Parental CONSENTS, Kid NO-SHOWS, AND SSW GRATITUDE: The SSWNetwork/SSWAA LiveChat Transcript from April 13
Another informative and interesting LiveChat with SSW all over the country, this time focused on exploring how different SSWs and their districts are handling consents for remote/virtual SSW services during this pandemic time, how people are handling student “no-shows” for virtual SSW sessions, and finally, what we’re grateful for as SSW in this time. Have an idea for a topic for our LunchTime LiveChats? Let me know at [email protected] and otherwise, we’ll see you on SSWNetwork every M, W, & F at 11 a.m.central until this crisis is over. And make sure you check out the SSWAA COVID-19 page for ongoing best practice updates as well as our upcoming “SSW Practice During A Pandemic” free webinar series over at SSWNetwork, starting Thursday 4/16 and running through 4/23.
PARENTAL CONSENTS, KID NO-SHOWS, AND SSW GRATITUDE: THE SSWNETWORK/SSWAA LIVECHAT TRANSCRIPT FROM APRIL 13
MONDAY, APRIL 13
Michael Kelly11:02 amOk, Welcome everybody to the Monday 4/13 SSWNetwork/SSWAA LiveChat During COVID-19–I’m Michael Kelly, Professor at Loyola, Director of the SMHAPP Certificate, and SSWAA Board Member, along with co-editing this site. Let’s do a roll call and get a sense of who’s on with us today, and then I’ll share our agenda. Who’s here with us?
Beth Frank-Heath11:02 amHi! Happy Monday.
Michael Kelly11:02 amHi Beth–if everybody could do a quick name school, anything you’re hoping to talk about today, that would be great…
Beth Frank-Heath11:03 amElizabeth Heath new SSW Westview Lower Elementary Warren Mi Fitzgerald Schools
Alyson Weaver11:04 amHi all! Alyson, Fordham Arts HS, NYC DOE. Interested in learning about resources to support students during school closures
Sheryl Power11:04 amSheryl Power Kingswood Regional High school Wolfeboro NH
Jessica Linker11:04 amJessica Linker- Hilliard City Schools, Hilliard, Ohio
Beth Frank-Heath11:04 amLast week was spring break so we all unplugged.Two meetings today, getting ready for next weeks online learning that is no longer voluntary for students
Sheryl Power11:05 amI am not getting much response from students to connect via google meet or hangout.
Michael Kelly11:05 amHi Alyson, Jessica and Sheryl, glad to have you! Beth and I have been on this LiveChat before and we’re happy to have new folks with us. Anybody else on with us right now that wants to say hi?
Kate Reierson11:06 amKate Reierson, SSW at elementary in Beaver Dam
Stephanie Grotzky11:06 amHello! Stephanie Grotzky From Utah and the NUAMES Early College High Schools in Ogden and Layton, respectively.
Kate Reierson11:06 amin WI
Stephanie Ochocki11:06 amHi everyone! Stephanie Ochocki, Minnesota SSW & Midwestern Rep for SSWAA. 🙂
Michael Kelly11:06 amSheryl, I’m hearing that from a lot of our SSW in high schools and middle schools–teens aren’t coming to their appointed timesHi Stephanie O., Kate, and Stephanie G.! Anybody else, we have a nice group today.
Sheryl Power11:07 amExactly or even responding to emails asking for a check in
Joy Lachendro11:08 amJoy here…in WI
Stephanie Ochocki11:08 amNo shows, no response to email or phone calls. I’m hearing this from a lot of SSWs too.
Michael Kelly11:09 amSo let’s map out today’s chat plan: Stephanie O. and I are going to share a bit of what is happening via SSWAA and SSWNetwork coming up, and then I want to spend some time hearing about what’s going on with SSW practice in this new time, likely starting with the virtual no-show issue Sheryl helped us start talking about. Then I want to end with a gratitude exercise and request for input for future chats…sound good?
Stephanie Grotzky11:09 amYes, this is just what I need today!
