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School social work

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Full-Text Articles in Social Work

Bridging Training Gaps: Assessing Knowledge And Confidence Of Mental Health Interns In Opioid Misuse Intervention For School-Aged Children And Adolescents, Carolina Rodriguez, Gabriela Guadalupe Gonzalez May 2024

Bridging Training Gaps: Assessing Knowledge And Confidence Of Mental Health Interns In Opioid Misuse Intervention For School-Aged Children And Adolescents, Carolina Rodriguez, Gabriela Guadalupe Gonzalez

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The rising threat of opioid misuse among children and adolescents demands urgent attention. Despite documented increases in opioid misuse among school-aged children and adolescents, internship placements in conjunction with academic institutions neglect training of mental health interns in school-based settings, specifically in the areas of opioid education and intervention. To meet the multifaceted needs of children and adolescents who misuse opioids, it is imperative to conduct research and provide thorough training for mental health interns. The purpose of this study is to assess the levels of knowledge and confidence of mental health interns concerning opioid misuse and the perceived benefit …


The Contribution Of Mindfulness Practice To Supporting Children And Their Families’ Challenges Among School Social Workers: A Qualitative Multicase Study Of School Social Workers In California, Catalina Andrade Jan 2024

The Contribution Of Mindfulness Practice To Supporting Children And Their Families’ Challenges Among School Social Workers: A Qualitative Multicase Study Of School Social Workers In California, Catalina Andrade

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative multicase study was to describe the challenges school social workers experience when supporting students and their families in their schools. Additionally, the purpose of this study was to understand how school social workers use mindfulness practices to help them respond to the challenges of working with the students and their families in their school based on Lesser’s mindfulness model (2019): love the work, do the work, don’t be an expert, connect to your pain, connect to the pain of others, depend on others, and keep making it simpler. Methodology: In this multicase study, the …


Social Work Educators’ Perceptions Of School Social Work Leadership – What Are The Characteristics That Make A Leader?, Christine Vyshedsky Jul 2023

Social Work Educators’ Perceptions Of School Social Work Leadership – What Are The Characteristics That Make A Leader?, Christine Vyshedsky

International Journal of School Social Work

Social workers in school settings are uniquely poised to propose and implement proactive solutions to climate stressors, but they may not capitalize on this opportunity to lead. This study explored the perceptions of Masters’ level social work educators, who set the tone and expectations for school social workers through curricula, towards the inclusion of leadership-related skills within school social work curriculum. A survey of educator administrators (n = 75) at Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) accredited institutions examined leadership as defined through a combination of two proposed definitions for social work leadership, delineated by Holosko, 2009 and Hopson & …


School Social Work And Autism Competency: A Mixed-Methods Assessment Of Pennsylvania School Social Workers, Jami Imhof May 2023

School Social Work And Autism Competency: A Mixed-Methods Assessment Of Pennsylvania School Social Workers, Jami Imhof

Social Work Doctoral Dissertations

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder which currently affects 1 in 44 individuals in the United States. Autism manifests as symptoms that impact the areas of communication, social interaction, and behavior (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020). Symptoms may create challenges in the school setting, requiring social work intervention. School social workers must be knowledgeable about autism as well as how to best support autistic students. A mixed methods study was conducted among 84 school social workers in Pennsylvania to understand current autism knowledge via an online survey. Ways in which social workers have learned about autism, as well as …


Social Work Best Practices In Schools: Effect Of Family-Focused Case Management On Rural School Students’ Success, Sheryl L. Mcklveen May 2023

Social Work Best Practices In Schools: Effect Of Family-Focused Case Management On Rural School Students’ Success, Sheryl L. Mcklveen

Social Work Doctoral Dissertations

Rural families and children have historically been challenged by a lack of public investment in their communities. Over generations, such deprivation created cycles of pervasive, persistent behavioral health and well-being disparities that negatively impact contemporary families and children, and threaten the socioeconomic future of America (Branson, 2019; Showalter et al., 2019; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, n.d.). The purpose of this dissertation was to build a model of school social work best practices employing strategies intended to break cycles of unmet needs by reducing social determinant of health (SDOH) risks in rural environments, thereby enhancing the health and …


