School Social Workers bring unique professional knowledge, skills and perspective to the school system. School Social Workers are hired by school districts to enhance the district's ability to meet its academic mission, especially where a priority on home/school/community collaboration is key to achieving that mission. By focusing on the whole welfare of the student, School Social Workers play a central role in assisting schools to work toward breaking down barriers within the school, home, and community which interfere with student achievement. School Social Workers apply an ecological perspective of school work practice that studies the relationship between people and their environments.

The approach of the School Social Worker is to apply an integrated blend of prevention and intervention strategies which contribute to the overall health and wellness of the student, school, home, and community. Through the use of assessment, crisis intervention, home visits, conflict resolution, individual and group counseling, consultation, program development, and coordination of school and community services, School Social Workers serve as catalysts to bring people together and to create an environment that is conducive to effective problem solving and learning.

School Social Workers are trained to help students reduce barriers to their education by employing a wide range of professional strategies to enhance students' learning, growing, and succeeding.

School Social Workers help students:

• Increase academic success
• Improve relationships with peers
• Cope with challenging life events
• Improve self-esteem and self-discipline
• Learn problem solving skills
• Learn conflict resolution and decision making skills
• Become resilient, successful learners

School Social Workers help families:

• Understand the educational and developmental goals of their children
• Advocate on behalf of their children regarding school performance
• Link with helpful school and community resources
• Understand school policies, programs and services
• Identify family strengths that promote academic success
• Develop effective skills to strengthen parent-child relationships

School Social Workers help educators:

• Understand family, cultural, school and community factors that may impact student performance
• Link with families to address obstacles to academic success
• Develop and implement strategies to enhance academic success
• Understand child abuse and neglect reporting laws, procedures and policies
• Address social, emotional and behavioral challenges of students
• Coordinate school and community resources to meet student and family needs