In schools across the US, clinical social workers are advocates for the children in their facility, as well as working as their counselors and serving as case managers when students need longer-term support. Practitioners in this field also provide an important connection between the students, the teaching team, and the wider community.
They focus on improving the academic and social outcomes of the children in their care. Part of this will be through supporting their learning, as well as their regular attendance at the school. However, social workers will also work with children, the school, and their parents to manage their emotional health and behavior, as well as strive to keep them safe.
As part of an interdisciplinary team around the students, they will collaborate with the school’s administration and leadership circle, as well as teachers.
They work together to develop the policies that shape how a school tackles disciplinary issues and play an important part in any crisis management situations that develop, as well as staging mental health interventions when necessary.
This part of their work could involve carrying out assessments to see if children are vulnerable to depression or at risk of self-harming.
They will offer counseling to students who are experiencing problems as a result of bullying or any other aspect of interacting with their peers. They also support children who are managing a potentially abusive situation at home and prioritize each child’s mental health.
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Support for parents and families
As well as providing various types of support to students, clinical social workers in a school setting will assist parents who need help with providing the best for their children.
They can give people access to community resources that support families in a range of ways, from escaping an abusive situation at home to getting a secure place to live and finding healthcare.
In the school, a social worker will function as a resource for the teaching and leadership team when they need advice on managing the mental health problems or the behavioral issues of the students. As a part of this, they will help the educational team to design and implement programs and events that support the well-being of students.
How can a clinical social worker make a difference?
Primarily, the input of a social worker will help the student group enjoy better mental health, but they can also assist with improving their social and emotional well-being.
Having collaborated with a practitioner, teachers can grow in confidence when it comes to spotting any worrying signs among their pupils and reporting any safeguarding concerns to the appropriate people.
This makes it more likely that children and young people who do need help are supported at the earliest opportunity, so their potential is not stifled moving on.
It is often the case that assistance with behavioral issues at school benefits children at home, and they enjoy a better relationship with their parents or carers as a result.
For the practitioner involved, this is a very rewarding role and one that is carried out in person, so they get to form a strong bond with the people around them and feel supported in the workplace. They have a huge range of experiences each day, and even though their caseloads can be very high, they make a real difference in the lives of children, teachers, and parents, which makes the hard work worthwhile.
Training is available, even for graduates in other fields, but people in an established career can struggle to attend college full-time to retrain. That is why universities like Cleveland State have designed remote qualifications that fit in with the busy lives of students.
Undergraduates who are interested in this career and wondering what does a clinical social worker do, can find out more at Cleveland State University. CSU’s Master of Social Work qualifications are completed remotely, and the coursework is 100% online.
To enhance their learning, students complete a practical placement, but even this is arranged close to home, in their community.
Once they graduate, here are a few ways that clinical social workers will go on to help the students in their care:
Providing support for each child’s emotional wellbeing
Children often struggle to control their emotions and calm themselves down after they have had an outburst. Some can react to a change in expectations or plans, but for others, it is more about self-regulation. In a school, clinical social workers can provide children with counseling that gives them the skills they need to manage their behavior.
This can help them get on with their day-to-day studies and work towards a goal successfully, even when life becomes worrying or unpredictable.
Without the ability to cope under a certain amount of pressure, children will have difficulty controlling how their emotions are expressed, both at home and in front of other pupils. This can lead to a whole host of negative behaviors becoming the norm. From withdrawal to anxiety and aggressive behavior, many of these children throw tantrums or act in destructive ways, which can have a huge impact at home, as well as at school. Once a child’s inability to regulate their emotions becomes an issue for their parents, this key relationship can suffer, and as a result, everyone else in the house can be affected.
Social workers use a range of therapeutic practices, including counseling, during which children are encouraged to recognize the issue. For instance, when a child knows which of their behaviors is linked to anxiety, they can spot the problem before it escalates. Moreover, social workers can offer children advice on managing the symptoms at an early stage. For example, children who can recognize negative thoughts for what they are can better understand them and begin to learn how they are affected by stress.
School can be a tough environment and learning is hard work, but with robust emotional regulation, children are more likely to be successful in an academic setting. They can face up to stress or anxiety, recover from it, and learn to accept these feelings as part of life.
Helping children to manage their behavioral health challenges
Although lots of children — almost all — will experience emotional outbursts, some will go on to develop more serious behavioral problems. These can have a continued impact on the activities they want to carry out, their actions, and the habits they form.
For some, their ability to function well, either at school or at home, can be compromised. When social workers begin to address a child’s behavioral health, they might look into their social activities, their drinking habits, whether they are eating healthily and what, if any, addictive patterns of behavior they have. Some behavioral disorders can go on for months or even years, meaning the child’s home, social, and educational situations are all affected.
For some disorders, like conduct disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and oppositional defiant disorder, social workers may be the first professionals to treat the child. That is because their behavior was seen as normal at home and simply part of their personality.
Once they have assessed the child, social workers can provide help in various ways. They will often begin by speaking with the child’s parents to explain what the common signs of the behavioral disorder are, as this helps them to understand why the young person is struggling to meet milestones, socialize well, or progress academically.
