The School Social Workers Association of Delaware (SSWADE) would like to share the important role we have working for students and families in schools and communities. Social worker roles are understood often in the context of hospitals, nonprofits and governments, etc., but what role do we play in your child’s school?
With the pandemic, financial uncertainty and civil unrest, students and families face greater adversity School social workers are on the front lines providing services to students, families, staff and the school community.
A governor proclamation designated School Social Work Week in Delaware, with the national theme “Beacon of Hope: School Social Workers — Lighting the Way.” We do light the way, emphasizing the whole child, collaborating and linking students and families with services and advocating for our profession. We work with teachers, administrators, parents and educators to provide interventions and consultations designed to offer hope and promote student success
Many families are struggling with basic needs and lack of food, income, internet services, ability to pay rent, or with mental health obligations, and are relying on school social workers for expertise and connections to resources.
Social isolation, dramatic changes in routine and uncertainty about the future create stress and can impact student engagement and interrupt learning. Providing access and connection to virtual mental health services, addresses social and emotional needs of students.
While the impact on students can be more obvious, teachers and staff are struggling, too. Teachers need support to effectively respond to and support students.
With some students not engaging in remote learning or not showing up, along with others who are showing up and engaging in assignments but struggling with motivation, school social workers play another essential role. Using multitiered systems of support approach, they engage in supportive interventions.
Many students will experience the loss of someone they know and love, and will grieve the loss of rituals, such as prom, graduation or simply being with their friends, which can be compounded by intense social isolation. These can carry over long after the pandemic passes. Enduring effects must be treated by with a trauma-informed approach and knowledge in crisis intervention and postvention plus skills.
The reintroduction of House Bill 100 — sponsored by Rep. Valerie Longhurst and Sen. Marie Pinkney, both D-Bear —establishes more mental health units for Delaware elementary schools, making the timeliness of highlighting the work of school social workers appropriate and crucial.
We must prioritize mental health support if we expect students to recover and regain skills from lost in-class instruction time. Schools and educational staff face a challenge unlike anything in recent history, and by coming together as a community and focusing on the whole child, we will create an education system better able to meet the needs of all students.
Gloria L. Ho is a licensed clinical social worker serving Milton Elementary School, and is Cape Henlopen School District co-president of the School Social Workers Association of Delaware.
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