Social Workers

​The school social worker supports the administrators, the teaching faculty and anyone who is in a position where close relationships with children are developed. School social workers understand the school as a system and individual children as members of family systems. The following resources were selected to enhance your knowledge and effectiveness in identifying and providing service to the children who struggle with the effects of substance use or mental health disorders in their families.​

The relationships you develop with the families you encounter are the mainstay of change. As they grow to trust you, they may or may not reveal the heartache they endure when substance use or mental health disorders are at work in the family. The following resources are offered here to enhance your ability to help families struggling with substance use or mental health disorders. It is hoped that the resources offered here will help you improve the lives of more and more of the families you serve.​

Each day of your professional life, you are faced with the ravages of substance use and mental health disorders. These disorders have a profound effect on all members of the families you see, but often the children suffer in silence. The following resources are provided in an effort to put tools in your hands for yourself, the children, the parents, the teachers and the many others who come to you for help. The first focus is awareness of the pervasive nature of these disorders, followed by teaching skills to the children and families who struggle with parental substance use and mental health disorders.​

​More than 20% of the families in the general population are affected by a host of difficulties inherent in the relationships where substance use or mental health disorders play a prominent role. As a clinical social worker serving a referred population, you know that the percentage is even higher. The following offerings were chosen to raise or enhance your awareness of the powerful effect these disorders have on children and families struggling to manage their lives in the face of such a formidable challenge. In addition to the resources listed below, on-site training is also available through NACoA.​