Michael Kelly11:09 amOk, let’s start with some announcements. https://www.sswaa.org/covid-19-resources
Michael Kelly11:10 amThis is SSWAA’s main page on COVID-19, and as this is a joint collaboration with our site and SSWAA, I always want to start with asking Stephanie O. to talk about what SSWAA is doing and what we hope to provide you there. Stephanie?
Stacy Rumler11:11 amStace MI
Aimee Love11:11 amAimee here from northern MN. We too were on spring break last week and today. I’m hopeful for high participation numbers for my meetings this week.
Michael Kelly11:11 amHi Aimee and Stace, welcome!
Stephanie Ochocki11:11 amYes, that link that Michael provided is an excellent place to check-out important information for SSWs that have been reviewed by SSWAA leadership.
Stephanie Ochocki11:12 amSome of you maybe were able to attend or haven’t had the opportunity to listen, but this was a first step SSWAA took to provide resources & support for SSWs responding to practice needs in the COVID-19 school closure enviornment.You can watch it here: http://video.oakland.k12.mi.us/show?video=718d2dc39762
Stephanie Ochocki11:13 amAdditionally, SSWAA has these board position statements:SSW Role in the COVID-19 Health Crisis: https://aab82939-3e7b-497d-8f30-a85373757e29.filesusr.com…SSWAA COVID-19 FAQ Qualifiers: https://aab82939-3e7b-497d-8f30-a85373757e29.filesusr.com…
Michael Kelly11:13 amAnd there is a special SSWAA-sponsored webinar coming up this week as well: https://sswaa.growthzoneapp.com/ap/Events/Register/Dr6V22VrSpecial Webinar – COVID-19 Health Crisis: Unpacking and Addressing Underlying Equity Issues
April 16, 2020 [7:00] PM – [8:15] PM (EDT)
Stephanie Ochocki11:13 amYes! Registration is open for this right now. 🙂
Stephanie Ochocki11:14 amI know SSWs have been utilizing SSWAAs position statement to guide decision-making & informing stakeholders about the SSW role during this time. Great resources to check out.
Michael Kelly11:14 amAlong with all that SSWAA-awesomeness, Stephanie and I are always available to try to respond to questions that individual practitioners and state orgs might have about SSW practice in this crisis time…
Stephanie Ochocki11:15 amYes, what he said!?SSWAA will be taking any member questions and posting them to social media.
Michael Kelly11:15 amSo in the spirit of responding to questions, do you all have specific questions we can help with here, before we get back to kid no-shows?
Stephanie Ochocki11:15 amWhile also integrating those questions into the established FAQ document to support SSW practice.
Michael Kelly11:16 amMaybe take a few minutes right now Stephanie O. to see what the group is thinking about?
Sheryl Power11:17 amcan these chats be used toward licensure collaboration hours?
Stacy Rumler11:17 amA consent form is required correct before any tele therapy can happen. I saw NASW had one.
Michael Kelly11:18 amHi Sheryl, we haven’t made that a policy just yet, though for the webinars we’ve hosted here we have given people certificates of participation–would that help if we offered that going forward?
Sheryl Power11:18 amyes
Michael Kelly11:19 amStacy, the best practices I’m aware of is to try to treat your online SSW service delivery as a “new” service requiring new consents–some districts are pretty strict on that, others are being loose or just non-responsive from what I’m hearing. How are others handling this in their districts? (Also, a lot of districts are going to great pains to NOT call what we do “teletherapy” so they can try to avoid this issue altogether…)Stephanie O., what are you seeing related to this issue in MN and in your SSWAA travels?
Stacy Rumler11:21 amOk good to know.
Stephanie Ochocki11:21 amAll of us can better navigate the new question of providing virtual services by understanding what our district expectations were for permission/consent prior to COVID-19 closures.
Stephanie Ochocki11:22 amI’m hearing that SSWs who serve in SPED capacity generally have more established pathways of parent consent for services (via the IEP process) than SSWs serving in non-SPED roles.Curious to know, does this match with the experiences those of you in the chat are having?
