School Social Services

Among the many barriers that may prevent children from being successful students are societal and familial disturbances that interfere with their learning. These often include issues such as emotional difficulties resulting from grief and loss of a parent due to death, divorce, military deployment, or incarceration. Many children are being raised by their grandparents or are living in foster care placements. Other major psychosocial problems students deal with include exposure to domestic violence, substance abuse, suicide, teen pregnancy, poverty, hunger, inadequate housing, parental mental illness, and homelessness. Due to the demands placed on educators' schedules, even the most well-intentioned school personnel do not have time to address all the social and emotional needs their students face. It is imperative that they collaborate and communicate effectively with social service providers to meet the plethora of needs children bring with them to school.

School social services can be defined as all resources or programs that are provided for students and their families to address social and emotional issues that cannot be sufficiently addressed by school personnel. School systems hire teachers, counselors, and administrators to provide educational opportunities for students. The main focus of school personnel typically is to provide excellent academic and career opportunities for students. School social services programs vary according to school setting. Regardless of setting, the key to all effective social service programs offered is collaboration efforts between school personnel and social service providers.