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School Social Work NOW!
Supporting Innovative Practice,
Effective Leadership, and Applied Research
Vol 6, Issue 14
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Welcome to the New Year, to new possibilities, to new challenges, to new successes, and yes, to new disappointments. That is the nature of our work, but it is such rich work. By continually listening, watching, analyzing, and acting, we can help students reach academic success and become socially and emotionally secure. Keep up the good work!
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Schools rely on school-based mental health professionals to identify and respond to emotional and behavioral problems, provide psychoeducation to students and parents, deliver trainings to teachers and other staff members, and address barriers to social-emotional learning that might occur at multiple levels (Erbacher, Singer, & Poland, 2015; Kelly et al., 2010). Increasingly, this means understanding and using social media to identify and address suicide risk.
What is the role of technology in school-based suicide prevention? Think of technology not as a magic wand, but rather as a fork. You can eat salad with a fork, or you can stab someone in the leg. Much like a fork, technology can be part of the problem or part of the solution. Continue.
Nancy Smyth's " Social Work Apps" board on Pinterest lists more than 150 apps and 1,000+ followers. And this site presents just a small slice of the apps that may be used with social work clients. Various social agencies, hospitals, private practitioners, computer scientists, and entrepreneurs are developing apps for a broad array of biopsychosocial-spiritual issues. So with this grand proliferation of apps, perhaps it is time to think about the ethical implications for social workers and the people they serve. In particular, this article explores ethical issues pertaining to client self-determination, informed consent, professional competence, confidentiality, client safety, and risk management. More.
Note: This is an excellent, free, downloadable resource for parents who are dealing with a child experiencing depression.
Somewhere between 15 and 20 percent of our youth will suffer from at least one depressive episode before they reach adulthood. These episodes come in many forms-ranging from the child who doesn't want to go to school to the teenager who is constantly in a rage to the withdrawn child who barely speaks. Often, these episodes are seen as just a phase, or typical teenage behavior, but depression, clinical depression, is not part of typical teenage behavior-it is an illness that deserves attention and needs treatment.
Section I is a practical guide. Section II is a primer. Download. |
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. . . research shows that it's actually effective for a presenter's hands to do plenty of "talking". They just need to be saying the right thing . . . The problem for most people, of course, is figuring out how to use the right gestures that reinforce their verbal message-all while anxiously trying to remember what to say. So what's effective and what's distracting? Read more.
John is reflecting on the last goal that he set for himself... Everything started well - he was making progress, he felt great about what he was doing, and he was excited about future possibilities. But then things unraveled. . .
In this article, we'll look at some common mistakes that people make when they set goals. Learn how to recognize these mistakes, so that you can avoid making them yourself! Learn how to avoid these.
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Of all of the professions that exist in a school setting, social workers are trained specifically in the three main theoretical tenets of social and emotional learning programs: systems theory, cognitive behavioral theory and psychoanalytic theory. Yet there is little in the literature about what the role of social work should be as a stakeholder in implementing a SEL curriculum.
This qualitative research was designed to investigate what could be learned from the practice wisdom of school social workers in elementary schools that have adopted a SEL curriculum about their experiences and the roles they have adopted. This study employed a sample of convenience recruited utilizing a snowball sampling strategy.
Major findings were that most social workers in this sample were both consultant / trainers around the system-wide implementation of SEL in schools and spent some time in the classroom delivering the program, either as a co-teacher or alone. Most of these social workers had tremendous freedom/flexibility around determining what their participation would be in their school's SEL program. Regardless of the specific SEL program their school adopted, these programs tended to be seen as a base that could be augmented by other SEL programs or materials created to meet a specific need. Complete study.
from the School Mental Health Project at UCLA
As has always been the case when education budgets tighten, the tendency is to trim student support efforts more severely than other budget items. We see this as another indicator of the marginalization of student supports.
With the cuts and with new demands related to school improvement, the roles and functions of remaining student support staff seem to be changing. This was highlighted by a recent request to our Center from a school social worker who has been asked to do a presentation on the topic: The Changing Role of the School Social Worker.... What are our competing priorities and how are schools and school social workers adapting? She asked that we poll school social workers to see what they had to say about this.
So we did. We outreached to a sample of school social workers (N=175) in districts around the country who are on our Center's list. Many of them then forwarded the request to colleagues. . . Read more.
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The Community-Partnered School Behavioral Health Modules
~ Free Training Series and CEUs Offered ~
www.mdbehavioralhealth.com
Signs of Suicide Program & Gatekeeper Training Module 1.5 CEUs. Free.
from Teachers College Press. A hard copy will be mailed to you. Free.
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Recommended Read for January
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The World Café: Shaping Our Future Through Conversations That Matter
by Juanita Brown & David Isaacs & the World Café Community
Review by SSW Pat Beauchemin, LICSW, Rhode Island
"School social workers know about group processes and have honed their skills in drawing out the best thoughts and ideas of those invited to participate, whether the group is comprised of eighth grade students or parents in an education support group. In assuming more of a leadership role in their schools and districts, school social workers may want to read a wonderful book to assist them in their facilitative capacities to enhance conversations that occur in meetings or other group settings. . .
As I read, I became more excited as the book offers many possibilities using the 7 World Café principals in designing a café process. The authors have come to realize through their own and others experiences that a "collective intelligence" is the magic that emerges through table conversations offering participants an opportunity to reflect on meaningful questions, make important contribution to the intimate dialogue and serve as "ambassadors" by bringing forth the salient points of the dialogue to others, as people move from table to table in a powerful exercise.
The reader will become highly motivated to experiment with different forums as well as connect with others who "do" world café experiences, as the resource section identifies organizations dedicated to enhancing and shaping a myriad of conversations that can make a difference."
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| Professional Development Opportunities |
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Deadline: January 26, 2016
SAMHSA's Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality invites you to provide feedback for the launch of a new endeavor at the National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP). In addition to reviewing programs received during the open submission process, NREPP will conduct independent literature reviews to add programs with strong evidence bases to the registry. SAMHSA welcomes comments from community organizations; clinicians; practitioners; advocates; researchers; city, county, and state agencies; and all other stakeholders.
Your feedback will help NREPP identify and prioritize important practices and programs to the mental health and substance abuse prevention and treatment field. More information and submission form.
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School Social Work Positions
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Continued - listed by state abbreviation
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Archived by SAMHSA & KSOC-TV
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1st Quarter Deadline: March 31, 2016
Grants of up to $500 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 first quarter cycle ends March 31st. Grants are up to $500. Recipients will be notified by May 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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