Experience in School Social Work

Experience in School Social Work

As a member of the student services team, school social workers are a link between the home, school, and the community. School social workers work within multi-cultural contexts with the social functioning and social conditions/environments of students to promote and support the student's academic and social success. They advocate for and assist students to accomplish tasks associated with their learning, growth, and development toward a fuller realization of their intrinsic dignity, capability and potential. The social worker's responsibilities are not just to the students with whom they assess, but with the educators, the school's administrative staff, the parents/guardians, and to the state who employs them. "In response to expressed, assumed, and implicit needs not only of students, but of teachers, administrators, parents, community groups, and other systems that interact with the educational system, school social workers constantly have had to redefine themselves, their practice skills, and their use and understanding of a variety of ecological entities." (Graber, 1990, p.11)The responsibilities differ depending on which aspect of the case is being worked.

School social workers are often confused by the general public with school counselors and sometimes psychologists. The school social worker's responsibilities and goals differ from that of a counselor or a therapist. The role of the counselor or therapist is to be reactive and utilize tertiary prevention. The school social worker's role is to be more proactive and practice primary and secondary prevention.

"Opportunities for continuing education of public school teachers seems largely limited to matters of curriculum and subject matter. The involvement of a social worker with one staff enabled them to transcend these issues and develop insights into their own attitudes and responses to children's behaviors." (Graber, 1990, p.11) The school social worker takes over where traditional educators leave off. Teachers and the administrative staff are not trained to, or even allowed to interact with students in the manner that a social worker does. Cases of abuse, whether it is physical, emotional, sexual, or neglect is referred to the social worker by the education staff, such as teachers or those in administrative positions. Once a referral has been written up and sent to the social worker, it becomes the social worker's responsibility to assess the situation and decide a course of action.

Social workers talk with the student in a manner that is comprehensible to the student. For the most part, students are not very forthright about their issues. The social worker reads into the words used, the body language, actions, among other things to "dig" for information needed to help the student. They must rely on training, previous experience and instinct to devise a course of action on an individual basis and find the answers that will help protect the child.

For the student, the social worker is a confidant, the person who is their advocate. They are their protectors and sometimes are even their savior. At times they are the vaults in which family secrets are kept, and interpreters of actions and behaviors. They work solely in the best interest of the student. At times what is in the best interest of the child is not what the child wants. While the worker is looked upon as a friend, they are an interested party whose job is to keep the child free from harm.

Social workers are sometimes viewed as the enemy or interloper by parents and guardians. Where the child sees the worker as a vault for the family secrets, the parents' views, for the most part, believe the social worker as the exposer of those secrets. This is not an accurate description whatsoever. The worker does the best they can to get to the root of the problem and help the family as a whole to correct the problems, and point them in a direction to find further and continuing assistance, i.e., Department of Family and Child Services(DFCS ) or Child Care and Parent Services (CAPS).

The county and/or state employ the school social worker and pay their salary with tax dollars. Schools have no part in the decision making process of having a social worker as a part of their staff. Social workers are designated to a school, a group of schools and at times entire counties until other resources are available. School social worker, Scott Bell, believes that he is fortunate to be assigned to only two schools.

Even though Bell has just the two schools, in no way is that to be inferred that he has a light work load. Bell works with High Point Elementary School and Spalding Drive Elementary Charter School. He arrives at 7:15 in the morning at High Point, plugs in his laptop and finds the first of a long list of referrals already waiting for him. The following are two of several cases that were handled during my volunteer experience. The names have been withheld entirely for their protection.

Bell's first referral of the day is a case of possible child endangerment. A teacher sent in the referral because she overheard a six-year-old first grader describing what might be drug transactions conducted by the child's father out of their home. The child was talking to another student complaining of a loss of sleep. The child goes onto say that their father was selling large quantities of what the child called "special sugar"and that it caused them to fall asleep in class.

Bell meets with the student in his office and mentions to the child that they look tired and asks why. The student goes onto say how their father and his special sugar are popular and people were entering the home at all hours of the night to buy it. Bell proceeds without sounding alarmed or even shocked. Bell goes on and asks more about the special sugar and why it is so special. The student replies by saying that it is the type of sugar the police do not like and that is why their father has guns in the home. Bell thanks the student, for talking to them and asks if the child if they have any questions for him. The student asks if they are in trouble and Bell tells them that he just wanted to know why they were so tired and how he could help them get more rest.

The next step was to call DFCS. In a prior case that involved drug dealing, the call was made from the school and the school received many life endangering threats from the parents. The principal and Bell's supervisor strongly suggest that the call be made anonymously from a public payphone. When the report was called in the case worker who answered the phone said that the report needed to be filed with 911. The case worker was reminded that protocol requires a report be filed to DFCS first. The case