School Social Work Practice Tools

Adverse Childhood Experiences are negative or traumatic events that may have harmful consequences to a child or adult’s health and mental wellbeing across the lifespan. ACES are linked to poor health, suicides, overdoses, and mental health challenges.

May is National Foster Care Month and NASW recognizes the work social workers do to secure permanent placement and help young people age out of foster care.

The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) acknowledges April as Child Abuse Prevention Month. This is a time to recognize the role social workers play in supporting prevention efforts. A key to prevention is strengthening families by increasing family protective factors and reducing risk. According to the CDC definition, “Protective factors are characteristics that may decrease the likelihood of experiencing adverse childhood experiences (ACES).” ACEs include child abuse and neglect, violence and other harmful occurrences.

NASW Task Force for Serious Illness: Palliative and End of Life Care is please to announce the attached draft practice standards for public comment, Serious Illness: Palliative and End of Life Care. The draft standards offer guidance to social workers in all settings where palliative and end of life services occur. They offer guidance to social workers and serve as benchmark for services social workers provide. We value your input and encourage you to review the document.

The beginning of the Trump Administration, started with executive orders that impact school social workers, students and other school personnel. Included in the executive orders were policies related to immigration and deportation. The administration also cancelled a policy that previously limited immigration enforcement in schools. Discussions regarding the education system’s interactions with ICE are not new and were a part of educational conversations with the release of Project 2025. In addition, education personnel have long been a source of support to students impacted by ICE raids that occur outside of schools as well. However, the administration’s choice to change the policy on enforcement in schools brings the conversation back to the forefront of the educational community.

Last year, NASW worked to support children, youth, and families (CYF) and in 2025, we will continue our commitment to preparing social workers to support and advocate for families. During 2024, the Children and Adolescents practice area published resources, advocated in Congress, coordinated a back-to-school campaign, contributed to school violence prevention, collaborated with the American Public Health Association (APHA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to develop a preconference presentation and prepared, finalized, and received approval of the new school social work standards.