Michael Kelly11:23 amYes, I’ve seen some GenEd SSW/SpEd SSW splits on how these issues are being handled for sure, Stephanie O. How about the group–how is it being handled where you are?
Sheryl Power11:23 amYes it matches what my school’s expectations are.
Sheryl Power11:24 amWe are not calling it teletherapy just check-ins
Michael Kelly11:25 amAnybody else being told to call their SSW services “check-ins” like Sheryl’s writing here?
Michael Kelly11:26 amI’m also hearing of districts that have asked SSW to just only design and deliver asynchronous content (SEL lessons, etc.) rather than directly engaging with students (which sends off lots of ethical buzzers for me, knowing how vulnerable so many of our youth are).
Stephanie Grotzky11:27 amI did an addendum to my original consent form to cover “virtual” school social work services specifically. There are put in as check-ins on my calendar.
Michael Kelly11:27 amcan you say more about that Stephanie G.?
Stacy Rumler11:27 amGoogle calendar?
Stephanie Ochocki11:29 amI think about the addendum portion.
Michael Kelly11:29 amI see some new folks have joined us (welcome!) we’re talking about how you and your districts are handling consents for this virtual SSW service delivery time.
Michael Kelly11:30 amNext we’re going to return to talking about how you’re handling student “no-shows” in the virtual space.
Lynn Fonacier11:31 amAt this this time we have been told to post resources and SEL enrichment activities and to email or call our students. No teletherapy yet.
Stephanie Grotzky11:31 amI believe the addendum I did was modeled after the form someone shared in one of the live chats at the very beginning. It is one page and I have emailed it out to parents/guardians for consent. I have had several new referrals that I have gotten that I also send the original and the addendum too. I have had good success with this. On my google calendar, I list the session as a “check-in” since I have shared my calendar with all my school counselors and admin. so to maintain confidentiality I put in initials next to the check in.
Michael Kelly11:31 amThanks for sharing that Lynn–how’s that going so far for you and your colleagues?
Stephanie Grotzky11:32 amBy very beginning, I mean when the Covid-19 pandemic began.
Deanna Sargent11:32 amNYSSSWA shared a good template for informed consent; my sped director gave us guidance that we still need to document attempts but that even with “teletherapy” there will be some consideration for doing our best at a crazy time so to speak. Obviously caution, but document…
Michael Kelly11:32 amI hear you Stephanie G., we need to clarify what our timeframes are these days, right? Also sometimes to remember what day it is too ?
Michael Kelly11:33 amI like your SpEd Director’s approach Deanna, and hope that others are getting that kind of common sense guidance.
Deanna Sargent11:33 amI’m trying to use a newly created google classroom with age appropriate stuff for elementary and borrowing online read books from youtube, with some “free” corresponding materials gathered from sites like TPT.
Stephanie Ochocki11:34 [email protected], using established content is a great idea!
Lynn Fonacier11:34 amNot many students have responded to courses or emails on Schoology. We have not had to gain additional consent for this.
Deanna Sargent11:34 amI’ve had “some” success with a few students and parents connecting; I’ve also been able to do some video chats; with parents and students; a lot of my support is about supporting the families at this point – not billable services per se (but some of them may be eventually)
Stephanie Grotzky11:35 amI agree with the documentation, Deanna. There are some students and their parents/ guardians who have yet to respond to the consent. I use Mondays and Tuesdays to set up my week and include reaching out to those I have not received consent for yet. I have Executive Functioning lessons that I will be implementing this week and I do a google form Wellness Assessment each time I meet with students.
Michael Kelly11:35 amSo let’s move to talking a bit more directly about handling “no-shows” now–what are you experiencing, and what have you found is working to stay connected to your students and their families?
Stephanie Ochocki11:36 [email protected], I also hear a lot about more home/parent engagement in SSW practice during this time. Makes sense.