A Mixed Method Study Of How Teachers’ Racial Bias Relates To Student-Teacher Relationships, Tasha Marie Childs Apr 2023

A Mixed Method Study Of How Teachers’ Racial Bias Relates To Student-Teacher Relationships, Tasha Marie Childs

Theses and Dissertations

Despite the important role public schools serve in students’ lives, schools are at the center of racial, socio-economic, and political divide and the epicenter of traumatic events for students who are marginalized based on their racial or ethnic identity. While ample research has demonstrated educational inequities for these students, no study to date has examined the impact of teacher racial bias on the quality of student-teacher relationships within the context of the United States (US) pre-Kindergarten through twelfth grade (PK-12) schools. A cross-sectional convergent mixed methods study was conducted to examine interpersonal racism in the classroom, and to specifically answer …


School Social Workers’ Role In School Discipline: Understanding School Discipline And Juvenile Justice, Staisha D. Hamilton Jan 2023

School Social Workers’ Role In School Discipline: Understanding School Discipline And Juvenile Justice, Staisha D. Hamilton

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Disproportionate disciplinary actions relating to school-based offenses for Black youth influence their early juvenile justice involvement. The continued excessive disciplinary actions involving Black male students in lower-level academic settings are concerning because, without being addressed, continuing disproportionate disciplinary action toward Black males can lead to future juvenile justice involvement and create a large-scale social work practice issue. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to focus on school social workers’ perspectives of their role in addressing disproportionate disciplinary strategies and their understanding of the relationship between school discipline strategies and juvenile justice involvement. The theoretical framework of this project …


Perceptions And Practices In School Social Worker-Teacher Interprofessional Collaboration, Stacy A. Gherardi, Kimberly Knox, Allison Stoner, Bethany Garling-Spychala Dec 2022

Perceptions And Practices In School Social Worker-Teacher Interprofessional Collaboration, Stacy A. Gherardi, Kimberly Knox, Allison Stoner, Bethany Garling-Spychala

International Journal of School Social Work

School social work requires significant skills for interprofessional collaboration, especially collaboration with teachers. While the value of such skills is increasingly recognized in fields such as healthcare, there has been limited attention to assessing or supporting interprofessional practice in education. This exploratory mixed-methods study analyzed survey data from 264 school social workers across the United States in order to understand their perceptions of teachers as collaborators and their practices relating to collaboration with teachers. Barriers to collaboration were also identified. Data suggested that school social workers had positive perceptions of teachers as collaborators generally, but saw limitations in the training …


Partners In Education: Leveraging School Social Workers To Support Transformative Equity And Well-Being Work In An Ontario K-12 Public School Board, Stefani F. Burosch Jul 2022

Partners In Education: Leveraging School Social Workers To Support Transformative Equity And Well-Being Work In An Ontario K-12 Public School Board, Stefani F. Burosch

The Dissertation-in-Practice at Western University

School social workers (SSWs) have been an integral part of Ontario’s K-12 public education system for over one hundred years. Their unique training, skill set, and practice perspectives enables provision of comprehensive services benefitting the whole school community. The social work profession is grounded in a code of ethics committed to the advancement of social justice for all and draws from a rich history of critical theorizing and evidence-based practice to further this goal. These features of the profession ideally position SSWs to serve as leaders and partners in the school mission, particularly at a time when the need for …


Intervention Program To Ease The Transition Out Of High School, Marissa Sareñana May 2022

Intervention Program To Ease The Transition Out Of High School, Marissa Sareñana

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

“At-risk” youth are more likely to drop out of school and less likely to pursue higher education than their counterparts, hindering their economic future. This project was implemented at Learning for Life Charter School (LFLCS), an alternative 7th-12th grade school for at-risk youth. The project included conducting various readiness assessments and an education intervention designed to increase seniors’ level of preparedness for life after graduation. Seniors met individually with social work interns to identify a post-graduation plan, formulating short and long term goals. Once students formulated their post-graduation plans, they were guided on the necessary requirements to transition into their …


