School social work
Service description
The Saarpfalz district's school social workers are a multi-professional team of social pedagogues, social workers, educationalists, teachers and psychologists. They provide counselling at all primary schools, secondary schools and special schools in the Saarpfalz district. School social workers are not only neutral contact persons, but also the link between youth welfare services and schools. They have regular office hours in the schools and are bound to confidentiality when providing counselling.
School social workers are the point of contact for pupils, parents and teachers and offer services such as- Counselling and support for school, family and personal problems
- Counselling, referral and support regarding suitable support institutions
- Counselling in crisis situations
- Networking with cooperation partners: School psychological service, psychological counselling centre, family support centre and many more.
- Planning of and involvement in prevention projects
The Schoolworker project was initiated in 2003 by the state government in cooperation with the districts to improve cooperation between youth welfare services and schools. In the 2020/2021 school year, the Schoolworker programme was transferred to the state programme "School social work in general education schools in Saarland" and is funded jointly with the Ministry of Education and Culture.
The aim is to achieve closer integration of the two systems and thus be able to offer families, children and young people suitable professional help at an early stage.
School social workers are youth welfare professionals and refer children to other specialist centres if necessary.
In the area of prevention, school social workers offer support in the initiation and implementation of projects.
It is also the task of school social workers to support school development from the perspective of educational methods and approaches. They can be contacted at the local schools on a weekly basis during fixed consultation hours.Legal basis
§ 11 SGB VIII - Youth work
(1) 1Youngpeople shall be provided with the youth work programmes necessary to promote their development. 2Theyshould be based on the interests of young people and be co-determined and co-designed by them, empower them to self-determination and encourage and guide them towards social responsibility and social commitment.
(2) 1Youth workis offered by youth associations, groups and initiatives, by other youth work organisations and by public youth welfare organisations. 2Itincludes programmes intended for members, open youth work and community-oriented programmes.
(3) The focal points of youth work include- extracurricular youth education with general, political, social, health, cultural, natural history and technical education,
- Youth work in sports, games and socialising,
- work-related, school-related and family-related youth work,
- international youth work,
- Recreation for children and young people,
- Youth counselling.
(4) Youth work programmes may also include persons who have reached the age of 27 to an appropriate extent.
§ 13 SGB VIII Youth social work
(1) Young people who are in need of increased support to compensate for social disadvantages or to overcome individual impairments shall be offered socio-educational assistance within the framework of youth welfare to promote their school and vocational training, integration into the world of work and their social integration.
(2) Insofar as the training of these young people is not ensured by measures and programmes of other institutions and organisations, suitable socio-pedagogically supported training and employment measures may be offered which take into account the abilities and developmental stage of these young people.
(3) Young people may be offered accommodation in socio-pedagogically supported forms of accommodation while participating in school or vocational training programmes or during vocational integration. In these cases, the necessary maintenance of the young person shall also be ensured and medical assistance shall be provided in accordance with § 40.
(4) The programmes should be coordinated with the measures of the school administration, the Federal Employment Agency, the providers of in-company and external training and the providers of employment opportunities
§ Section 13a SGB VIII School social work
School social work comprises socio-educational programmes in accordance with this section that are made available to young people at school. The providers of school social work work work together with the schools in the fulfilment of their tasks. The details of the content and scope of the tasks of school social work are regulated by state law. State law may also stipulate that school social work tasks are to be performed by other organisations in accordance with other legal provisions.
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