Tag: COVID-19
Prevention Strategies: School Avoidance and Refusal
Previously, I had been working as a school social worker in the Chicagoland area. These suggestions and strategies are based both on my experiences as a school social worker as well as relevant reading and research.
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Tragedy, Trauma and Triumph: School Social Work during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The “triumph” during these last two school years was found in the little victories that I witnessed. I found myself falling back on the basics of social work, breaking down barriers, respecting the client and family, looking at situations that were fraught with difficulty, and continually finding new ways to help students succeed.
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From School to Home & Back Again: A School Social Worker’s Story
“Through this pandemic time, I have had to rework what I envisioned a school social worker’s life would be while still intentionally providing support to the staff and families I serve. In this time, I have seen a world of possibilities, where school professionals band together in ways that are just short of amazing, in order to meet the needs of the students where they are.”
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Self-Care for School Mental Health Professionals: SSWNetwork Chat Transcript from Before…
I’m posting some additional LiveChats from our Loyola SMHAPP students and others who joined us on SSWNetwork before the pandemic changed a lot of how we live and how we do SSW. My co-host for this chat, Ms. Shannon Sterling of our Loyola SMHAPP Certificate, hosted the week of January 20, 2020 on our network and along with fellow SMHAPP colleague Samantha Prystawik, posted a bunch of excellent resources and ideas in their post “Getting Real About Educator Mental Health”) and this work has only become more necessary as we all head towards the end of 2020 with the pandemic still very much impacting all of us. We invite you to read this chat and let us know over at SSWNetwork what you think are the main issues for you and your schools now as we prepare to take a well-deserved rest and then start our school mental health work in 2021.
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Lessons In Stress: If Scrappy Vines Can Overcome Adversity, So Can Our Kids
Allowing our children to firmly plant themselves in uneven turf that consists of disappointment, challenge, and hurt ultimately promotes skills and introduces children to their assets. These experiences build on one another and lead to increased confidence and a robust sense of self. I have had a front-row seat to watching the students at my school navigate the return back to school this year. Not unlike the vines, their return has been fraught with the less than ideal routines and conditions of wearing masks, one-way aisles, spaced desks, lessons via Zoom, and outdoor classrooms. And like the vines, they have had to create new paths to find the sunlight and a new comfort level – and they have done it with grace and adaptability.
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Sharing Stories of Hope In the Fight Against Racism & Gun Violence
Like many health care professionals, educators, and community members, we have been stirred to action by the Black Lives Matter movement and have written about our commitment to working to address the interlocking public health crises of racism, gun violence, and COVID-19. To that end, we are holding storytelling/organizing events through our Reframe events, where we use the power of first-person stories to foster connection, hope, and action. Our next event is online of course, but features a focus on Chicago educators, physicians, and community activists who are trying to make a difference and respond to these 3 interlocking crises.
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Bringing the Power of Social Work to Schools: Our 9/23 Congressional Briefing
On September 23rd, a virtual Congressional Briefing took place with the organizing title, “Bringing the Power of Social Work to Schools.” Organized by the Congressional Institute for Social Work & Policy (CRISP) and NASW, and co-sponsored by SSWN, SSWAA, and ACSSW, it offered an opportunity for Dr. Ron Astor, co-PI on our recent survey project, “Opening Schools Safely in the COVID-19 Era: School Social Workers’ Experiences & Recommendations” to offer testimony based on our report and to call for a coordinated national response based on our study’s findings.
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JOIN OUR CONGRESSIONAL BRIEFING: Bringing the Power of Social Work to Schools
This Congressional Briefing is also one of the first (only?) national advocacy events that has brought together all of the major national SSW organizations in solidarity to press the case for how school social work can respond to this critical time for our schools and our nation. Please register for this event here and help us get the word out to your networks and share the pdf of the briefing details and bios of panelists below. Finally, a big thank you to all of you who participated in our survey project this past Spring–your first-hand experience of trying to figure out how to do school social work during the first phase of this pandemic was a key driver of how this event has come together next week.
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