Getting Parents Involved (Printer Friendly Version)

School Social Worker at P.S. 213 and Second Year Candidate at NY Institute of Psychotherapy Training

School social workers are an asset to the Department of Education, particularly when it comes to parent involvement. Their role with parents should include advocacy, empowerment and overall support to parents as well as staff. It is imperative for the school social worker to build a rapport with the Parent Coordinator and the Parent Association President. This relationship informally introduces the social worker to several parents on a regular basis and fosters parental involvement.

School social workers often put their clinical skills and knowledge to use in facing the challenge of engaging parents who are unsure how to navigate the New York City Department of Education system. To this end, some parents are ambivalent about initiating contact with their children's teacher unless a crisis occurs.

Parents MUST be encouraged to be a partner in their children's education. I have intervened with parents and facilitated the necessary partnership by conducting parent workshops. This forum provides parents, guardians and foster parents an opportunity to converse informally with the social worker. Various problems are discussed including questions about family court; the purpose and content of school counseling, and the difference between it and out-of-school counseling; the meaning and content of special education evaluations.

Additionally some parents have expressed an interest in after school programs for girls. As a result, I served as a liaison between the school and the Girl Scout Council of Greater New York, which offered programs to register over 40 Girl Scouts at the school. During the after school Girl Scout Program I conducted the Kid - Ability Program ( a sexual abuse prevention program developed by Girls, Inc. for girls between the ages of 6 - 8).

School social workers' visibility is extremely important. When parents regularly see the school social worker, and understand the social worker's vital role with the multidisciplinary team, they are inclined to have more contact with the social worker. It is the school social worker who is often familiar with other social service agencies/systems and can best assist families with a variety of community referrals which can include mental health, tutorials, learning disability/testing centers, and information about behavior modification. It is the proactive role of the school social worker that is critical in today's environment.