Social Workers in Schools (SWiS)

Social Services in Schools

• SWiS = Social Workers in Schools

• MASSiSS = Multi Agency Support Services in Secondary Schools

• YWiSS = Youth Workers in Secondary Schools

SWiS and MASSiSS

The SWiS/MASSiS service is for children, young people and their families, when children have:

• poor attendance or engagement in school, as a result of social or family/ whānau circumstances

• social or behavioural concerns

• are experiencing grief or loss

• families struggling with lack of support, financial concerns, overcrowding, or issues with parenting skills, family violence, drugs and alcohol

• at-risk families, including those who have been referred by Child, Youth and Family for community based support.

What is SWiS?

• SWiS is a school-based social work service funded by Child, Youth and Family

• 41 NGOs are currently contracted to deliver SWiS services to children and families/whānau

• SWiS is available to all decile 1-3 schools up to year 8 (673 schools)

• Also in 42 schools with higher decile due to previous criteria (pre 2011 expansion)

• Current total of 274 social workers in schools

Who is SWiS for?

• SWiS social workers work with children and their families/whānau

• Referrals need the consent of the family: participation and engagement are the key to success

• Where there are concerns about a child’s wellbeing

• When social factors impacting the family/whānau are affecting the child’s ability to learn.

SWiS Vision

To enhance life outcomes for children whose social and family / whānau circumstances reduces their chances of achieving positive educational, social and health outcomes.

SWiS Outcomes

Children engaged in and attending school

Safe, socialised children with a strong sense of identity and well-being

SWiS outcomes are achieved through…

• Social work with children and their families/ whānau

• Prevention and intervention group programmes

• Community liaison and service co-ordination

Social work focus

Child focussed:

• Child within whānau/family• Paramountcy of the child• Barriers to learning

Family/whānau led:

• Whānau strengths and resources• Addressing whānau needs

Social work focus

Culturally responsive:

• Building relationships of trust• Considering the impact of social conditions

Strengths-based:

• Strengths and protective factors of whānau• Considering the future

SWiS competency framework

• Building relationships• Cultural skills• Facilitating change• Application of specialist

knowledge and skills• Managing conflict • Assessing needs

and strengths• Implementing plans• Facilitation skills• Evaluation and review

• Interpersonal skills communication

• Linking to resources• Working in partnership• Administration• Supervision and reflective

practice• Personal and professional

development• Teamwork • Self-care

Referrals

• Referrals are made to SWiS with family/whānau understanding and consent

• SWiS social worker gains the informed participation of children and their families/whānau

• Referrals can be made by:

schools, children, families, CYF, health, attendance services, community agencies

• SWiS is not a crisis service

Child focussed Family/whānau led Strengths based

Whānau Referrals

SWiS Referral

Child/young person

Groupprogrammes

Referral to community/

specialist service

Referral to community/

specialist service Family/whānau

consent to service

Family/whānau engagement

Family/whānau social work

SWiS Referral

Child/young person

Groupprogrammes

Advice and information

Family/whānau consent to service

Whose Kaupapa?

• 41 social service agencies• Service provider practice framework• Schools culture• Iwi organisations• Urban Maori authorities• Whānau Ora providers• Christian social services• CYF practice framework• SWiS social workers’ practice framework

SWiS Development

‘Results Based Accountability’ A Government-wide framework for describing

continuous service improvement. Service providers report to Government on

measures which cover broad questions:

How much did we do?

How well did we do it?

Is anyone better off?

The social work process includes:

• Whānau plans with goals set

• Work between whānau and SWiS to show progression towards meeting goals.

• Reporting measures providing evidence of improvement in the child’s

attendance and/or engagement at school.

SWiS Governance

Partnership• The framework for how the service works is set out

in a Partnering Agreement between each school and the service provider

Governance Groups• The governance structure brings a wider

community overview to SWiS. Members of this group include the local CYF office, MoE and any other stakeholders the group identifies.

SWiS success story

The school was concerned about 7 year old John, who was disruptive and bullying his

class mates. The principal met with his parents and offered support from the SWiS social

worker in their school. John’s parents had also been struggling with him at home so they

were keen to have support.

