School Social Worker Profession-Specific Pathway

This 20-hour asynchronous pathway builds on the Shared Core to prepare first-year and early-career school social workers for legally grounded, role-clear, and sustainable practice in Colorado public schools. Participants learn Colorado SSP licensing and induction requirements, the difference between CDE and DORA credentials, and how to anchor their role in the SSWAA National School Social Work Practice Model and CDE service guidance. The course covers ethics, confidentiality, FERPA, and required disclosures. It also covers mandated reporting, suicide-risk, and threat-assessment protocols, which participants apply as members of a team rather than as investigators or sole decision-makers. Participants practice setting professional boundaries, delivering brief school-based individual, group, and family support, and contributing to FBA/BIP work within MTSS. The pathway closes with caseload management, mentoring, an induction portfolio, and a Year 2 plan, and every module includes job-embedded tasks that count as induction evidence.