Going back to school with School Social Workers

A Collaborative Public Awareness Campaign by the School Social Work Association of America and NASW’s School Social Work Specialty Practice Section

The School Social Work Association of America (SSWAA) will again partner with the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) to launch a public awareness campaign to increase public knowledge of the value school social workers bring to schools, students, families and communities, and encourage school districts to hire more school social workers.

SSWAA's Expert of the Month

Patrick Mulkern

Patrick Mulkern has worked as a School Social Worker in San Francisco Unified School District since graduating with an MSW and PPSC from the University of California, Berkeley in 2016. He currently coordinates the Wellness Center at Phillip & Sala Burton Academic High School, where he implements individual, group, and school-wide interventions while collaborating with students and families to create a more equitable educational environment. Since the summer of 2019, Patrick has been a Community Lecturer in the UC Berkeley School of Social Welfare teaching courses on social practice in schools, education policy, human sexuality, and psychopathology. He has a passion for supporting students both in the K-12 and university environments and learns so much from his work supervising, training, and mentoring graduate student interns. In addition to school social work, Patrick's interests include working with LGBTQ+ youth, healing-centered and anti-oppressive social work, and narrative practices. Patrick also serves as the Vice President of the California Association of School Social Workers and Chair of the Board of the Randy Fisher Legacy Endowment of the School Social Work Association of America.

WHAT WILL SSWAA DO?

Monthly topic that highlights a timely topic school social workers face
Monthly blog and webinar related to the topic
Monthly podcasts on highlighted topic hosted by Charles Barr, Common Ground
A campaign toolkit, resources, and sample social media posts
Inspiring School Social Worker Spotlights and Motivating State Spotlights to shed light on our meaningful work

school social work spotlight

Seabury, 63, who has been a social worker at Hogan for nine years, knows what the students are going through. He grew up in the area and experienced poverty and an unstable home life as a child, an experience that led him to social work. “I had a few people in my life that helped me through the times that I felt like giving up,” he says. “I knew that I could help people.”

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