What is the role of a School Social Worker?
School Social Workers Help Students:
School Social Workers Help Parents:
School Social Workers Help Communities:
School Social Workers Help Schools:
Criteria for School Social Work Eligibility (Entrance and Exit):
General Criteria for Eligibility:
To be eligible for school social work services, the student must demonstrate behaviors in the
affective domain, which adversely affect his/her performance at school.
The student’s behavior must be significantly different from his/her peers by either:
School social work services are available under the following conditions:
Reasons for social work services may include, but are not necessarily limited to:
General Criteria for Discontinuation of Services:
If you have any questions or concerns about your child and school social work services please contact me at:
[email protected] or (847) 990-4467
School Social Workers Help Students:
- Achieve maximum academic benefits from their educational opportunities.
- Understand themselves and others.
- Develop self-control and take responsibility for their actions.
- Cope with stress.
- Develop decision-making skills.
- Develop social skills.
School Social Workers Help Parents:
- Participate effectively in their children’s education
- Better understand and meet their child’s social and emotional needs.
- Better understand and utilize school and community resources available to help students and parents
School Social Workers Help Communities:
- Understand school policies, programs, and practices
- Minimize the environmental factors which inhibit learning
- Develop resources to adequately meet the needs of students and families.
School Social Workers Help Schools:
- Understand factors that affect student’s abilities to make maximum use of their school experience.
- Access community resources
- Improve school climate through development of school policies and a wide range of prevention and intervention programs
Criteria for School Social Work Eligibility (Entrance and Exit):
General Criteria for Eligibility:
To be eligible for school social work services, the student must demonstrate behaviors in the
affective domain, which adversely affect his/her performance at school.
The student’s behavior must be significantly different from his/her peers by either:
- Significantly limiting or preventing the student from learning or
- Significantly interfering with major life activities as they relate to school/learning.
School social work services are available under the following conditions:
- Students who are eligible for special education services may receive social work through an IEP if the services are either directly, or at least partly related to the student’s diagnosed impairment.
- The student’s behavior is chronic; that is, the student’s teachers have documented his/her social, emotional, behavioral or motivational concerns through the Response to Intervention (RtI) process over a period of time and such behaviors continue to interfere with the student’s success despite attempts to modify his/her behavior. Previous alternative interventions to meet these needs have been tried unsuccessfully.
- Students, parents, or teachers who want to receive short-term psychoeducational support, information, and/or referrals.
Reasons for social work services may include, but are not necessarily limited to:
- Students who have difficulty developing or maintaining relationships with peers and/or school personnel
- Students who have anxiety, depression, or other mental health concerns who are at-risk for experiencing school difficulties
- Students who are in a temporary crisis state that requires short term intervention (e.g. suicidal ideation, loss/grief, school phobia) for fewer than five sessions
- Students who have heightened emotions which require a brief intervention or screening, which lasts fewer than five sessions
- Students, parents, or teachers who receive psychoeducational support (e.g. disability advocacy, health education, substance abuse education)
- Other issues as deemed appropriate by the school social worker
General Criteria for Discontinuation of Services:
- Social emotional IEP or non-IEP goals and objectives have been met
- Concerns no longer severely limit the student’s ability to learn or interfere with major life activities associated with school
- Limited carryover has been documented due to the student’s lack of physical, mental, or emotional ability to self-monitor or to generalize skills taught
- Student is unable to benefit from social work services due to resistance, low motivation, or developmental readiness failure to meet goals over an extended period of time
- Student’s poor or limited attendance precludes progress through intervention
- Parent/guardian requests that service be discontinued
If you have any questions or concerns about your child and school social work services please contact me at:
[email protected] or (847) 990-4467