Intervention Program For The Transition From High School To The Real World, Tiana González May 2022

Intervention Program For The Transition From High School To The Real World, Tiana González

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

An evidence-based argument shows that early post-graduation planning plays a vital role in a student’s transition into life after high school; therefore, establishing a comprehensive plan while in high school is crucial to stability and success. The capstone project, Adopt a Senior, was implemented at Learning for Life Charter School (LFLCS), an alternative school serving at-risk youth grades 7-12 in Monterey, San Benito, and Santa Cruz counties. The Adopt a Senior project is intended to provide LFLCS seniors with support, guidance, and assistance to prepare for graduation and transition into life after high school. As of the 2021-22 academic year, …


Intervention Program To Increase Preparedness For Life After High School, Melisa Garcia May 2022

Intervention Program To Increase Preparedness For Life After High School, Melisa Garcia

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

In Monterey County, too many skilled-labor positions are not filled by local youth, negatively impacting long-term well-being, stability, and success. This capstone project was implemented at Learning for Life Charter School (LFLCS), an alternative middle and high school for at-risk youth. There is a lack of preparedness among LFLCS seniors for postsecondary life. This is an intervention program aimed to increase preparedness among graduating seniors. Participants are expected to identify a post-graduation plan; the intermediate and long-term expectations are that more LFLCS graduates will pursue their identified plan, increasing individual and community well-being, stability, and success. Of 50 LFLCS seniors, …


School Mental Health In Charters: A Glimpse Of Practitioners From A National Sample, Jandel Crutchfield, Kate L. Phillippo, Annahita R. Ball Mar 2022

School Mental Health In Charters: A Glimpse Of Practitioners From A National Sample, Jandel Crutchfield, Kate L. Phillippo, Annahita R. Ball

International Journal of School Social Work

Charter schools are part of a global push for alternative governance models in public education. Even though U.S. charter schools enroll nearly 3.2 million children, little is known about school mental health (SMH) practice in charter schools. The current study was the first step in a line of inquiry exploring SMH and school social work practice in charter schools. Using cross-sectional survey research methods, the authors conducted brief one-time phone surveys with charter school social workers and counselors identified using a stratified random sampling strategy with national charter school lists. The final sample for analysis was 473 schools. Of these, …


Applying Critical Race Theory And Risk And Resilience Theory To The School-To-Prison Pipeline: Theoretical Frameworks For Social Workers, Christopher Thyberg, Christina Newhill Jan 2022

Applying Critical Race Theory And Risk And Resilience Theory To The School-To-Prison Pipeline: Theoretical Frameworks For Social Workers, Christopher Thyberg, Christina Newhill

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Social workers are essential stakeholders in the mounting efforts to dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline. This article presents a theoretical framework integrating Critical Race Theory and Risk and Resilience Theory as a tool for social workers and other school-based social service providers seeking to create meaningful change to school discipline policies. In this article, we apply the theories to expand the understanding of the school-to-prison pipeline and why it has persisted, compare and contrast each theory’s relative strengths and limitations, and conclude with implications for social workers, counselors, and social service providers at the practice, policy, and research levels.


Role Expansion Of School Social Workers: An Educational Paradigm Shift, Sara Murrell Jan 2022

Role Expansion Of School Social Workers: An Educational Paradigm Shift, Sara Murrell

DSW Capstone Projects

This capstone product includes three written documents. The purpose of this work was to discover and justify the role expansion of school social workers into school leaders. The first, a systematic literature review examining the roles of school social workers. This document will review the current literature describing which school social work roles promote school social workers as school leaders, and which roles act as barriers for school social workers to become school leaders. The second document is a conceptual paper. This document identifies the need for a paradigm shift in education towards a whole child perspective. This document looks …


Social Workers’ Role In School Discipline Of Black Male Students, Teresa L. Cooper Jan 2022

