Fall Edition 🍂

With all that is playing out currently in our political climate, I thought it was important to refocus and reframe our WHY. While we will continue to pursue with assertive intent what is right for our constituents and colleagues we certainly will not be negatively consumed by it.

Show-Me Mo-Heart: School Social Workers across the state go beyond technical support, they lead with emotional intelligence, care, and deep human connection for students, families, and communities. Show-Me is based on action, proof, and integrity. MO-Heart layers in the emotional labor and care that we give. We have heart not only through our care but our resilience! This ol' world needs MO-Heart.

They're not like Us: While School Social Workers acknowledge and celebrate the work of other mental health professionals through our inclusion, equity, and unity mindset, it is imperative that we remain vigilant in honoring and highlighting that we are different in our behavior, values, culture, and background. Its ok to say: We're not the same, We're cut from a different cloth. We stand on principles, We stand on truth. We are different---and better---in every way that matters! Period.

Beyond Certification: School Social Workers are well decorated through post graduate studies, licensures, clinical licensures, certifications, specialists, providers, and the like. As we climb the latter and sit at the high table with some of the most qualified mental health professionals, be affirmed that your impact goes far beyond certification it remains about presence, passion, and transformative change! Dont allow others to define what has already been defined. Know your worth, Show your worth.

Backroads to Boulevards: School Social Workers navigate all corners of the state, making unseen efforts visible. We lead with heart across every mile of Missouri schools. Whether in urban boulevards or rural backroads, School Social Workers in Missouri share the same heart: advocating for every student, regardless of geography. Come see us! We are visible and growing!

-Signed,

SSWAM President

Please fill out the form below:

The following individuals will be serving as your School Social Work Missouri representatives!

We are still in need of a President Elect, a Region 4 Rep and a Region 5 Rep. There is always room for committee work, advocacy, and planning.

Please join us every 2nd Tuesday of the month from 5:00-6:30 starting in September! All meetings are held via zoom with the exception of our in person June meeting. Zoom links are available one week prior to each scheduled meeting via calendar invite, our website, and facebook.

Dont miss out on:

DESE Updates

SSWAA Happenings

Conference/CEU Information

Local Opportunities...

AND MUCH MORE!

Dear School Social Workers,

We hope you are enjoying your summer! Our team, made up of school social work professors Jandel Crutchfield, Jennifer Murphy and Kate Phillippo, invites you to participate in a survey of school social workers about their experiences with race and racism in the workplace. We know it is an extremely demanding time for school social workers and we want to support them the best we can, which begins with knowledge about school social workers’ day-to-day experiences.

We know that preparation and support for social workers, including school social workers, around race and racism is growing but limited. But we don’t know as much about what happens in practice and what that means for school social workers’ preparation and support needs. Our goal with this research is to better understand school social workers’ experiences, to inform the support and preparation they receive so that they can do their best work in today’s often challenging PK-12 environment.

Please complete our 20-minute online survey to help us learn these things. We are recruiting employed school social workers working in PK-12 schools in the United States, so students who are not yet employed in a school social work position are not eligible to participate. So far, we have collected 295 surveys and will collect 621 surveys. Beginning July 22 2025, the first eligible 20 school social workers who complete the survey will receive a $20 Amazon gift card, and we will raffle off an additional 22 gift cards after that.

If you would like to share the survey link with your school social worker colleagues and friends, please send it via private emails or share in closed social media sites or groups to protect the survey from “bots” that impersonate school social workers. Thank you for considering this request for your time and energy!

Best regards,

Jandel Crutchfield, University of Texas-Arlington School of Social Work

Jennifer Murphy, University of Texas-Arlington School of Social Work

Kate Phillippo, Loyola University Chicago School of Social Work