Social workers are part of the referral process for children who are identified to be at risk. The kids' needs are identified early in the school year so they can be placed in the optimal classroom setting for their learning abilities. Because social work is a practice that includes multidisciplinary assessment professionals, an assessment process may include referrals for medical and mental health disciplines outside the school setting. A caseworker may address the need for remediation, or acceleration for children. They may also address the need for food, utility payments or housing assistance for guardians and parents.
When the barriers to learning extend to home life, then measures taken might include assisting the parents or guardians to secure the resources needed to maintain their household. These may include connecting parents and guardians with the specific organizations to solve a problem. Poverty can be addressed through government public assistance; however, there may be other agencies and organizations that social workers may know about. These agencies and outreach organizations sometimes help through community facilities such as local churches.
Social work programs currently include drug and alcohol treatment for youth. These programs are used in juvenile facilities to help the youth break their habits and get back on track. Juvenile facilities also have educational facilities so students can keep up with their training while they're incarcerated. Other social work programs address bad behaviors like violence that can impede traditional classroom education. They are established to help at-risk students before they have to be removed from school and home settings.
The established social program models have three key components present, regardless of the services they provide. The components are assessment, implementation and assessment of the results. This practice insures that the program is effective. It also may indicate where changes need to be made to make a program better, or if changes are needed to keep it effective. It may indicate when a program is no longer viable.
The federal government has grant money earmarked for education. One such grant is established to reduce specific risk behaviors by using positive youth development. This particular grant is established to do research. The goal is to find tools and practices that work to curb risk behaviors like drinking. Other grants cover researching ways to help improve the workforce. This has the potential of helping parents to support their families without the need for additional services. Social workers trained to do research may be eligible for grants that inform education administrators about alternative training methods.