The SWiS worker worked with John helping him learn different ways of thinking and

behaving. They used tools such “Traffic Light Stop/Think/Go”, controlled breathing,

Komochi feelings toys and cards which help children identify and express their feelings.

This helped John to manage his feelings, express them more appropriately and build

confidence. John’s parents were also shown how to use these strategies and toys and

found it really helped them to be more positive with their son.

Within a few months John had made new friends, was coping well with his classmates and

his concentration was much better in the classroom. John’s teachers and parents were

really pleased with his progress and the support they got from the SWiS worker.

Health, SWiS and Education working together

A public health nurse on the East Coast, says that she and the social worker in

schools are having great success in working closely together to provide holistic

care for the tamariki and whānau in their area.

This allows for early identification of concerns and needs for children and

families. These needs include poverty, health issues and family violence.

When health, education and community agencies work collaboratively with

families, the necessary services and supports for the family are provided in a

timely and coordinated manner.

Whānau are then empowered to support their children more fully at home, and

tamariki are able to concentrate and progress better at school.

Tamariki Tahi: Police, Education, and SWiS working together

Tamariki Tahi is a pilot program and information sharing agreement between

Police and Social Workers in Schools (SWiS) in Flaxmere Primary Schools. It’s

a strategy to enable SWiS to support children subjected to Family Violence at

the earliest opportunity. The agreement recognises that all children have the

right to live a life free from violence and abuse, and be assisted and supported

at the earliest possible opportunity.

The SWiS manager says the process works by Police giving the SWiS service

the names of children who were present at domestic violence call outs and then

the school ensures the child is quietly taken into an office to check how they are

feeling, offered a warm drink, and a quiet story. They also offer the child the

opportunity to talk, but they do not press this.  This early intervention for children

is working well, and may be expanded into other schools in the region.

School appreciates SWiS

A primary school Principal in Lower Hutt says “it’s fantastic being able to offer

children and families this extra support”.  

When she becomes aware that a child is struggling with their school work, or

behaviour in class, she rings the child’s parents to discuss this and the various

supports the school can offer. She says the social worker often discovers that

parents are dealing with underlying issues such as loss of a relative, parental

separation or financial worries.

Parents are very appreciative of the social workers support and ability to link

them up with other professionals in the community. She is making a steady

stream of referrals to the SWiS service.

SWiS worker enjoys her role

Fiona Bell, is a SWiS Social Worker who works at Papatoetoe South School. She says:

“this role is relatively autonomous and varied, and gives me great opportunities to work with children, families, groups, communities and allied professionals. I regularly spend some time during breaks in the school day at the playground to observe children and be available for them and their teachers, and this can lead to working more in-depth with children or families. Being open and flexible in my social work practice is one of the things I love most about the role of SWiS”.

Multi-Agency Support Services in Secondary schools (MASSiSS)

• MASSiSS is a school-based community social work service which offers early and responsive social work interventions to young people and their families/whānau, where problems have been identified which put young peoples’ education, safety or wellbeing at risk.

• Multi-Agency Support Services in Secondary Schools (MASSiSS), currently has 21 social workers in 16 schools in South Auckland, Porirua and Flaxmere

• The Service is located in schools, providing an opportunity for young people and their families/whānau in need of extra support, to easily link with it.

• School based service delivery makes social work support visible and accessible to students. It also allows problems to be identified early, as staff in schools often have knowledge of the circumstances of the young person and their family/whānau.

Youth Workers in Secondary Schools (YWISS)

• YWiSS is part of Prime Minister's Youth Mental Health Project.

• There are currently 15 Youth workers, trained in mental health issues, in selected low decile secondary schools in Auckland, Hawke’s Bay and Wellington

• Youth workers mentor young people at risk of disengaging from school, working closely with school-based services and community-based services

• YWiSS aims to improve school attendance, engagement, achievement, and has an emphasis on mental health

• Some YWiSS schools are trialling a new programme called Check & Connect

• The roll out of the third stage of YWiSS implementation is underway. The final four youth social workers will be in place in Te Tai Tokerau from term three 2014.