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School Social Work NOW!
Supporting Innovative Practice,
Effective Leadership, and Applied Research
Vol 5, Issue 27
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Children's mental health is a topic that is constantly at the forefront of positive and successful school functioning and general student well-being. May is Children's Mental Health Awareness Month. Get a free poster on Student Mental Health and a Fact Sheet by clicking here.
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Only two more weeks to receive the reduced $95 membership rate. Click here to join online and scratch that task from your "To Do" list!
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apologies for the incorrect link last week...
Counseling Adolescents Who Engage in Nonsuicidal Self-injury: A Dialectical Behavior Therapy Approach
...Because of its prevalence, severity, and onset during a high-risk period of development, it is important for mental health counselors to have a model for understanding the complex functions of this behavior [NSSI] and be familiar with effective approaches to treatment that address the unique needs of adolescents. Unfortunately, counselors report general uncertainty about conceptualization and treatment of NSSI (Healey, Trepal, & Emelianchik-Key, 2010). To help resolve this problem, this article describes research-based models for understanding the onset and maintenance of NSSI and how the dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) treatment approach can be applied in working with adolescents who engage in NSSI.Learn more.
The Impact of Intensive Positive Behavioral Supports on the Behavioral Functioning of Students with Emotional Disturbance: How Much Does Fidelity Matter?
...Students with ED, by definition of antisocial behavior, require intensive (i.e., Tier 3) intervention efforts in their educational programming (Walker, et al., 1996). However, improving behavioral functioning outcomes for these students has proven difficult for a number of reasons. First, the number of students provided special education services under the category of ED has grown rapidly over the last decade with nearly 500,000 students identified as of 2002 (U.S. Department of Education, 2002a; 2002b). Unfortunately, parallel growth has not occurred in the number of highly qualified special education teachers prepared to meet the needs of students with ED (Katsiyannis, Zhang, & Conroy, 2003). . .Second, although students with ED share the characteristics of marked and long standing problem behaviors, the specific nature of their behavioral issues can vary widely (e.g., physical aggression, impulsivity, depression, anxiety). . .Third, over 50% of students with ED are educated in a separate, self-contained setting (Office of Special Education Rehabilitative Services, 2002). Complete text.
Emotional Wounds: For Some Children, the Effects of a Disaster Reach Deeper Than Anticipated
On April 19,1995, an unemployed security guard with an antigovernment vendetta detonated more than two tons of nitrogen fertilizer mixed with fuel at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people. A photographer captured a firefighter emerging from the rubble, his thick arms cradling the broken body of an infant, one of 19 babies and toddlers who lost their lives at the building's day care center. The image became the emblem of the nation's horror, recording the bomb's visible toll on the young.
But terror attacks and natural disasters also take a more subtle toll on children: emotional scars that researchers are still working to understand. At the time of the bombing, most mental health experts assumed that sudden tragedy is a psychological lightning strike, a quick shock that dims over time. Few researchers had interviewed children to learn otherwise.
Scientists have now pieced together a story that is much more complex. And like youth itself, it does not adhere to any single narrative. How children fare, and in what way disaster affects a particular child, is an equation with a lengthy list of variables, including a child's mental health before the disaster, how directly he or she was affected by the events and even the emotional consistency of parents during and after the catastrophe. Most children work through the stress and move on. But for a disturbingly high number, a disaster changes the psychological trajectory of their lives, perhaps for years. Read more.
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Your website can be a major asset to your association, but there are a number of common mistakes that associations make that keep them from realizing their website's full potential.
By far the biggest mistake that an association can make with its website is that they don't treat it as a marketing channel. Websites need to be carefully planned and curated with the same attention and long-term strategy that associations use for other marketing plans and opportunities. To get the most out of your website, avoid the following 6 mistakes associations make with their website. Continue.
Traditional leadership skills are not sufficient to weather an increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) (1) world. Human resource professionals will need to consider the external future forces that will disrupt their organization and identify new capabilities that will enable success in the VUCA World. . .
Leaders Make the Future introduces ten future leadership skills that build the resilience necessary to engage with the VUCA World. The use of these skills has implications for how organizations more successfully compete in the context of a hyper-connected and values-based world. . .To stimulate this conversation in Perspectives, we highlight five of these skills. More.
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"The purpose of this paper is to report the results of the 2nd National School Social Work Survey. Here, we review the responses of 3,769 school social workers using descriptive and bivariate statistics to better understand the current state of school social work in the United States. We also describe the characteristics and utilization patterns of students accessing school social work services, summarize the level (primary prevention versus secondary/tertiary) of practice focus of school social workers, and review practitioner responses to items summarizing their utilization of resources to identify, implement, and evaluate evidence-based practices. In addition to these descriptive analyses, we report bivariate analyses that aim to examine the relationship between prevention orientation and caseload, grade level, community setting, geographic region, and licensure status. Results suggest the workforce characteristics and service provision trends of school social workers remain largely unchanged from 2008, and that students accessing school social work services are exposed to many factors placing them at increased risk for school failure. Pre and post service training recommendations arise from our assessment of the state of school social work in America to better serve children and youth who struggle with mental and behavioral health issues." Access the paper. Click on "read paper" and do a search for "Michael S. Kelly."
