Role Of A School Social Worker

Position Summary: The school social worker serves as a member of MVHS special education team, writes social history reports, provides students/ families access to social services, direct support and interventions to students, consults with teachers, families, and other school-employed mental health professionals (i.e., school counselors, psychologists) to improve support strategies, work with school administrators to improve school-wide practices and policies, and collaborate with community providers to coordinate needed services to students

There are many humanitarian careers available in the United States. Social work is among these philanthropic career choices. Social work is the professional activity of helping people, families, groups, or communities to enhance or restore their capacity for social functioning and for creating conditions favorable to that goal. (Baker, 2003) Social workers make important contributions to society. Social workers provide a broad range of services. Professionals practicing this line of work

Social work is a profession in which the lives of individuals and groups of people are positively affected through the efforts of professionals that seek to make a difference in their lives. The profession can be best understood through a spectrum. In one end, social work professionals can focus their efforts by directly assisting an individual to help improve his or her functioning and development. In the other end, social work professionals may emphasize their efforts in making changes in the global community seeking social justice. The approach on how to improve the conditions of an individual or a group of people is supported by a multifaceted, yet holistic perspective.

A child may start school who is already involved with a social worker due to external factors affecting the child’s development. The school may also contact a social worker if they become concerned about a child and their home environment. Social workers can provide advice to the school about the child’s background in order for the school to understand what support should be given.

School social workers not only provide direct services to children who require basic needs or exhibit challenging behavior, but also lead prevention efforts that support children through building the capacity of family members, other school staff, and community agencies to improve student outcomes (NASW, 2012)

From knowing that the Social Work Field of Practice of Children and Families was a big field to being informed of almost all the fields/programs I can work and build my career from (Berg-Weger). In this field of practice you can be able to work from things like “Child Protection Services, Family Preservation, Foster Care, to Group Homes, Residential Facilities, Adoption Services, Kinship Care Programs”, and etc. (Berg-Weger). From these fields and the programs that come with them they generally help with counseling the Children and the whole family to find better solutions, place abused children in better homes that are loving, help families find employment and housing if they’re homeless, help pregnant women, help adoptive parents and the children being adopted to navigate the adoption system, and most importantly help the children and families makes the best use of the Welfare System according to their needs (Gibelman). During my research and reading through the Social Work and Welfare book I realized that I want to be a School Social Worker in the field of Children and Families. These Social Workers help “conduct assessments, serve as liaisons between the school and the family, facilitate groups, participate in interprofessional teams to help develop individual educational plans for the student” (Berg-Weger). “One-on-one sessions, giving them family services, educational

A school social worker has many different roles when working with immigrant children. One role that a social worker has is being an advocate for the need of after-school programs. School social workers also advocate for funding at a local, state, and federal levels. Another role is being an educator. School social workers can educate families of the benefits that after-school programs have. They can also educate the community members about specific immigrant populations. This way the community members can better understand more about the culture of the immigrant population in their community and became more culturally sensitive. School social workers can also educate policy makers on the importance of after-school programs. An additional role a social worker has in this setting is a broker, connecting

A School Social Worker is someone that trained to help students, parents, and sometimes staff with child needs. A school social worker focuses on providing a great outcome for the child, and the family they are working with. A school social worker can help with mental health which is focusing on a child who is functioning at a satisfactory level of emotional and behavioral adjustment, behavioral concerns, making sure the way a child acts or conducts his/ her self especially toward others, positive behavioral support is a behavior management system used to understand what maintains an individual's challenging behavior, academic and classroom support may refer to a wide variety of instructional methods, educational services, or school resources provided to students in the

The level of impact imposed by Social Workers is significantly greater than what was once given credit for, while at the same time, it has become a common occupation. The role particularly displays as an essential in school systems throughout childhood education. Occupational statistics, in accordance to 21-1021 Child, Family, and School Social Workers indicate that Social Workers provide services and assistance, to improve the social and psychological functioning of children

Over the course of the past few years, I have been very blessed to have professional experiences that reinforced my interest in social work. In 2014, I worked as a guidance counselor and learning support intern at St. Pius Elementary school in Greensboro, North Carolina. In the guidance-counseling department, I assisted with counseling appointments with children in grades K-8. We often discussed topics

Social work refers to the profession in which there is a “distinctive emphasis... on the interface between individuals and their social environment” (Toseland & Rivas, 2005, p. 5). The profession was created as a response to a need or concern (Johnson & Yanca, 2010, p. 4). Common human needs include: food, shelter, clothing, health care, opportunities for emotional and intellectual growth, as well as meaningful relationships (Johnson & Yanca, 2010, p. 6). As Johnson and Yanca (2009) state, social work is only one of several social functioning professions and continues to develop from influences from the past and present (p. 10). The profession itself mainly focuses on social welfare, as its purpose is to “promote human and community well-being” (Schriver, 2011, p. 3).

Social workers are in a key position to helping parents and children in times of crisis. Social workers can be the helping hands for their clients either in therapy sessions, group therapy/support groups, crisis intervention, etc. Social work practitioners need to look for the warning signs in the teenagers, and the give the right techniques and services to help them cope with their diagnosis and/or struggles.

school with problems or facing problems due to an illness in the family. Social workers are

Social Work is a discipline that can be a very rewarding experience for both the worker and the client. The practice involves working with individuals, families, or groups who are struggling to cope with life`s challenges. The social worker must combine his or her personal qualities, creative abilities, and social concerns with the professional knowledge in order to help client’s social functioning or prevent social problems from developing (Bradford W. Sheafor, 2008, p. 34). Social work practice seeks to promote human well-being, while addressing the processes by which individuals and groups are marginalized or diminished in their capacity to participate as citizens (Ian O'Connor, 2006, p. 1).

School social workers work within schools to provide a variety of social, emotional, and mental health services to students to support overall success. The intent of this research is to evaluate the significance of having a school social worker available to general education students within the Owatonna High School setting and to examine the gaps in services that may have appeared since removal of this position in 2009. Various related studies were examined to outline a range of ways in which school social workers are used to support student success. During this study, a total of seven employees of the Owatonna School District were interviewed regarding school social work. As a whole the participants identified a large number of gaps