Meeting the Social and Behavioral Health Needs of Students: Rethinking the Relationship Between Teachers and School Social Workers

BACKGROUND: While school‐based mental health professionals obviously must provide mental health services to students directly, the literature is increasingly identifying an empowerment role for these professionals, whereby they support teachers as primary service providers. The purpose of this study...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of school health 2011-08, Vol.81 (8), p.493-501
Main Authors: Berzin, Stephanie Cosner, O'Brien, Kimberly H. McManama, Frey, Andy, Kelly, Michael S., Alvarez, Michelle E., Shaffer, Gary L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Analysis of Variance
behavioral health
Caseworker Approach
Child mental health
Collaboration
Community Mental Health Services - methods
Company business management
Cooperation
Cooperative Behavior
Counselor Characteristics
Counselor Teacher Cooperation
Data Analysis
Educational social work
Educational social workers
Elementary Schools
Faculty
Group Dynamics
Health Needs
Health Services
Health Surveys
Humans
Incidence
Integrated Services
Interprofessional Relations
Latent Structure Analysis
Management
Medical personnel
Mental Health
Mental health care
Mental Health Programs
Mental Health Workers
Middle Aged
National Surveys
Nursing
Partnerships in Education
Performance Factors
Practice
Predictor Variables
Professional practices
School based
School employees
School Health Services
School personnel
School Social Work
School Social Workers
Schools
Social Work
Social Work - classification
Social Work - methods
Social Workers
Student health services
Student Needs
Students
Surveys and Questionnaires
Teacher Collaboration
Teacher-student relations
Teacher-student relationships
Teachers
United States
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Summary:BACKGROUND: While school‐based mental health professionals obviously must provide mental health services to students directly, the literature is increasingly identifying an empowerment role for these professionals, whereby they support teachers as primary service providers. The purpose of this study was to identify subtypes of school social workers within the context of collaborative practice, and to identify individual and contextual factors associated with these classifications as well as overall levels of collaboration. METHODS: Latent class analysis, conducted using data collected as part of the National School Social Work Survey 2008 (N = 1639), was employed to examine underlying subtypes of school social work practitioners in relation to collaborative practices and to examine predictors of collaborative practice. RESULTS: Four broad categories of school social workers were identified, including (1) noncollaborators, (2) system‐level specialists, (3) consultants, and (4) well‐balanced collaborators. These classes were associated with the number of schools served, grade level, education, and clinical licensure status; level of administrative responsibility was not associated with class membership. CONCLUSION: While school social workers varied in collaborative practices, opportunities exist to enhance their role in educating and supporting teachers to serve as primary providers to students with social, mental health, and behavioral needs. The implications for school‐based mental health providers, teachers, administrators, policymakers, and researchers are discussed.
ISSN:0022-4391
1746-1561
DOI:10.1111/j.1746-1561.2011.00619.x