Social Workers’ Role In School Discipline Of Black Male Students, Teresa L. Cooper

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

School administrators enforce various forms of school discipline, including office referrals, suspensions, and expulsions, as strategies to maintain safe learning environments for students and staff. Over four decades of research indicate Black male students experience more consequences and receive tougher school discipline than their peers of other races. School discipline potentially causes adverse outcomes for students. Schools employ social workers to support behavior and academic needs of students. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore lived experiences of school social workers in their role in school discipline of Black male students. The theoretical framework used for this study …


Electronic Device Use: How It Affects The Well-Being Of Children And Adolescents, Sabrina Rodriguez, Amandalee Merryman May 2021

Electronic Device Use: How It Affects The Well-Being Of Children And Adolescents, Sabrina Rodriguez, Amandalee Merryman

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Electronic device use among children and adolescents is omnipresent. Literature suggests an inverse correlation between electronic device use and the overall well-being of children and adolescents. The current study employed an explanatory research design to explore the association between excessive device use and the well-being of children and adolescents. Researchers collected and analyzed quantitative data in the form of archival data from a local school district’s mental health department. A total of 50 participants, ranging from ages 5 to 17, were randomly selected from the 2018-2019 archived case files. The results of the study suggest that electronic device use has …


Spilling The Tea In Bilingual Latinx New York City Department Of Education School Social Workers: Towards Entre Nos, Cindy M. Bautista-Thomas Feb 2021

Spilling The Tea In Bilingual Latinx New York City Department Of Education School Social Workers: Towards Entre Nos, Cindy M. Bautista-Thomas

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Social workers play an important role in schools. There are about one million children enrolled in the New York City Department of Education(NYCDOE) school system, across 1,843 schools (New York City Department of Education, 2020). Of those students, the largest demographic group is the Latinx population, which has been increasing steadily since 2011. Therefore, there is an urgent need not only to increase the numbers of culturally responsive bilingual Latinx social workers, but also to understand their professional experiences. In order to address this gap in knowledge, the roles of bilingual Latinx school social workers as culturally responsive practitioners in …


Rules, Roles, And Practices: Exploring School Social Worker Preparation For Practice, Kimberly M. Knox, Stacy Gherardi, Allison Stoner Oct 2020

Rules, Roles, And Practices: Exploring School Social Worker Preparation For Practice, Kimberly M. Knox, Stacy Gherardi, Allison Stoner

International Journal of School Social Work

At present, there is significant variability in the United States in regards to pre-service education and licensing requirements for school social workers. Studies have suggested that this variability impacts practice and may limit perceptions of the profession. The state of New Mexico requires a Master of Social Work (MSW) degree in order to practice as a school social worker but does not require any school-specific coursework, fieldwork, or training. This mixed-methods study describes findings from a survey of 84 school social workers in New Mexico which assessed perceptions of their preparation for practice. Quantitative survey items suggested that participants felt …


Tasks And Impact Of School Social Work In Switzerland As Perceived By Teachers, Principals And School Social Workers – A Multilevel Analysis, Werner Wicki, Roland Künzle, Marianne Mueller, Uri Ziegele, Karin Stadelmann, Kurt Gschwind Oct 2020

Tasks And Impact Of School Social Work In Switzerland As Perceived By Teachers, Principals And School Social Workers – A Multilevel Analysis, Werner Wicki, Roland Künzle, Marianne Mueller, Uri Ziegele, Karin Stadelmann, Kurt Gschwind

International Journal of School Social Work

To investigate whether the perceptions of school-based professionals regarding the tasks and impact of school social work (SSW) converge or diverge, this study collected survey data among 638 teachers, 41 school social workers, 62 principals, and 23 special education teachers distributed over 92 Swiss schools. After constructing several scales measuring the tasks and the impact of SSW via principal factor analyses, ANOVA’s were carried out to compare the mean perceptions of the included professionals. To prove for related perceptions between teachers and school social workers multilevel analyses were performed by including additional exploratory variables such as school context and personal …


