From Classroom to Caseload: Preparing New MSW School Social Workers

Description

Webinar Description

The jump from the MSW classroom to a school caseload is one of the steepest transitions in social work practice. New school social workers are often the only social worker in their building navigating a host setting, high caseloads, and role ambiguity, frequently without a social work supervisor on site. Drawing on her dual vantage point as Director of Field Education and a licensed clinician in active practice, Dr. Winifred Martin offers a practical roadmap for the first years of school social work practice. This interactive 90-minute session is organized around four pillars: field readiness (what placement builds and what only the building teaches), supervision (securing clinical supervision that meets licensure and ethical standards, including when the building supervisor is not a social worker), professional identity (claiming and communicating the school social work role), and sustainability (recognizing early signs of burnout and building a plan to stay in the work). Attendees engage through live polls, chat prompts, and a guided reflection exercise, and every participant leaves with a “First 90 Days Roadmap” they can apply immediately. The session serves new and early-career school social workers, MSW/BSW students entering school-based placements, field instructors and site supervisors, field education directors and program faculty, and the district administrators who hire and supervise school social workers. 

Measurable Learning Objectives

By the end of this webinar, participants will be able to: 

1. Identify at least three core field-readiness competencies new school social workers need in year one including host-setting navigation, tiered support systems (MTSS/IEP/504), and defensible documentation practices and describe how each applies to their own building or program.
2. Develop a supervision plan that distinguishes administrative from clinical supervision and names at least two viable sources of clinical supervision (e.g., external supervisor, district lead, peer consultation, professional association networks) consistent with licensure and ethical requirements.
3. Construct a personal First 90 Days Roadmap that includes a practiced professional-identity statement, a documentation and supervision structure, and at least two scheduled sustainability practices for preventing early-career burnout.