Social Worker Home

School Social Worker

Who are School Social Workers?
School social work is a specialized area of practice within the broad field of the social work profession. School social workers bring unique knowledge and skills to the school system and Student Services. School social workers are instrumental in furthering the purpose of the schools: To provide a setting for teaching, learning, and for the attainment of competence and confidence. School social workers are hired by school districts to enhance the district's ability to meet its academic mission, especially where home, school and community collaboration is the key to achieving that mission.


What School Social Workers Do?
School social workers play a unique role in the schools as they work with school staff, students, families, and community agencies in removing barriers to education. Historically, the foremost role of the school social worker is that of a home-school-community liaison. Although the field of school social work has evolved considerably with the dynamic changes of society, and school social workers function as change agents more so than ever before, they continue to serve as the vital link between home, school, and community. Some of the many services provided by the school social worker here at AUL include the following:

Consultation and Education

• Confer with school personnel to sensitize them to student-family-school-community relations which affect a student's school performance.
• Provide consultation at the system level to enhance classroom/school climate for success, promote optimal learning, improve interpersonal skills, and alleviate barriers to good adjustment.
• Develop and present appropriate parent education workshops within schools.
• Collaborate with school personnel to develop additions to the curriculum in the areas of mental health, social welfare, and family life education.
   

Direct Services to Students and Families

• Provide clinically appropriate counseling and/or therapeutic services to individual students, groups of students, and families when students show high levels of "at risk" symptoms for school failure.
• Provide crisis intervention and counseling.
• Provide timely support for the system's transient students and their parents to facilitate each student's adjustment to the academic program and to enhance social success. 

 

Child Study Committee

• Function as an integral member of the Child Study Committee when screening students referred by school staff and/or parents to determine appropriate interventions.
• Complete social histories for the social-cultural component of new and triennial multi-disciplinary referrals for Special Education.
• Function as an integral member of the Eligibility Committee to determine student eligibility for Special Education programs.

 

Case Management of Clients with Interagency Involvement

• Manage and follow through on the multi-agency services provided to students and their families, particularly as the needs and services impact the educational adjustment of students.
• Serve as liaison between school and community agencies in respect to reporting child abuse/neglect.
• Secure the services of other agency staff to assist with providing services to individual and/or groups of students.