Supporting Children and Their Families in Gauteng Public Schools: The Roles of School Social Workers

Abstract

School social work practice in the South African context is a growing field; however, there is limited research regarding the roles and responsibilities of school social workers, particularly in the Gauteng province. This province is unique in that school social workers are employed by multiple institutions, including individual schools and the education and social development departments. This study aimed to explore and describe the roles and responsibilities of school social workers in the Gauteng province, recognizing them as critical specialists in addressing learners’ psychosocial needs within school settings. An explorative qualitative design was used in this study. Data were collected from 22 purposively selected participants, comprising school social workers, supervisors, and provincial managers of school social work programs. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect data, and thematic analysis was employed to identify themes. The findings revealed context-specific roles of school social workers, including the creation of conducive teaching and learning environments, advocacy for social justice and child protection, conducting interviews and psychosocial assessments, providing counseling and trauma debriefing, conducting home visits and offering family services, removing abused learners from harmful environments, including their respective homes, and providing parental skills training and support. As a conclusion, this study highlights the need for standardized national and provincial guidelines to formalize and support school social work practice. It is recommended that the identified roles be incorporated into future practice frameworks. Furthermore, it is suggested that a uniform assessment tool be developed to promote consistency and guide school social workers in the initial evaluation processes.

1. Introduction

School social work is a specialized field that plays a vital role in learners’ development by supporting them and helping schools in addressing their social needs and challenges (Reyneke 2020). Globally, school social workers have emerged to be significant experts in multidisciplinary school teams and in providing psychosocial support services in schools, addressing learners’ psychosocial issues, such as school attendance and absenteeism, sexual orientation, substance abuse, and general behavioral patterns (Kelly et al. 2015; Maundeni and Ntseane 2004; Thompson et al. 2018). In countries such as the United States, Sweden, Germany, Hong Kong, and Finland, school social workers actively collaborate with school staff, parents, and other professionals, as well as youth welfare organizations and non-governmental organizations, to provide counseling, group support services, and school awareness programs (Andersson et al. 2002; Beck 2017; Chiu and Wong 2002).

The literature acknowledges school social work as a specialized area within the broader social work profession (Franklin et al. 2008; Huxtable 2022). Kemp (2014) defines school social work as a practice-based profession operating within educational institutions to address the social, emotional, and behavioral challenges that hinder learners’ ability to succeed academically. As a specialization, Franklin et al. (2008) describe school social work as a social work field of practice that attempts to support learners’ learning and socio-emotional adjustment through direct service provision, service coordination, and advocacy in the academic context. School social work can also be understood as a platform for applying principles and methods within the education system to provide holistic and supportive social work services to learners, parents, teachers, and the school community (Vergottini 2019).

To understand school social work services in the Gauteng province, it is crucial to recognize the educational landscape and the social inequalities that exist in the South African education system. This system is among the most unequal globally, with the legacies of apartheid continuing to affect access to quality education, resources, student outcomes, and support services (McKeever 2017). The Gauteng province is home to nearly 5 million children and has the highest school absenteeism rate at 26.5%, along with 17.2% of out-of-school children (Republic of South Africa 2021). The province’s public schools accommodate a diverse population of learners, many of whom come from disadvantaged communities and encounter significant socioeconomic challenges, such as poverty, unemployment, and high rates of gender-based violence and crime (Cordeiro et al. 2020; Singh and Arnold 2025). Furthermore, the schools often struggle with issues like overcrowding, violence, inadequate psychosocial support, and a shortage of resources (Khumalo and Pretorius 2025; Meier and West 2020). In their study, Du Plessis and Letshwene (2020) revealed that teachers in Gauteng schools experienced challenges with the high workload and insufficient time to cover all content, poor learner performance, learners’ lack of commitment, underqualified teachers, and low educational standards. These factors and issues in the educational landscape and social inequalities profoundly impact learners’ wellbeing and overall development, often manifesting as behavioral issues (Khumalo and Pretorius 2025). As such, school social workers have a crucial role to contribute to learners’ and school wellbeing by directly and indirectly addressing these community issues, socioeconomic challenges, learners’ barriers to learning, and systemic issues affecting teaching and learning (Khumalo et al. 2024; Tan and Frey 2025).

In South Africa, school social work practice is growing as a formidable field, despite limited research on the roles and responsibilities of school social workers (Khumalo et al. 2024). Its growth is evidenced by the increasing recognition of the significant role that school social workers play in addressing social issues and educational barriers experienced by learners, leading to increased, although insufficient, employment opportunities within education systems. School social workers provide individualized support, such as therapy and counseling, to learners experiencing social issues (i.e., abuse, poverty, mental health issues, and parental neglect) (Haffejee et al. 2023; Khumalo et al. 2024; Ntombela et al. 2022; Van Sittert and Wilson 2018). In their roles, Vergottini (2019) reflects that school social workers are generally employed within education departments and are referred to using different professionals’ titles, such as ‘school social worker’, ‘senior education specialists’, or ‘socio-pedagogues’. These titles depend on the employment setting.

