What is Act 71? What resources are available to SSW's and HSV's across the state about Act 71? Please see the attached document for additional helpful information about Act 71.

/resources/Documents/Act%2071%20handout.pdf

The University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work is offering a very inexpensive way to get CEUs!  And what better reason to make it a weekend in the Steel City?!?!

Friday, March 27 - workshop on trauma in schools; the rest of the weekend is yours!

 

Click here for more information! 

Call for Abstracts

20th Annual Conference on Advancing School Mental Health

Getting Jazzed about School Mental Health - Celebrating 20 Years of Advancing School Mental Health! 

 

Hosted by the Center for School Mental Health (CSMH)

University of Maryland School of Medicine, Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

in collaboration with

The IDEA Partnership, funded by the Office of Special Education Programs, sponsored by the National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE)

November 5-7, 2015

Sheraton New Orleans Hotel

New Orleans, Louisiana

To submit an abstract, go to https://cf.umaryland.edu/csmha. Online submission is required.

Using the guidelines provided, please submit your abstract online by Friday, February 20, 2015

For additional information, click here!

 

 

Real Life Real Issues is WITF's multimedia series devoted to providing several angles on a single issue of interest to Central PA.  The current series relates to drug use among young people.  Included are articles, podcasts, videos, and other means of sharing the message about how we can help in this ongoing societal issue.

Click here for all of the resources! 

2015 PSA Contest

It’s that time of year again! Time for the Annual PSA contest for youth suicide prevention. They are anticipating the highest number of submissions in the contest’s history. This year there are 2 opportunities for specific themes; communicating youth suicide warning signs & encouraging help seeking behavior.

 

January 16, 2015 is the deadline for submissions.

 

Click here for all of the necessary information!

  

As you should have heard by now, Act 31 - related to mandatory reporting of child abuse and neglect - was passed into law and takes effect on 1/1/15. This law impacts our social work licenses and states that all social workers renewing their licenses will be required to complete 2 hours of training on child abuse recognition and reporting requirements. New licensees need to complete 3 hours of training. NASW-PA recently announced an official, approved course to meet the new requirement. 

Click here to register.

Upper Darby School District is looking for a substitute Social Worker from approximately December 2014 to June 2015.  This will likely be a long term sub contract but not guaranteed at this time.  This position would be short term at UDHS then a few months at a Drexel Hill Elementary School.  Eligible HSV must be registered through STS, though registration prior to interviewing is not required.  If interested, please send a resume to, and/or call

 

Monica Strachan, LCSW

UDSD Coordinator of Social Work Service

610-853-4510 X7274

mstrachan@upperdarbysd.org

 

Governor Thomas Corbett signed House Bill 2204, the homeless infant and toddler bill, on Tuesday, October 14.

HB 2204 amends the Early Intervention Services Act of 1990 to add a sixth category of at-risk children to trigger automatic tracking of an infant or toddler by early intervention services.  Currently, there are five categories that trigger the automatic tracking of a child by early intervention services.  These categories include children whose birth weight is under 1500 grams; children being cared for in neonatal intensive care units of hospitals; children born to chemically dependent mothers; children who are seriously abused or neglected; and children with confirmed dangerous levels of lead poisoning.

If a child does not fall into one of these categories, the parent can have their child tested in order to qualify for early intervention services.  In the case of a homeless parent, often times they will not seek out help for their children for fear that their child might be taken away due to their circumstances, and homeless shelters do not pro-actively offer the free developmental screening tools that are available. These children then go unheard and unseen by professionals who can help to improve their current and future lives.

An estimated 6,000 Pennsylvania infants and toddlers (birth to 3 years old) experience homelessness each year.  Most are in homeless shelters, and others are in camp grounds or vehicles, some are in temporary housing, or they move from place to place where anyone will take in their family.

We know from pediatricians and researchers that, trauma and poverty impact infants and toddlers in unique ways leading to low learning capacities, developmentally inappropriate behaviors, and long term learning, and physical and mental health problems. 

House Bill 2204 can be expected to guide homeless infants and toddlers to testing and, if needed, Early Intervention services.  Early Intervention services are evidenced-based practices that can get a child back onto their developmental track in time for schooling.

Read the final bill here: http://bit.ly/QiO9Mo

 

From the Pennsylvania State Board of Social Workers, Marriage and Family Therapists, and
Professional Counselors:

 

ACT 31 OF 2014 – INITIAL TRAINING AND CONTINUING EDUCATION IN CHILD ABUSE RECOGNITION AND REPORTING REQUIREMENTS

The Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs (BPOA), in conjunction with the Department of Public Welfare (DPW), is providing advance notice to all health-related licensees and funeral directors that are considered “mandatory reporters” under section 6311 of the Child Protective Services Law (CPSL) (23 P.S. § 6311), as amended, that EFFECTIVE JANUARY 1, 2015, all persons applying for issuance of an initial license shall be required to complete three hours of DPW-approved training in child abuse recognition and reporting requirements as a condition of licensure.

 

Additionally, EFFECTIVE WITH THE FIRST LICENSE RENEWAL AFTER JANUARY 1, 2015, all health-related licensees and funeral directors applying for the renewal of a license issued by the Board shall be required to complete at least two hours of Board-approved continuing education in child abuse recognition and reporting requirements as a condition of renewal.

 

Please note that Act 31 applies to all health-related licensees, regardless of whether they are subject to the continuing education requirements of the applicable board.

More information regarding this requirement will be posted on the BPOA website when it is available.

Act 31 may be reviewed by clicking here. 

PDE has finally published the rubrics and accompanying documents to support the educator evaluation system initiated by Act 82.  The documents (in PDF format) can be found at:-

http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/educator_effectiveness_project/20903/p/1173848

 

On that page you will find the rubric for Home and School Visitors in the section entitled “Specialists” and the sub-section “Approved Rubrics” and the next sub-section (“Guiding Questions to support dialogue between specialist and supervising administrator”) you will find the guiding questions for “Home and School Visitor” (sic).  This document actually is the guiding questions for both HSVs and Social Workers.

 

You will find the rubric for School Social Workers toward the bottom of the main page in the section entitled “Other Optional Resources” and sub section entitled “Rubrics to support the evaluation of licensed professionals”.  Again the “Guiding Questions” for Social Workers actually is to be found under the respective Home and School Visitor link.

 

We are hosting a discussion board for questions and comments about the rubrics and their application - click here and scroll to the bottom of the page to leave your feedback!