Abstract
This chapter discusses injustices surrounding school social workers (SSW), specifically in schools with high rates of poverty, majority-minority populations, in rural settings, and/or concentrations of high-risk students. The education system is a substantial source of socialization for children, influencing opinions, worldviews, behaviors, and coping skills. Schools with an accumulation of poverty-based social problems commonly struggle with hiring SSWs due to budget deficits and suffer in comparison to richer school districts. Additionally, schools are providing more social services to students and families as a means of increasing educational outcomes; however, schools with the greatest demonstrated needs are less likely to have access to SSWs at the prescribed student ratio to provide services at an optimal level. This chapter discusses the benefits SSWs bring to the educational community, ongoing inequalities due to tax revenue-based budgets, and innovative ideas that can increase SSWs in schools with limited resources.
TopIntroduction
The job description and roles of SSWs have changed considerably since their inception at the turn of the 20th century. Formally known as “visiting teachers,” the first official SSWs started to appear in 1905 in New York City, Boston, Hartford, and Chicago (Segal et al., 2018). By 1920, an incentive program known as the Commonwealth Fund set aside monies for 30 programs to develop social work programs in schools. As part of this movement, schools agreed to pay a third of the SSWs’ salary for three years, and if the school felt the program was beneficial to the student body, they would then take over the full financial responsibility of the positions. After three years, 70% of programs moved their SSWs into permanent positions due to the effectiveness of advancing challenging students educationally (Shaffer, 2006). When SSWs first began to provide services to schools, their greatest barriers for success were lack of funding, poorly developed job descriptions, child labor practices, behavior issues resulting from unreported child maltreatment, and the stigma of poverty (Fisher, 2020). Today, most of these barriers are still in place. As the discipline of school social work has evolved, so have the recognized challenges and injustices that should be addressed by SSWs.
The purpose of this chapter is to discuss social injustices surrounding the lack of school social workers (SSW) in schools, especially those with demonstrated need. The chapter will begin with a discussion concerning what SSWs are and the services they can provide for schools, especially those with challenging student populations. The chapter will also discuss inequalities surrounding the hiring of SSWs, as those schools with the greatest need for inhouse social services are the least likely to have access to SSWs (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2019). The chapter will address the educational challenges that customarily accompany poverty, childhood trauma, and mental health issues, as well as the commonality of these issues occurring in higher concentrations in schools found in majority-minority schools (Bronn, 2020; Crutchfield et al., 2020; Gaias et al., 2021).
The chapter will address today’s schools as small-scale social service agencies for students and families, creating additional burdens for administrators and educators. More schools are working to be trauma-informed, creating additional disciplinary responses, changing classroom philosophies, and mandating more emotional work from administrators and educators (Avery et al., 2021; Baez et al., 2019; Iachini et al., 2016). SSWs are uniquely trained to provide the individual, group, family, classroom, and community services to support the school’s mission (Naik, 2019). Unfortunately, SSWs are commonly considered auxiliary staff, and their positions are dependent on a surplus in the school’s operating budget (Branson, 2019; Teasley, 2018). Schools with the highest need for SSWs are often those with the fewest resources to hire and sustain SSW positions due to funding injustices (Miller & Williams-Isom, 2021).
Lastly, the chapter will discuss possible innovative methods for addressing the barriers of obtaining SSWs. Specifically, methods of hiring and sustaining more SSWs in school districts, new and creative funding opportunities, using San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez as evidence of inequality, and advocating for Assembly, House, and Senate bills that could provide legislation and funding needed to create SSW positions, especially in schools with the greatest need. Additionally, the chapter will discuss the timeliness of trauma-informed schools and services in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the blanket of trauma that students, educators, and families have experienced since the beginning of 2020.
Key Terms in this Chapter
School Social Worker: A protected term used to denote a classically trained social worker from a school accredited by the Council on Social Work Education. Dependent on state regulations, school social workers are required to have a bachelor’s and/or master’s degree to practice in educational settings. The school social worker serves as the liaison between the school and the student and is responsible for the social, behavioral, and mental health needs of the student body.
Micro-Level: Services provided on an individual basis.
Poverty: The state of being deficit in one or more of the following categories: food securities, housing, education and/or employment, access to health care, and economic assets.
Trauma-Informed School: Schools where educators, administrators, and other support staff have completed training on the manifestations of trauma and commit to strategic and multi-layered approaches to increase the mental health, wellbeing, and educational outcomes of the student body.
Trauma: An emotional and/or physical reaction to events that are perceived as frightening and/or threatening to a person.
College Readiness Score: The segment of a school’s senior class that received qualifying scores on advanced placement (AP) tests or international baccalaureate (IB) exams.
Field Education: Social work majors, both at the baccalaureate and master level, participate in a hands-on portion where they apply clinical and academic skills in a social work setting for a set minimum of hours as a graduation requirement.
Toxic Stress: The totality of physical, emotional, social, cognitive, and/or spiritual burden due to prolonged exposure to aversive living environments.
Majority-Minority School: Schools where students of color compose a greater percentage than White students.
Social Services: A variety of coordinated services used to help people acquire resources, supports, and/or treatments to address unmet needs.
Students of Color: A general term for students who identify as Black, Hispanic/Latino, Native American (including Alaskan Native), Pacific Islander, Multi-racial, or Asian. However, when discussing educational outcomes, Asian Americans are often excluded from this term in the United States.
Mezzo-Level: Services provided to families and/or groups.
Macro-Level: Services provided at the community, political, and/or legislative level.