In terms of employment, there is a general understanding that there are inadequate employment opportunities for school social workers in South Africa (Khumalo and Pretorius 2024; Makholwa and Muleya 2025; Sibise and Mathebula 2023), which has led to high allocations of schools and learners to school social workers employed at both school and district levels. The specific numbers in terms of school social worker-learner ratios in the South African context have not been investigated before, probably due to the unstructured manner of school social work services across the country’s different provinces. The United States also presents similar challenges of inadequate employment of school social workers, with one school social worker supporting an estimated 2106 learners (Lucio et al. 2023). Nevertheless, the nature of their employment in the Gauteng province presents a unique context whereby different organizations and institutions employ school social workers. Specifically, school social workers are employed by (i) the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) as social work supervisors providing crisis intervention at all schools in the province and as school social workers at special needs schools, (ii) specific public schools by the School Governing Body (SGB), and (iii) the Gauteng Department of Social Development (DSD) as school social workers under the School Social Work program. The latter employment nature results from a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the Gauteng DSD and GDE, following the absence of social work capacity at the GDE. Similar to previous research (Khumalo and Pretorius 2024; Vergottini and Weyers 2020), the authors argue that this fragmented employment structure creates inconsistencies in roles, responsibilities, and professional identity. This structure in Gauteng stands out from other South African provinces, such as the Western Cape, where school social workers are employed strictly by the education department and at specific schools. The context of the United States also presents a similar employment structure as the school or district directly hires school social workers, and in some instances, they are not employed by schools directly but provide services through external agencies (Stone 2015). In contrast, school social workers in the United Arab Emirates are directly employed by schools and are reported to be the largest category of social workers in the country (Albrithen and Alfalasi 2024).

The roles and responsibilities of school social workers are context-specific. For instance, while there is a shortage of school social workers in Zimbabwe, Chigondo (2019) explains that their roles include but are not limited to conducting social assessments, individual, group, and family counseling, crisis intervention, community liaison and projects, contributing to and influencing school policies, home visits and follow-up, linking and referring to social services (welfare, housing, health, and education), lifestyle issues and life skills, and career guidance and mentorship. In some American contexts, school social workers may be employed at the district level by enhancing collaboration between the home, school, and community environments and ensuring that the districts can meet their academic mission (Tan and Frey 2025). In Botswana, Diraditsile and Mabote (2017) identify that school social workers are lacking, and if present, would directly support school-going children experiencing psychosocial problems resulting from drug and substance abuse, neglect, and homelessness. In South Africa, the roles and functions of school social workers are best described by Kemp (2014) and Vergottini (2019), whose PhD was focused on this topic within the Free State and Western Cape provinces. Kemp (2014) determined that school social workers appointed by the Department of Education at a provincial or school governing body (SGB) level perform the following functions: (1) identify learners needing support; (2) assess their needs and issues; (3) communicate these needs and issues to school administrators, learners, parents, and other role players; (4) deliver direct and indirect services; (5) offer consultation, collaboration, and coordination; (6) encourage parental involvement; (7) encourage community involvement; (8) liaise with resources; (9) develop inter-professional teams; and (10) develop a proper administrative system. Vergottini and Weyers (2022) concluded that at school, social workers are found at different levels: (1) provincial level (i.e., social workers manage district social workers, coordinate school services, organize seminars, and screen programs and act as a liaison between systems), (2) national level (i.e., they create policies and strategies and monitor evaluations), (3) district or local level (i.e., they deliver direct support to learners, parents, caregivers, educators, and school-based support teams, provide psychosocial support screening, and organize school projects).

Some significant areas where the roles of school social workers become apparent include issues such as school violence, abuse, and poverty-related issues. Khumalo et al. (2025) and Pretorius (2020) highlight that school social workers are needed to address school violence, which has its roots in learners’ immediate environments, such as exposure to violence at home and poor parental methods, interactions with teachers, lack of appropriate disciplinary methods and processes, and exposure to community violence, drugs, and alcohol at the community level. Physical abuse towards learners by teachers, through corporal punishment, requires school social work intervention (Khumalo et al. 2024). This form of punishment, according to Maiti (2021), damages learners, negatively impacts their psychological development, and affects their academic and mental functioning. Poverty-related issues, such as unemployment, lack of food, school uniforms, and unfavorable living conditions, affected learners’ development, necessitating school social work services (Khumalo and Pretorius 2025; Boboyi 2024).

