Are School Social Workers Prepared for a Major School Crisis? Indicators of Individual and School Environment Preparedness

werner, danilea;

School social workers are often on the frontline of response and recovery from a major school crisis. It is imperative that they feel prepared and display crisis intervention self-efficacy as they
intervene after disaster. The purpose of this study was to explore school social worker perception of individual and school environment preparedness in relation to crisis preparation activities including crisis plan development, crisis team membership, and practicing crisis
plans. Results indicated that school social workers feel moderately prepared to handle a crisis and feel that their school is slightly less prepared. Two crisis preparation activities emerged as crucial to both individual and overall school preparedness: (1) the presence of a welldeveloped and comprehensive crisis plan and (2) practicing the plan at least once a year. This study proposes that individual crisis self-efficacy is positively influenced when schools have a crisis team with a well-developed and comprehensive plan that is exercised regularly, which, in turn, increases the school social workers’ positive perception of school environment preparedness.