Abstract: Across the globe, social workers serve schools in a variety of capacities, providing services such as skills training; individual, group, and family counseling; crisis intervention; home visits; parent support and education; and advocacy for students, families, and school systems. To date, no synthesis of the literature exists examining tier 1 and tier 2 cross-national school-based social work interventions. Therefore, the purpose of this systematic review was twofold: (1) to identify tier 1 and tier 2 school-based interventions that involve social workers and (2) to examine the extent to which the interventions are efficacious with school-based youths. A computerized search with inclusion and exclusion criteria was conducted using several databases. Eighteen studies were included for the final sample in this review. Effect sizes were calculated for all outcomes to determine magnitude of treatment effect. Results indicated that most of the studies were conducted in the United States (n = 14) and half (n = 9) of the included interventions were tier 1. Many positive effect sizes were found. Interventions aimed to treat a variety of outcomes such as sexual health, aggression, self-esteem, school attendance, identity, and depression. More research is needed to determine the effectiveness of school-based social work worldwide. Full text.
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There Are No Children Here:
The Story of Two Boys Growing Up In the Other America
By Alex Kotlowitz
There Are No Children Here...chronicles the true story of two brothers coming of age in the Henry Homer public housing project in Chicago over a two year period. Lafeyette and Pharoah Rivers, their mother and siblings struggle to survive gun battles, gang influences, overzealous police officers, and overburdened and mismanaged bureaucracies to simply survive.
Lafeyette and Pharoah Rivers are eleven and nine years old when the story begins in the summer of 1987. They live with their mother LaJoe and six siblings, through the three oldest come and go. Their father Paul is rarely around due to his drug habit. Summer is the most dangerous season as shootings are constant. The family's safe place to avoid stray bullets is in the narrow hallway of their apartment. Read more.
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A new working paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) by three Harvard economists provides conclusive evidence that the Moving to Opportunity experiment worked. Prior research failed to document any significant economic gains for older children and adults who moved into lower poverty neighborhoods, but findings for younger children shows significant improvements. Data are now available to analyze their outcomes as adults.
Children in the program who moved before they were 13 years old (eight years old on average) were more likely to attend college, have substantially higher earnings as adults, and females were less likely to become single parents. They also wound up living in better neighborhoods and paying more taxes. These findings were consistent across race and gender. Learn more.
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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. Or 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
Connecticut (various)
Washington, DC
Boise, ID pool
Pocatello, ID
Barrington, IL Summer
Chicago, IL
Tinley Park, IL soc/emot coord
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Basehor, KS
DeSoto, KS
Junction City, KS
Topeka, KS
Wichita, KS
Needham, MA
Flint, MI
Brooklyn, NY
Laurinburg, NC
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Memphis, TN
Houston, TX
Murray, UT
Barre, VT
Spanaway, WA
Casper, WY
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Policy Shifts to Reduce Exclusionary Discipline with a Focus on Proactive Strategies and Improved Student Supports
June 4, 2015 2:30 - 4:00, ET
The West Virginia Department of Education has revised and developed a comprehensive set of policies that establish requirements for the development of safe and supportive schools in order to provide optimum learning conditions for both students and staff. This webinar will describe the state policy reforms and implementation and will allow time for questions about the benefits and challenges to school districts. To access:
For audio dial: 1-877-512-6886 ID: 2365393812
Death and grief will affect the lives of almost all children at some point, often leading to struggles with academic performance, social relationships, and behavior. The death of a loved one is immensely challenging for anyone, but children and teens can find it particularly difficult. Scholastic.com, through the generosity of the New York Life Foundation, hosted a live, interactive webcast on the subject of Children and Grief. Using actual scenarios from children and parents, childhood grief expert, pediatrician, and author Dr. David Schonfeld, MD, and Chris Park, president of the New York Life Foundation, talked about misconceptions, and imparted valuable advice on how educators and all other caring adults can best support grieving children-whether it's right after the loss or years later. Download webcast.
Archived by SAMHSA & KSOC-TV
Various Archived Webinars from the Center for School Mental Health, University of Maryland
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SchoolGrants
SchoolGrants was created in 1999 as a way to share grant information with PK-12 educators. Grant writing can be intimidating to those who are new at it. SchoolGrants helps ease those fears by providing online tips to those who need them. Finding suitable grant opportunities requires a great deal of time and research - SchoolGrants reduces the effort by listing a variety of opportunities available to public and private nonprofit elementary and secondary schools and districts across the United States. Sample grants are available as well as the opportunity to sign up for a listserv and newsletter. More info.
2nd Quarter Deadline: June 30, 2015
Grants of up to $1000 are available for "innovative programs, events, or projects" from the Meemic Foundation for Michigan, Wisconsin or Illinois. Apply online using their easy application that takes less than 30 minutes to complete. These grants are open to any employee of a K-12 public or private school. Universities and colleges may also apply. Fill-in-the-blank application.
Grants are accepted year round, but the second quarter cycle ends June 30th. Grants are up to $1000. Recipients will be notified by August 15th.
The foundation says it supports "basically anything that supports teachers and enhances the student's educational experience" - from field trips to books to behavior modification programs; science, music, or art equipment to professional development.
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