“Schools are the best places for them to access services because it’s a place where they spend most of their time. “Some kids today are living with post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression,” said Maria Hu, adjunct professor in the school social work specialization who worked as a psychiatric social worker in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) for almost decade. They are also microcosms of their wider communities and a gateway to creating real and lasting change for the next generations. Schools are the one common experience in children’s lives across the board and the greatest opportunity to affect core social disparities. Yet, here we are today, and it really is not that,” said Assistant Teaching Professor Aimee Odette, who is part of the core team of faculty who teach the practice of social work in schools. “The public school system was meant to be this great equalizer when it was put into place. Visiting teachers tried to bridge the gap between home and school life and help students to overcome barriers experienced at home. The practice has always been grounded in social justice issues and leveling access to education across the socioeconomic spectrum. Social workers have been in school settings for over 115 years, with the advent of social work itself, beginning in 1906 with “visiting teachers” in Boston, New York City and Hartford, Connecticut. They're not thinking about who discovered America or what's two plus two, they're thinking ‘What's my home going to look like later on this afternoon?’ Social workers help teachers and administrators to understand this.”Ī holistic, systems approach to student wellness Maybe they haven't had a nutritious meal in the morning, or they just witnessed somebody being murdered on the street, or their parents are in a custody battle. “When a student is drifting off into space in the classroom, that may be because something else is happening in that student’s life. “School social workers understand trauma and how that impacts a student,” says Steve Hydon, clinical professor of field education and director of social work in schools. Her development of school social work-specific curriculum and field placements, as well as mentorship of faculty in training Master of Social Work (MSW) students in this specialization, generated the transformative program that is providing highly skilled social workers to schools around the country. An international expert in crisis management who had led crisis response and recovery for the Los Angeles Unified School District, Wong brought first-hand experience of how trauma impacted student success in school and the overall learning environment. For over a decade, the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work has been a pioneer in providing education for a specialization in school social work.Ī more serious focus on training social workers in school settings and trauma-informed care for students was initiated by Marleen Wong, clinical professor emerita, when she joined the USC Social Work faculty. There has never been a greater need for school social workers, yet many people - even some educators and administrators - do not know what a school social worker is or how they can help address large- and small-scale challenges of student life. public schools provide evaluation for student mental health disorders, and high school students in 37 states are more likely to attend a school with a police officer on site than a social worker. Students are also struggling to catch up from learning lags and social delays due to distance learning, with students of color and lower-income students hardest hit due to lack of access to technology. The rights of LGBTQ+ youth and their families are diminishing in many states, including alarming restrictions in Texas and Florida, eroding school safety and creating chronic stress that has long-term consequences. has reached an unprecedented level, and according to a June 2022 report by the National Center for Education Statistics, school shootings during the 2020-21 school year reached the highest number in two decades. Clinical anxiety and depression among youth has doubled during the pandemic.
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