligate you.
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ACSSW is still accepting Call for Proposals submissions for the 4th National School Mental Health Institute, January 26-27, 2015 in fabulous New Orleans (NOLA). Submission deadline is August 15th.
You are strongly encouraged to consider submitting the form and sharing your wisdom, knowledge, and practice experience 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. All submissions will be considered. Do it today.
ACSSW is working with the Schools of Social Work at Tulane University and Louisiana State University to once again bring an informative and practical event to you. So, save the dates--January 26 and 27, 2015! Pre-registration is available at Registration.
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On October 6th, ACSSW will also 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.
Judith Kullas Shine
President
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. . . When working with children and adolescents, social workers will encounter uncertainty with boundaries resulting in ethical issues, often those regarding self-disclosure. Children and adolescents tend to ask questions inquiring about a social worker's personal life, such as "How old are you?" "Do you have any children?" and "What did you do over the weekend?" A core concept taught in graduate school is the ethical implications that self-disclosure can have on clients.
Although there's current literature discussing the positive impact that self-disclosure may have on the client-social worker relationship, there's also current literature discussing inappropriate use of social workers' self-disclosure. Many ethical issues could arise if social workers disclose personal information to a client due to the impact that self-disclosure may have on the client and the client-social worker boundary (Audet & Everall, 2010). Full article.
Preparing School Social Work for the Future: An Update of School Social Workers' Tasks in Iowa
Abstract: The authors begin this article by highlighting clinical social casework as a historic trend in school social work practice. They then identify two major shifts in current education policy related to school social work practice. . . Next, they juxtapose the shifts in current policy aimed at school social work practice with national studies of school social work tasks. On the basis of their analysis of current literature and national studies, and the results of a survey on school social work tasks in Iowa, they conclude that school social work policy is experiencing a shift toward multilevel systems of intervention, such as response to intervention, whereas school social work practice continues to follow a traditional clinical model of social casework. The current division between policy and practice is an open door to a period of clarification. Full article.
Using Data to Document the Benefits of School Social Work Services
. . . school social workers need to document positive outcomes related to the provision of their work. . . This paper 1) provides suggestions to help guide local evaluation, 2) outlines a process to develop an outcome evaluation plan using readily available data commonly gathered by school districts that reflects progress on school districts' priorities and is indicative of the positive impact of school social work services, and 3) provides a template that can be used to record outcome evaluation plans. Full document.
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Despite the hours invested in developing strategic plans, all too often they don't work. According to a survey, there are five main reasons that they fail. Learn what they are and improve your own success.
"Most great plans aren't. They are just nice, high-level ideas."
That's how one of our survey respondents answered our question, "What are the top three obstacles that prevent great plans from reaching effective implementation?" Despite the universal chatter around the need to be "strategic", and the untold hours spent developing strategic plans, it appears that they don't work nearly often enough. And based on the spirited responses we got from the generous folks who answered our survey, it seems that many have been involved in a strategic plan that failed. Of course, we all know it's not YOUR fault! 5 Reasons.
10 Leadership Strategies for Women in Social Service Management
Although targeting management, this article is applicable in many respects to school social workers.
. . . In addition to the many organizational barriers that female managers face, worse barriers may be those they self-impose. Internal barriers, such as gender socialization, fear of success, inadequate mentoring, and reluctance toward confrontation pose significant challenges for a female manager (Haynes, 1989).
Viewing management strategies from a gender perspective is the administrative equivalent of acknowledging diversity in developing cultural competence. Women's relational style can both help and hinder their effectiveness as leaders (Allison & Allison, 1985). One study identified nine categories in which women excel as managers: concern for people, sensitivity to the needs of female workers, investment in workers, a cooperative orientation, a global perspective, openness in communication, recognition of inequities, concern for the quality of the environment, and use of intuition (Chernesky, 1996). These qualities make for a nurturing, receptive, empowering, and inclusive environment but can also result in one in where productivity suffers.
Female managers may benefit from using the best of male and female leadership styles. Likewise, male social work managers may equally benefit from developing "feminine" leadership qualities, and men in social work may be more open to doing so. Learn more.
