School social work is a specialized area of social work concerned with the psychosocial functioning of students to promote and maintain their health and well-being while assisting students to access their academic potential. The School Social Work Association of America defines school social workers as "trained mental health professionals who can assist with mental health concerns, behavioral concerns, positive behavioral support, academic, and classroom support, consultation with teachers, parents, and administrators as well as provide individual and group counseling/therapy." Some of the roles of school social workers include psycho-social assessment and intervention, student and family counseling, adaptive behavior assessment, recreational therapies, health education, assessing social and developmental histories of students with disabilities, identifying students at-risk, integrating community resources into schools, advocacy, case management for identifying students in need of help and to promote systematic change within a school system, crisis intervention and conflict resolution.
History
United Kingdom Margaret Frere, who ran a poor school in inner London, realised in 1898 that despite volunteers handing out dinners, clothing, and shoes, poor children remained under fed and badly clothed. She realised that unless the homes were visited and assisted then there was no permanent improvement. In 1914 London County Council decided to create a school care service that would be modelled on her "Charitable Funds Committees". Frere had come to believe that a care service should "unite the home with the school education". The new school care service relied on volunteers but they were initially organised by two women employed by London City Council and Helen Nussey was one of them. Theodora Morton was their boss and head of the new service. In 1939 there were 158 employed staff and 5,000 volunteers servicing every elementary school in London.
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