The practitioner can also refer the child for a medical evaluation to make sure there are no other underlying health issues and to raise the possibility of a clinical treatment plan, i.e., medication. Finally, the social worker can work with the child to teach them a range of skills that help them cope with their condition and give parents advice on the techniques they can use at home to connect more effectively with their child.
Assisting children who are experiencing social difficulties
Children are all different, and although many enjoy being around their peers and have a lot of fun with a wider friend group, some find this part of growing up a challenge. Social workers are often told about children who struggle to socialize and do not like being around others, in which case they need additional help with learning social skills.
If they feel the child would benefit from their intervention, there are several ways they might choose to help.
With young children, role play, the use of storytelling, and puppets can help children learn about things like being kind and treating others with respect.
This can encourage them to use these same behaviors with their peers, and as a result, they can find it easier to make friends. Part of these sessions will also include teaching children about listening in class and taking turns with others when it comes to speaking.
This can be done by passing an object to the child when it is their turn to speak and asking them to pass it back and be quiet when it is the social worker’s turn.
Another aspect of socializing that some children do not grasp straight away is body language. Skills like making eye contact, smiling at each other as a greeting, and nodding in agreement can all be practiced. Plus, children can be taught that looking away, scowling, or fidgeting can be hard for other people to see.
Some children will also need to be taught about personal space and boundaries, so they can respect the feelings of their peers and cope better in crowded situations.
How do social workers manage crisis intervention for children?
Ideally, a social worker would not meet a child for the first time when they were at a crisis point. However, when they do, the intervention they carry out will vary in scope depending on the factors at play.
Frequently, although the child is a social worker’s key concern, they are likely to have an equally distressed family and the practitioner will bear them in mind as well.
They will begin by looking into the origins of the event and any history they have with the child. If there are multiple issues, they will focus on the four or five which seem most pressing, and then establish a goal for each.
Social workers will never promise to find the perfect solution. Finally, while they are attempting to establish a constructive relationship with the child, some gentle boundaries will be set. This is especially important if the child is exhibiting difficult behaviors.
However, at the same time, the social worker will try to get the child to talk openly and explain the event that triggered the present crisis. After gathering as much information as possible, they will assess the family’s strengths and their needs. They will provide short-term solutions for resolving the crisis at hand and suggest longer-term goals.
Connecting families and children with community resources
Social workers have access to a range of community resources that they can refer a young person and their families to. In the most extreme cases, they might suggest a period of hospitalization or specialist counseling.
However, when the situation is less serious, they may assemble a treatment team to help a child in the longer term, refer the child to another professional to rule out a clinical diagnosis, or recommend a community program that runs after school.
When the issue is wider-reaching, they might put a parent in touch with resources that can benefit them as an adult. For example, if the parent is studying, the practitioner may be able to signpost financial aid packages to help with the costs of their fees, or local food banks that can help the family eat well and follow a healthier diet.
Can wellness enhance a child’s academic success?
In the past, the focus of many schools has been on academic attainment, but in the modern learning environment, there is a shift towards prioritizing wellness.
The term tends to refer to a child feeling generally happy on a day-to-day basis, but often it encompasses their mental and physical health. Frequently, feelings of distress and anxiety can harm the child’s development and their ability to cope at school.
While happy children find it easier to concentrate on their work, they have higher energy levels and feel more motivated to succeed. As a result, they are more likely to apply themselves academically and enjoy continued success with their studies.
Furthermore, as employers tend to look for adaptable candidates who display resilience and problem-solving abilities, it can be useful for children to begin developing these soft skills while they are still at school.
Therefore, to support their students’ current academic work and their future professional success, social workers will often introduce wellness programs to the curriculum.
This can be done through organizing simple activities that keep children active during their breaks, such as buying equipment that can be used during recess or setting up some after-school sports clubs.
A practitioner will also focus on the mental well-being of their student by encouraging extracurricular activities such as meditation sessions, counseling, and team-building lessons. These can teach children compassion for one another, but also how to collaborate and show empathy for people who are different from them.
These schemes are not just about abstractly helping children, because by supporting their well-being, social workers support their development at home and school.
When children are happier, there tend to be fewer behavioral issues for teachers and parents to manage. As a result, the atmosphere at home and school becomes more respectful for everyone. This environment allows students to interact in more positive ways and minimizes the possibility of conflicts arising. As a result, children feel safer and happier at school and consider themselves to be part of a community.
Wellness benefits the teaching staff and the school
Wellness fosters resilience. When the time for stressful events, such as exams, rolls around, everyone is better placed to deal with the levels of anxiety produced. Both teachers and students can approach tests with more confidence and creativity — both of which are key skills when it comes to learning.
Even if students are affected by stress, which is inevitable, social workers who have established wellness programs can incorporate the teaching of coping strategies. From mindfulness to journaling, there are many strategies that allow young people to manage the emotions they are experiencing. As a result, they are more capable when it comes to knowing how to relax, and can focus their attention on the task at hand.
The result for the school can be an overall reduction of costs, as there is less stress among the teaching team and the best-qualified staff stay in their positions, rather than searching for a new role elsewhere. Therefore, social workers can help the school they work for to allocate a larger budget to areas that benefit students, such as developing the curriculum and running more after-school activities.