Deanna Sargent11:37 am(Trying to relate my content to concepts of worry / ie…wemberly worried/wilmajean the worry machine…as examples)…also “personal space” and comparing to what that means for “social distancing” at elementary level…also just basic coping skills/dealing with change, etc. Emails, phonecalls with the *67 before the number….leaving voicemails, that I”m happy to call you personally to discuss how I can help support….leave me a time that works for you, via my email address, etc.
Stephanie Ochocki11:37 am?
Stacy Rumler11:37 [email protected] is there a way to set up Google Classroom where students cannot see who else is in the class?
Michael Kelly11:37 amGood stuff Deanna–it’s clear you’re really trying to meet your students and their parents “where they’re at” right now.
Deanna Sargent11:38 amBut agreed – parents are just overwhelmed – and getting a call or another message from me isn’t always the best thing either – so trying to find that balance of reaching out. Was initially sharing way too much info…now trying to balance that a little more….
Kate Reierson11:38 amAgreed with @Deanna
Stephanie Grotzky11:39 amI sent out a needs questionnaire to my parents to see what other ways I could support their students and family.
Michael Kelly11:39 amI think we’re all seeing that with our conversations with SSW nationally (and to some extent in our own personal lives, especially if we have kinds at home doing e-learning), finding a way to stay connected but not overwhelm them with info either.
Deanna Sargent11:39 amOur principals are now sending out lack of engagement letters to families to see if they can help, with those that aren’t utilizing online classrooms for academics. Also, sometimes hearing from a different person at school that the student connects with. Love the needs questionnaire idea!
Michael Kelly11:39 amI love it Stephanie G., if you ever wanted to share that on SSWNetwork, we’d love to share it with the larger network.
Michael Kelly11:40 amThe researcher in me is also super-curious about what kinds of things they told you, if you could summarize them for us today?
Michael Kelly11:41 amany other stuff people are seeing and doing on no-shows?
Michael Kelly11:42 amgreat stuff everybody’s sharing today, thank you!
Stacy Rumler11:42 [email protected] was the needs questionnaire electronic?
Deanna Sargent11:42 am(Stacy, I believe you can create a google classroom where it’s just information and not comments back, but so far, I haven’t gotten it all figured out….one thing I did see on a webinar the other day though, is that if a student wants to get to you personally, they can just “hover” their cursor over your name, and click on it, and then an email will just come to you from that student). I haven’t had that yet, but students have been putting in little comments on the stories I’ve shared.)
Stacy Rumler11:43 [email protected] perfect. I created a classroom today but need to play around with it.
Stephanie Ochocki11:44 amRelated to use of Google Classroom our state DOE said sharing of a student name/email addresses was not a FERPA violation. Interpretation of your stateDOE & district guidance could be consulted to determine if/when/how Google Classroom is used in your practice.
Michael Kelly11:44 amThanks Stephanie O.–getting guidance on these issues from district legal and state DOE is crucial.
Stephanie Grotzky11:44 amI have had a good deal of requests for food assistance, mental health supports (across the lifespan), how to apply for unemployment benefits, developing a family schedule to support families with multiple students who are engaged in online school. I feel like I fine tune with each new request that I haven’t thought about. I loved the auntbertha.com that was shared last week I believe.
Stephanie Grotzky11:45 amI did make the form electronic.
Stacy Rumler11:46 [email protected] what state are you from?
Stephanie Ochocki11:46 [email protected] G. ongoing assessment that is responsive to contextual changes of this crisis is really [email protected] R, I’m in Minnesota. 🙂
Michael Kelly11:46 amI’m so glad you’re helping us think about this here today, Stephanie G.–so much of what our families are dealing with right now that might lead up to a kid “no-show” can be really important and dire material issues (food, housing, job loss, and getting COVID-19 themselves). Those things are going to need to be addressed by us and our school teams if we’re hoping to also engage them in e-learning.
Michael Kelly11:47 amSo speaking of feeling “glad” let’s move towards the final topic I wanted to talk about: gratitude.