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 Intervention research is vital for social work, as it aims to develop practice/program approaches and provide evidence to understand which interventions are effective and for whom. Despite growing attention, little social work research exists that evaluates interventions. Among the reasons for the dearth of intervention research within social work are the challenges associated with the longitudinal, large-scale, and rigorous nature of intervention research. Further challenges face social work researchers carrying out intervention research in schools. This article reviews challenges to conducting intervention research, including building community partnerships while managing differing procedures and philosophies, and obtaining support at multiple levels; recruiting and retaining sites and participants; attaining sufficient physical space and time; providing staff training; involving staff at all levels of the research; and disseminating jargon-free results. This article includes a case study involving a research project that evaluated a school-based intervention designed to improve the self-advocacy of middle school students with learning disabilities. Using the case study, the authors discuss challenges, which were addressed both in anticipation of the specific difficulty and as they appeared. The main factors that allowed the project to continue despite barriers were the strong and enduring relationships among the partners and their commitment to the project goals. Read more. |
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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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Concord, CA
Eureka, CA
Mt. Diablo, CA
Connecticut (various)
Washington, DC
Bradenton, FL
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Indianapolis, IN-SW coordinator
Lewiston/Auburn, ME
Dearborn Heights, MI
Harper Woods, MI
Carson City, NV
Durham, NC
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Wildwood Crest, NJ - PT
Bronx, NY
Lancaster, PA
Austin, TX
Georgetown,TX
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Our children are being set up for academic and future failure. "Zero tolerance" policies have become the answer to preventing violent incidents such as the one that occurred in Newtown, Connecticut, and these policies are being carried out throughout the nation's school systems.
A behavioral outburst that once would have cost a trip to the principal's office, and possibly a call or letter home, has turned into a phenomenon that is resulting in suspensions, expulsions and referrals to the criminal justice system. School resource officers and police officers have taken the place of school counselors. Nearly 1 in 10 students in America's school system are considered to have mental health issues capable of causing academic and behavioral hardships. Shockingly, only about one of three students is actually receiving mental health treatment to address the issues at hand. More.
When Ken Gaughan began his career in Hillsborough County as a school social worker in the 1980s, he collected clothing and other necessities for students who came from poor families. He stored the supplies in the trunk of his car and sometimes spent his own money.
"I'd have to wash them, and I never had the right size," said Gaughan, now the district's supervisor of school social work services.
Today, school social workers still gather these things - along with hygiene basics such as toothbrushes and laundry detergent. But they have help from the Outreach Assisting Students in Schools Network, a nonprofit organization that has helped school social workers for 13 years. Read more.
ADHD Drugs Lacking in Safety Studies, Researchers Say
Nearly 1 in 9 children have been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and most take prescription stimulant drugs for years to calm their behaviors and help them focus in school. While drug manfacturer clinical trials clearly demonstrate that these drugs - which include methylphenidate (Ritalin) and amphetamine/dextroamphetamine (Adderall) - work to alleviate symptoms, very few were designed to investigate the long-term safety of these drugs, according to a new study conducted by Boston Children's Hospital researchers.
The study authors emphasized that this doesn't mean ADHD drugs pose safety risks but that the initial approval trials - which made them available to thousands of children for long-term use - largely ignored the possibility of safety issues.
They identified 32 clinical trials on the 20 ADHD drugs approved by the US Food and Drug Administration and found that only five of the trials focused on drug safety and that each drug was tested on an average of 75 patients before getting FDA approval. Continue.
LA Graduation Flexibility Law Creates Significant Concerns for USDOE
A new law in Louisiana that gives teams of parents and teachers the power to craft graduation requirements for students with disabilities may violate federal special education law and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, and the law could put the state's waiver at risk, says a letter from the U.S. Department of Education (USDOE) to John White, the state's school superintendent.
The July 2 letter was written in response to the recent passage of a law that supporters say will help students with disabilities in the state earn a diploma, particularly by allowing some to be exempted from state tests. Opponents of the measure, which was signed into law June 23 by Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal after passing both the state house and senate unanimously, say that the law will lead to lowered standards for students.
Michael Yudin, the acting assistant secretary of the federal education agency's office of special education and rehabilitative services, and Deborah Delisle, the assistant secretary of the office of elementary and secondary education, co-signed the letter, which outlines all the ways that the new law could run afoul of federal policy. Learn more.
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Creating Self-Sustaining, Replicable School Mental Health Programs: A User's Guide
July 16, 2014, 12 Noon ET
Using examples from various programs across the U.S., this presentation identifies the key factors for maximizing school mental health sustainability and replicability, including community collaboration, maximizing funding streams, role clarification, identifying necessary ancillary services, expanding insurance benefit sets, concurrent Medicaid and Special Education billing by school districts, minimizing financial and legal liabilities for school districts and methods of data analysis that measure improved educational outcomes and the cost savings resulting from school mental health services.
On the 16th, to participate in the webinar, please follow two steps: (1) Click, then dial 1-855-688-5866 and enter code 23903458. To mute your line, please push *6. Questions? Email Mehek Shirazie.
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.
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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