School Social Workers

School social workers assist in identifying and implementing solutions to social, emotional, and learning problems which impact the academic performance of students by uniting the resources of the home, the school, and the community.

• They facilitate understanding between home and school by visiting the home when special concerns impact upon a student’s academic progress.
• They serve as members of the multidisciplinary team to develop intervention plans for students who are experiencing problems in the school setting, and may provide short-term individual or group counseling services.
• Social workers assist parents and school staff when students experience problems with school attendance.
• Social workers also serve as the link with Child Protective Services.
• They make referrals on behalf of students and families to community resources, such as the Family Assessment and Planning Team (FAPT), and maintain a working relationship with these agencies so that there is effective coordination and follow-up services.

In addition to individual school assignments, social workers serve a number of system-wide functions, including:

• conducting sociocultural assessments for the preschool assessment team
• coordinating Project Extra Step for homeless students
• providing sociocultural assessments for students attending private schools, when a disability is suspected
• conducting social history updates for special education students who are placed on a contractual basis outside of the public school system
• participating on the Student Support Team
• providing social work services to students attending the Family Center and the Alternative Parenting Teens Program