School Social Work In Vietnam: Development And Capacity Building Through International Collaboration, Leticia Villarreal Sosa, Nguyen Thu Ha Oct 2020

School Social Work In Vietnam: Development And Capacity Building Through International Collaboration, Leticia Villarreal Sosa, Nguyen Thu Ha

International Journal of School Social Work

International collaborations and exchanges have been a part of the social work profession since its beginning. The internationalization of social work is firmly established with the presence of multiple international social work organizations. In the specialization of school social work, there are opportunities for exchange through an international school social work conference held every two to three years. It was at this conference that the authors met to initiate a collaboration in support of the development of school social work in Vietnam. This paper discusses the collaborative efforts and project funded by a Fulbright Specialist grant to support the development …


School Social Work: A Curriculum Analysis, Nikki Snyder May 2020

School Social Work: A Curriculum Analysis, Nikki Snyder

Social Work Doctoral Dissertations

School social workers, although typically underutilized, provide extremely valuable services to school-aged children and their families, entire school districts, and communities. The purpose of this research was to study the level of compliance by MSW programs offering School Social Work with the National Association of Social Worker’s (2012) Standards for School Social Work Practice, identify curricular gaps, and discover curricular areas implemented in these programs that are outside the NASW (2012) standards. The researcher asked the following questions (1) What is the level of compliance with the National Association of Social Worker’s (2012) Standards for School Social Work Practice by …


Understanding Deaf And Hard Of Hearing College Student Experiences Of School Social Work Services In The K-12 Education System, Kota Takayama Apr 2020

Understanding Deaf And Hard Of Hearing College Student Experiences Of School Social Work Services In The K-12 Education System, Kota Takayama

JADARA

This article focuses on Deaf and Hard of Hearing college students’ experiences with school social work services. This study surveyed 136 Deaf and hard of hearing college students about their experiences with school social work services, their concerns about social workers’ competencies, and service delivery. The results of the study imply that school-based social work services should be culturally relevant and school social workers culturally competent. Furthermore, the results indicated that respondents ranked services they felt most comfortable asking about and which aspects of service delivery they felt were most important.


Facilitating Racial Equity: Evaluating A Leadership Workshop Series For School Social Workers, Summer G. Woodside, Veronica Hardy Mar 2020

Facilitating Racial Equity: Evaluating A Leadership Workshop Series For School Social Workers, Summer G. Woodside, Veronica Hardy

International Journal of School Social Work

This article provides an overview of a leadership training workshop series designed to provide professional development to Pre-K through 12th grade school social workers about racial equity and leadership. The series' objectives included promoting social workers’ understanding of and obligation to facilitating racial equity in schools, analyzing educational data through a racial equity lens, conceptualizing school social workers as influencers in addressing racial inequities in schools, and collaborating with school professionals of various disciplines to practice and implement evidence-based approaches for facilitating racial equity in schools. The authors conducted five workshops that were developed based on state school social work …


Teen Depression, Stories Of Hope And Health: A Promising Universal School Climate Intervention For Middle School Youth, Michael S. Kelly, Peggy Kubert, Heather Freed Mar 2020

Teen Depression, Stories Of Hope And Health: A Promising Universal School Climate Intervention For Middle School Youth, Michael S. Kelly, Peggy Kubert, Heather Freed

International Journal of School Social Work

This study describes the delivery of the Teen Depression: Stories of Health and Healing (TDSHH), a brief school-based depression awareness delivered for middle school students. The main objectives of the proposed evaluation were to examine the effects of TDSHH on middle school health students in the areas of knowledge about depression, willingness to seek help from adults and belief that adults can help. Two Chicago suburban middle schools agreed to be part of the TDSHH intervention study. In both schools, a pre/post-test wait-list control quasi-experimental design was used. Each student in the study (total N=223) completed a questionnaire that incorporated …


When Personal Raises Political: Experience Of Racial Discrimination And Distrust Of Authorities Among Children Of Immigrants, Luis Fernandez-Barutell Jan 2020

