Social Work/Individuals in Need

School social work services are specialized services that provide systematic interventions to remove barriers to student learning and success. Services may be either prevention or intervention approaches, and both district wide or student specific. The school social worker holds a primary focus in providing clinical counseling to students that supports progress in the educational setting. School social workers are licensed professionals that adhere to the code of ethics regarding confidentiality and the delivery of professional services. 

These goals are accomplished by working with the following systems:

Working with Staff

The school social worker is responsible for the development and implementation of classroom or district-wide programming that supports students’ basic, social, emotional, and mental health needs. 

School social workers are also instrumental in supporting classroom teachers through the provision of training, consultation, and offering coaching for strategies to utilize in the classroom. 

Helping Students and Families

Social workers seek to facilitate connections between home and school environments to promote student success. Social workers regularly conduct individualized assessments with students and their families. These assessments focus on social history, developmental history, family dynamics, student behavior, and learning ability, and are used to advocate for students, as well as connect students and their families with available supports and resources.

Working with the Community

School social workers are responsible for the coordination of resources for parents, teachers, and students. The community has a tremendous amount of support to offer, and the school social worker creates bridges between the resources and those in need.