School Social Work

The school social worker is a core member of the school’s integrated pupil services team; this team works collaboratively, in partnership with teachers, administrators, families, and community organizations, to design and deliver a comprehensive, coordinated, and customized system of student supports.  The primary purpose of this team is to create environments that maximize opportunities for learning and ensure that all students develop the knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed to achieve personal success as a college, career, and community ready individual.

As a member of the pupil services team, the school social worker is an advocate for educational equity, promotes the healthy development of the whole-child, and is a leader of systemic change within their school community.

At the core of integrated student services practices lie the following elements:

• Data-based decision making for planning, delivery, and evaluation of our programs and services
• Communication, consultation, and collaboration with students, families, staff and community partners
• Advocacy and leadership to enable each student to be a healthy and successful learner
• Adhering to professional standards of respectful, confidential, individualized, developmentally appropriate, and culturally competent practice
• Staying current with professional learning to maintain and develop competency reflecting evidence-based best practice

School Social Workers:

• Serve as a resource for social emotional learning
• Foster ongoing positive collaborative relationships with students, families, and the community, in order to meet students' needs and maximize their success in school
• Serve students suspected of and identified with disabilities through appropriate referral, evaluation, programming, and placement within the IEP process
• Coordinate attendance improvement efforts
• Serve as the Point of Contact for McKinney Vento Homeless Assistance Act
• Facilitate effective transition practices and procedures for students and promote a positive and welcoming school environment
• Coordinate and provide support for child abuse prevention, and suspected child abuse and neglect reporting
• Assess, implement, progress monitor, and evaluate effective evidence-based interventions throughout a multi-tiered system of support (MTSS)
• Contribute to screening and assessment of student behaviors to develop safety plans
• Provide support for crises prevention and response efforts at the school level
• Ensure informed practice through an understanding of policies and laws related to children/families and education