A Collective Responsibility: Addressing the School Social Worker Shortage

Given their proximity to students, school social workers play a critical role in supporting the well-being of youth. As mental health awareness has grown, so has the demand for school-based social workers. Due to an existing shortage of such professionals, however, and the current challenges to hiring more, access to mental health care continues to be limited or nonexistent in many schools across the United States. This paper positions this persistent workforce problem as a collective responsibility, outlining the engagement demanded from a broad range of actors, specifically school districts, government agencies, and social work education programs. Working together, they can strategically reduce barriers to entering the field and ultimately diversify and expand the ranks of the school social work profession