What is Social Work?

When many people hear the term "Social Worker," they envision a person coming into their home and taking away their children. While these Child Protective Services Workers are one type of social worker, the number of these workers is a very small percentage of the social work community. The roles filled by social workers vary tremendously, ranging from clinical psychotherapy to corporate executives, community change agents to child protective workers, and direct care providers for those in need to advocates for individuals, families, and communities. In many cases, a single person will serve in a variety of these roles to meet the needs of their client as part of their job responsibilities. Likewise, social workers work in a wide variety of settings, including community mental health centers, private practice psychotherapists, schools, corporations, community service agencies, hospitals, prisons, and government organizations. There are several social workers currently serving in the U.S. Congress, as well as in local governments around the nation.

In the state of Maine, there are a variety of levels for social work licensing. For clinical work, social workers need to be either a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) or Licensed Master Social Worker-Clinical Conditional (LCSW-CC). For more information regarding social work licensure, please visit the State of Maine website at:

http://www.maine.gov/pfr/professionallicensing/professions/social_workers/index.htm.

Social Workers also follow a code of ethics, developed by the National Association of Social Workers (NASW). For more information about the NASW or the code of ethics, please visit www.socialworkers.org.

What is School Social Work?

School Social Workers work with students, families, teachers and administrators to foster a safe school environment and address issues that impact a student's academic success. Within MSAD#71, the social workers are part of the special education department, with our primary responsibilites to students with Individualized Educational Programs (IEP). However, we work closely with many aspects of the larger school community, providing support outside of the special education program as needed.

Within MSAD#71, there are four social workers who cover all of the buildings. They are:

Bev Dow, LCSW bdow@msad71.net

• Kennebunk Elementary School
• Consolidated School

Michelle Fortier-Oosterman, LCSW mfo@msad71.net

• Sea Road School

Greg Hesse-Stromberg, LCSW ghs@msad71.net

• Middle School of the Kennebunk

Fran Kessler-Richardson, LCSW fkr@msad71.net

• Kennebunk High School