Challenges in Making School Social Work a Reality in Brazilian Schools

Erick Da Luz Scherf

doi:10.2139/ssrn.3894400

Abstract

At the end of 2019, the presence of social workers became mandatory in Brazilian state-funded elementary schools. This brief note explores the challenges schools may have in translating the new legislation from paper to practice. The goal is to frame and advance the discourse of school social work in Brazil. Among other topics, this note discusses the role of social workers in educational environments in Brazil and identifies the barriers that may exist to the exercise of the profession in these institutional spaces. Ultimately, suggestions are made on how to develop effective social work interventions in Brazilian schools.

Highlights

Background and scopeIn late 2019, the Brazilian Congress approved Law no. 13,935, which established in Article 1 that students in elementary schools in Brazil would have psychological and social work assistance at their disposal in order to meet the needs and priorities defined by educational policies, through the help of multi-professional teams (Presidência da República, 2019).The original legislation was proposed in November 2000 by Congressperson José Carlos Elias, who wanted the integration of social workers into the workforce of Brazilian schools
In the original text of the law, he argued that the constant monitoring of social workers in schools would aim at helping families and students reduce the negative consequences arising from existing socioeconomic inequalities which are responsible in many ways for increasing dropout rates (Diário da Câmara dos Deputados, 2000)
It is important to point out that social services in Brazil have for long followed, especially since 2006, the welfare practice framework based on ‘integral action’ through multi-professional teams composed of social workers, psychologists and social scientists, among others (Oliveira and Spiri, 2006; Salgado, 2015; Xavier and Lopes, 2016)

Summary

Introduction

Background and scopeIn late 2019, the Brazilian Congress approved Law no. 13,935, which established in Article 1 that students in elementary schools in Brazil would have psychological and social work assistance at their disposal in order to meet the needs and priorities defined by educational policies, through the help of multi-professional teams (Presidência da República, 2019).The original legislation was proposed in November 2000 by Congressperson José Carlos Elias, who wanted the integration of social workers into the workforce of Brazilian schools. The country still lacks a more robust national strategy to guide and evaluate the practice of school social work, especially in public, state-funded schools.

Results

Conclusion