RESOURCES

The National PTA is offering the Smart from the Start Grant Program. With support from the National PTA, schools and communities across the nation have the opportunity to apply for a number of grants and other prizes to help them implement a health initiative at their school. The winning preschool will be awarded $20,000 and ten runners-up will each receive $2,500. Early childhood education centers and schools with a Pre-K program are eligible to apply. Submit applications by February 28, 2014.

http://www.togethercounts.com/sfts/application/start   

The U.S. Department of Education (DOE) announced its new Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Data Center, which is part of an effort to improve the quality of special education data collected as part of IDEA. The DOE awarded Westat Inc a $6.5 million dollar grant to establish the National Technical Assistance Center to Improve State Capacity to Accurately Collect and Report IDEA Data. This center will provide technical assistance to states by gathering more accurate reliable data, providing training to states to help school and district officials submit better data, and improving data infrastructure.

The Affordable Care Act went into effect on October 1, 2013. The implementation will have implications for school-based healthcare providers including mental health clinicians. Understand the ACA and its role in school-based mental health by accessing the reports below:

http://www.childtrends.org/what-the-affordable-care-act-means-for-k-12-schools/

and http://csmh.umaryland.edu/Resources/Briefs/HealthCareReformBrief.pdf

My name is Kathy Minnich and I am a doctoral candidate at Walden University. I am conducting research in partial fulfillment of my doctorate on the experiences of school social workers with empowerment and self-efficacy within the workplace. A vast number of studies have assessed these characteristics in the general population of social-work practitioners. However, school social workers represent a gap in existing related literature. This research will fill that gap by providing insight into the experiences of specifically school social workers that are related to empowerment and self-efficacy within the workplace.
 
Acknowledging the value of your time, I would appreciate your consideration of participation in this important study. To fully understand your experience, a 1.5 to 2-hour interview would be conducted with you at a location of your choosing. Nothing uncomfortable will be required of you. The interview is designed to simply learn of your experiences surrounding empowerment and self-efficacy within the workplace. All information gathered during the interview will be held strictly confidential and you are free to discontinue participation at any time with no adverse repercussions.
 
Please contact me at your earliest convenience to schedule a date and time for the study interview. My telephone number is (717) 577-0478. You can also email me at kathy.minnich@waldenu.edu
 
Thank you for your consideration.
 
  
Kathy J. Minnich, LCSW, RPT, HSV
Doctoral Candidate
Walden University

SSW & HSVs needed to participate in survey

Homelessness is a problem that is very difficult to combat, partly because it is so hard to obtain accurate information about the homeless. We are sending this survey to a very wide range of professionals in order to learn more about who comes into contact with the homeless, under what circumstances, and what patterns they see. Even reporting that you do not come in contact with the homeless is helpful, so please consider participating regardless of your amount of involvement with this issue.  By participating you can help increase our understanding of and ability to combat this problem. Just click here to access the survey. Please feel free to contact Heather S. Feldhaus, Ph.D. if you have any questions or would like to receive a copy of the report.  

At this year's PASSWP conference, Candice was presented with the School Social Worker/Home and School Visitor of the Year Award.  As Hempfield School District's Assistant Superintendent Dr. Chris Adams shared information and stories about Candice, it became very clear that she deserves this award.  Congratulations, Candice!