Stephanie Ochocki11:47 am#MaslowBeforeBloom
Deanna Sargent11:47 amGoogle_Classroom_Cheat_Sheet_for_Teachers_by_Shake_Up_Learning.pdf
Michael Kelly11:48 amBefore I intro that a few more announcements: https://schoolsocialwork.net/ssw-practice-during-a-pandem…
Deanna Sargent11:48 amGoogle_Classroom_Cheat_Sheet_for_Students_by_Shake_Up_Learning.pdf
Stephanie Grotzky11:48 amI am from Utah.
Stephanie Ochocki11:48 amThanks Deanna, this looks like it packed with helpful tips.
Michael Kelly11:48 amThis is the webinar series that came directly from the feedback of SSWNetwork and my Loyola SMHAPP students, who wanted to have grade-level specific webinars on how SSW are “doing” their services during the crisis.
Deanna Sargent11:49 am(These google classroom tips were shared with permission to a coworker, who said you can use as long as you give credit to the creator, which is right on both docs)
Scott Carchedi11:49 amHey everybody! Great to see everyone here. Just got on and catching up on the conversation.
Michael Kelly11:49 amStarting this Thursday, we have the elementary webinar, and then in the following week, EC/Pre-K,, Alt. Ed., HS, and MSAll led by SMHAPP students and SSWNetwork members who are doing the work just like you are.
Stephanie Grotzky11:50 amSorry, Stacy. I didn’t know if you were asking me or Stephanie O. Now that I think about it, I should put links into the questionnaire with all the great resources we have shared in these chats! ?
Michael Kelly11:50 amWebinars are free and will be saved and streamed on our SSWN YouTube channel; you can RSVP here on our events page
Stacy Rumler11:50 [email protected] thanks for info
Michael Kelly11:51 amYes Stephanie G., please do. And for everybody–I am always saving the LiveChats here on SSWNetwork, so you can go back in and get the cool stuff that we’re generating here (and I publish some of the best chats on SSWN as well).
Michael Kelly11:52 amSo gratitude: one of the best ways I manage my own stress and practice self-care, even before this plague time, was to have a daily gratitude practice.
Michael Kelly11:53 amKnowing something, someone you’re grateful for can help order your day and provide hope and the energy to keep going, and there’s some good research on that along with the spiritual sources that have been advising this for 1,000s of years now ?So before we go today, what are you grateful for? How will you take that gratitude with you today?
Deanna Sargent11:55 amGrateful for this group; supports in my district too – and the ability to take walks at formerly atypical times and see more of my college daughter whose at home….BTW – I am keeping a log of my documentation/attempts to contact and those are shared with admin ongoing; admins are reaching out to us about those specific families we can’t get ahold of. Thanks all!
Sheryl Power11:56 amIt is pouring rain here today – I am grateful for a roof over my head and an abundance of food to eat. I may need a mask to stop eating!!
Stacy Rumler11:56 amGrateful for my health and those of my family.
Michael Kelly11:56 amthanks Deanna–so glad you’re here with us sharing what you’re bringing to your SSW practice.
Scott Carchedi11:56 amI’m grateful to have all this time with my family. I’ve got three girls with big gaps in age (17, 11, and 3) and to watch how they’ve grown closer and how they’re supporting each other has been incredible. It has filled me with so much joy and gratitude?
Stephanie Grotzky11:57 amI am grateful to have the support I need from others so I in turn can over support to those around that might need it.
Michael Kelly11:57 amI’m grateful to be well, and to have a wife who is one of the many health care professionals who’s living out her calling now and providing care and support to her patients.
Stephanie Ochocki11:58 amAwe, these are great. Reading comments of gratitute adds to the list of things I’m grateful for! Thanks everyone. 🙂
Michael Kelly11:58 amThat’s cool Scott–it’s incredible to share this time with you all. We’ll be back here again Wed. and Friday, same time, until this crisis is over. Thanks for being here today!
Sheryl Power11:59 amthanks everyone!
Michael Kelly11:59 amthanks all (and Stephanie O., as always!)
