Long Beach Lays Off School Social Workers
Jeers to California’s Long Beach Unified School District for laying off 11 of 12 social workers in the district, according to this article in the Press-Telegram.
The social workers investigated chronically absent children. Often they found the families of these children were homeless or in danger of being homeless. Or low-income parents had to travel long distances to work and their offspring were taking advantage of their absence.
Although other school staff can knock on doors to let parents know children are absent, social workers have skills to help families find housing, health care and other services they need to keep children in school, laid off social worker Tory Cox said. Cox is a National Association of Social Workers member.
“There’s a difference between relaying a message and helping solve problems that contribute to the underlying reason that the problem exists,” Cox said.
To learn more about the role of social workers in schools, visit NASW’s “Help Starts Here” Schools and Communities Web page by clicking here.
| Leave A CommentAdvertisement
2 Comments
Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.
That is absolutely the most ridiculous decision they can make in this time of crisis in California when people are already down and they want to take it down further. There is no concern for humanity. It is so the administration can fill their coffers. All these conservatives want to crush the social services and they are going to be sorry because the drop out rates are already high and if people are homeless with their kids, there will be no way to track these kids. These people will have to do whatever they can to survive and they will choose survival over worrying about school. This is a travesty that a country with so much to offer has so little to do with solving problems or offering solutions to problems for these desperate people. Shame on the Long Beach USD!
Decisions like these are precisely why the public and school officials need to understand what it is that social workers do. Some believe anyone can be a social worker but no one makes the claim they can be a psychologist. We need to unite and show that what we do is unique and valuable. In NYC the early intervention program- one that is comprised of many immigrant families that need social worker services, have eliminated several social worker positions. Many agencies actually have the teachers doing the social history piece, As if teachers are trained to assess these issues. When services are recommended for the family such as counseling or other therapeutic interventions or resources, they are rarely approved. Needless to say, many families go unserved and our profession viewed as something that anyone can do.