(Updated) SSWAA Responds to the COVID-19 Crisis: Our Webinar and Selected Resources
As a SSWAA Board Member, I was grateful to be part of the work that SSWAA is doing to provide support and resources to SSW at this challenging time. I am sharing here a short description from SSWAA leaders on our webinar and resources we shared last night (Thursday, March 19th) and will outline later in this article some next steps we plan to take in collaboration with SSWAA here at our SSWN site and our sister social media platform, SSWNetwork.
First from SSWAA: “Last night, SSWAA hosted a webinar: COVID-19 Health Crisis – Getting through this Together: School Social Work in a Changing Landscape. SSWAA is pleased to have been able to provide information on this important and timely topic. We know that these are challenging times and we hope that you find the attached resources useful and helpful for you work. Please find the attached PowerPoint from last night’s webinar as well as a link to the webinar recording.
Please note, if you are interested in a certificate of attendance, information is on the final slide of the PowerPoint. Please note the certificate is a certificate of attendance and CEUs are not being offered for this webinar. Stay strong and stay well!” https://www.sswaa.org/so/f5N3uIbiX?cid=b2da9b1a-3353-4b3e-845a-aed072e86cce#/main (this is the main link to the entire SSWAA message).
Additionally, we have created a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document based on the webinar and feedback and questions we got since last week. I post it here in PDF form, along with a link to all the updated resources that SSWAA is creating and compiling here on the SSWAA site, including webinars and blog posts from SSWAA members.
Kelly, M., McCoy, C., and Ochocki, S. (2020). SSWAA Response to COVID-19 Health Crisis and the Role of School Social Workers. London, KY. School Social Work Association of America.
We have attached a file of the FAQ at the bottom of this post for your to download and share with your fellow SSW. We also invite you to join us over at SSWNetwork (more on that in the next section) and to keep check there and the SSWAA site for updates and support.
Responding To The Crisis Here At SSWN and SSWNetwork
As I wrote with fellow SSWAA leaders in our position statement, “SSWAA Response to COVID-19 Health Crisis and the Role of School Social Workers,” this is a time of great uncertainty but also a chance for us to take care of each other and to show the world how vital and important school social work and school mental health can be at a time like this. We plan to continue to provide you with the best available information about the crisis, and to invite you to join us over at SSWNetwork for a range of groups, LiveChats, and other activities to help you continue to provide support to your schools and youth. Stay tuned and we’ll be in regular contact with you through our 2 main sites and social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn).
We will also not lose sight of the opportunity that this moment presents for many of us as we are experiencing school closures to reflect on our practice and to explore ways to enhance our skills and continue to build the biggest and best self-help network we can. We welcome all of you to do this with us (in partnership with SSWAA and other key state organizations and research partners as well), and speaking for myself, I’m hopeful that this deeply serious situation may prove to be a significant step forward for our profession and the way we build caring school communities. We just published an editorial for our open-access journal IJSSW, “School Social Work: Now More Than Ever” where I wrote:
While this can be frightening and even paralyzing time to be in, to me, there has never been a more exciting time to be a school social worker, as our skills, our smarts, and our passion for justice is just what this time needs. And while we need to give ourselves shout-outs and recognition on this month (Social Work Month, here in the United States, also World Social Work Day on March 17th), we can’t do it alone either; our skills working with groups and communities are vital if we’re going to respond to the harms being done to so many of our clients right now. School social workers have always known this and done this important work of linking home, community and school, and we need this work more than ever.
Finally, we can’t afford to delude ourselves that as a profession, we alone are going to be the answer or savior to the many distressed communities that are under siege right now. From my specific spots on the social work map (working with school social workers and looking at the intersection of faith and spirituality for helping clients heal), there is a huge need for the work we’re doing and for us to continue to challenge ourselves to do it from an anti-racist, trauma-informed and evidenceinformed vantage point. Together with our social work colleagues, clients, and communities, we can do this.
Please join us and let’s get through this together stronger and more connected than ever.
