Creating Access for Students

Abstract

The role of social workers within the public education setting is often ambiguous, which makes building relational trust with school counselors difficult. However, their professional values and ethics are closely related, and their jobs often overlap. The ambiguity within the role of school social workers can cause school counselors to feel encroached upon when social workers perform their assigned duties. This discord can limit a school's ability to provide quality access to services for children and their families. Marginalized student populations absorb this most, as they are typically already experiencing a deficiency in services in their community. This chapter will discuss current perspectives and theories used by school social workers, barriers to interdisciplinary collaboration, and solutions to resolve barriers in order to better meet the needs of marginalized populations. Also, this chapter will examine why collaboration is imperative to meet student social and emotional needs and have case studies for districts that have successfully implemented models of collaboration.