School Based Social Work Research Papers

This chapter will describe how many school social workers are often the first (and sometimes only) point of contact for youth and families with mental health problems, making it essential that school social workers develop strong mental health assessment, referral, and evidence-informed practice skills in this domain. This chapter will provide an overview of mental health issues and mental health services typically delivered in the schools. It reviews mental health policy at the federal level, specifically focusing on major changes in the last 10 years that are impacting how school social workers deliver mental health interventions in school settings. Additional content in the chapter will cover the ways that school social workers can assess students for specific disorders identified in the DSM-5V, as well as possible interventions to address students with those mental health problems. Throughout this chapter as well as the entire book, special attention will be given to an evidence-informed practice (EIP) process that can empower school social workers and clients to use the best available evidence to address common children’s mental health problems.

The purpose of this paper is to report the results of the 2nd National School Social Work Survey. Here, we review the responses of 3,769 school social workers using descriptive and bivariate statistics to better understand the current state of school social work in the United States. We also describe the characteristics and utilization patterns of students accessing school social work services, summarize the level (primary prevention versus secondary/tertiary) of practice focus of school social workers, and review practitioner responses to items summarizing their utilization of resources to identify, implement, and evaluate evidence-based practices. In addition to these descriptive analyses, we report bivariate analyses that aim to examine the relationship between prevention orientation and caseload, grade level, community setting, geographic region, and licensure status. Results suggest the workforce characteristics and service provision trends of school social workers remain largely unchanged from 2008, and that students accessing school social work services are exposed to many factors placing them at increased risk for school failure. Pre and post service training recommendations arise from our assessment of the state of school social work in America to better serve children and youth who struggle with mental and behavioral health issues.

- by Michael S. Kelly and +2
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- Evidence Based Practice, Survey Research, School Social Work, School-based Mental Health Interventions

One of the persistent and pressing challenges
in school social work involves
how the field can best provide postmaster’s
support and training to school social
workers. Numerous scholars have noted the need
for context-specific and relevant training for
school social workers (Astor, Behre, Wallace, &
Fravil, 1998; Franklin, 2001). Recent survey research
indicates that school social workers are
often pulled away from their desire to be more involved
in prevention and leadership work in their
schools due to large caseloads, crisis intervention
demands, and heavy paperwork (Kelly, Raines,
Stone, & Frey, 2010). Finally, despite the recognition
that these practitioners want and need to
become more evidence informed in their selection
and implementation of interventions, little support
and few practical tools exist to aid school social
workers in their quest to become more versed in
the basic tenets of evidence-based practice (EBP)
(Kelly, 2008). This article offers a description of
how a program founded in Chicago by school
social work practitioners in the 1990s has evolved
over the years in an attempt to address these gaps
in postmaster’s training for school-based mental
health professionals (SBMHPs).

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