When Personal Raises Political: Experience Of Racial Discrimination And Distrust Of Authorities Among Children Of Immigrants, Luis Fernandez-Barutell

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Substantial research has addressed the association between welcoming or hostile contexts and sociopolitical behavior among second generation immigrants. Previous analyses have conceptualized positive elements (e.g., group solidarity) and negative factors (e.g., anti-immigration bias) related to specific outcomes, such as voting or activism. This study examined factors associated with distrust of authorities and, in particular, whether experiencing personal discrimination based on race/ethnicity is related to distrust of government and police among second generation Latinos in the United States. Our results confirmed that experiencing discrimination in two contexts (school and police) is indeed related to distrust of authorities. Recommendations for practice and …


It’S About Time: Initial Findings From A Feasibility Study Of A Time-Study Tool For School Social Workers In Michigan, Michael S. Kelly, Steven Whitmore Dec 2019

It’S About Time: Initial Findings From A Feasibility Study Of A Time-Study Tool For School Social Workers In Michigan, Michael S. Kelly, Steven Whitmore

International Journal of School Social Work

Starting in late Summer of 2015, the two authors began collaborating on the pilot testing of a school social work (SSW) time-study tool with a sample of SSW in suburban Detroit (n=9). This article details the path towards the development of the time-study tool, drawing from the extant literature on workload and caseload issues in related special education fields, and resulting in the time-study tool that was first piloted with SSW in 2015-2016. Initial data from year one of the two-year 2015-2017 pilot project is shared in this article, along with qualitative data based on interviews with the SSW in …


Depression Education As Primary Prevention: The Erika’S Lighthouse School-Based Program For High School Students, Michael S. Kelly, Heather Freed, Peggy Kubert, Sarah Greibler Jan 2019

Depression Education As Primary Prevention: The Erika’S Lighthouse School-Based Program For High School Students, Michael S. Kelly, Heather Freed, Peggy Kubert, Sarah Greibler

Social Work: School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Other Works

Major depression is a treatable and common mental health disorder for youth. Untreated depression is a major risk factor for youth who become suicidal and die by suicide. Recent focus in the school-based literature on creating universal mental health promotion programs have recognized the need for effective depression awareness education programs to assist youth in identifying symptoms of depression in themselves and their peers, and to encourage those youth to seek trusted adults for help. A quasiexperimental design (QED) was employed in two suburban Chicago high schools (n=652) to evaluate the intervention, Real Teenagers Talking About Adolescent Depression (RTTAAD), a …


Understanding The Experiences Of School Social Workers In The Upper And Lower Peninsulas Of Michigan: Adolescent Mental Health And Suicidality, Paige Lancour Jan 2019

Understanding The Experiences Of School Social Workers In The Upper And Lower Peninsulas Of Michigan: Adolescent Mental Health And Suicidality, Paige Lancour

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

Bullying and suicide is one of the most important contemporary issues among school-aged youth in America today. Chronic rates of mental health issues have stimulated increased focus on the role that school social workers have in tackling these issues. This thesis highlights the interconnections between school social worker roles, funding allocations, resource availability, and the prevalence of bullying and suicidality within schools. It does this by comparing the experiences of five school social workers in the rural Upper Peninsula and urban Lower Peninsula of Michigan. It does this through the analysis of interviews with these social workers and the identification …


School Social Work In Northern Uganda In A Post-Conflict Context: A Case Of Anaka Foundation, Julius Omona Dec 2018

School Social Work In Northern Uganda In A Post-Conflict Context: A Case Of Anaka Foundation, Julius Omona

International Journal of School Social Work

Anaka Foundation is an indigenous NGO that is operating in northern Uganda in response to the post-war development challenges. Anaka recently concluded a school social work project, a specialization which is common in Western countries, to attempt to improve the learning environment of vulnerable children selected from nine government aided primary schools. This school social work pilot project was supported with a grant from AfriCarinthia, an organization from Austria. Relevant social work theories were applied and significant systems in the learning environment of the children were targeted through different interventions. A mixed before-and-after evaluation approach was used to arrive at …