In recognizing the significant roles of school social work services, the contextual challenges faced by learners and schools, and the unique context of the Gauteng province, this study sought to understand the roles of school social workers in public schools. By systematically examining their roles, this research seeks to inform context-specific practice guidelines, enhance practice, and contribute to the broader understanding of school social work services in South Africa.

2. Materials and Methods

This study was approved by the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Humanities and Social Sciences Research Ethics Committee (HSSREC/00006346/2023) and forms part of a broader doctoral research project that explores school social work practice in Gauteng public schools. The research question in this current article is as follows: What are the roles and responsibilities of school social workers in the Gauteng province? An explorative and qualitative research approach was employed, and purposive sampling was used to identify and recruit participants. Social work managers of school social work programs and services at the DSD and GDE helped with the recruitment process by sharing the study details with social workers providing school social work services in the province. Details of social workers who showed interest in participating in this study and met the inclusion criteria (

Table 1. Inclusion criteria.

For Inclusion in This Study, Participants Had to Meet the Following Criteria:
1. Social workers employed at the GDE, DSD, or SGB to provide support (direct and in-direct) to learners and schools.
2. Registered with the South African Council for Social Services Profession.
3. Over 6 months of experience in school social work services.

) were shared with the first author, who then initiated their participation via email by sharing comprehensive study details, what their participation entailed, and ethical considerations of this study (i.e., informed consent, voluntary participation, withdrawing from this study at any time, confidentiality of the data, and using pseudonyms in research reports).

Twenty-two social workers participated in this study and gave formal consent. The final number of participants was influenced by data saturation, in which the first author discontinued data collection when new information, ideas, and insights were no longer emerging from the participants. Of the twenty-two social workers, ten were school social workers employed by the DSD (n = 7) and by school governing bodies at specific schools (n = 3); ten were social work supervisors employed by the DSD (n = 9) and GDE (n = 1); and two were key informants employed as provincial social work managers by the DSD (n = 1) and GDE (n = 1). Data were collected through semi-structured interviews using interview schedules between November 2023 and June 2024. The interviews were conducted in person and online on Microsoft Teams and Zoom, and they were audio-recorded and transcribed thereafter. The interviews were facilitated using a semi-structured interview schedule, which contained specific questions related to participants’ basic demographic information and the roles of school social workers in Gauteng public schools. The first author used reflexive thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke 2023) to identify themes. The process included (i) the author familiarizing themselves with the data, (ii) generating initial codes by identifying and labeling meaningful segments of data with codes that capture the essence of the data, (iii) searching for themes by grouping the initial codes into potential themes, (iv) reviewing themes by checking whether the themes work in relation to the coded data extracts and the overall dataset, (v) defining and naming themes by refining each theme’s content and giving it a descriptive name, ensuring that it accurately reflects the data, and finally, (vi) writing up the findings by presenting a narrative account of the data in Section 3 of the article.

To ensure trustworthiness, Shenton’s (2004) strategies were employed. Credibility was ensured by sample triangulation and frequent debriefing sessions between the first author (student) and the other authors (supervisors). Transferability was ensured by providing thick descriptions of the Gauteng province’s unique context, school social work services, and data collection and analysis methods. Keeping an audit trail and clearly reporting the study processes ensured the dependability of this study. Confirmability was ensured by including the participants’ quotations, which also demonstrated that the findings emerged from the collected data.

3. Results

During the analysis, seven themes relating to the roles and responsibilities of school social workers emerged. These themes are presented in

Table 2. Emerged themes.

Roles and Responsibilities of School Social Workers in the Gauteng Province
1. Create conducive environments that support teaching and learning
2. Advocate for social justice and child protection at school and home
3. Conduct interviews and assessments with learners
4. Provide counseling and trauma debriefing to learners
5. Conduct home visits and provide family services
6. Remove children when child abuse is suspected
7. Provide parental skills training and support

.

3.1. Theme 1: Create Conducive Environments That Support Teaching and Learning

Most of the participants emphasized that school social workers were critical in addressing the diverse needs of learners, such as stress, abuse, and hunger, and that their interventions allowed learners to focus on their academic work successfully. This ultimately contributed to the creation of school environments that are conducive and supportive for teaching and learning:

“The school’s main objective is to ensure good academics and that the children care about the curriculum. So by us attending and intervening, it somehow assists the child to be able to complete the academics.”

(Martha, SSW, DSD)

“We are there for the learners to be at ease and grab this opportunity of being a learner, and that they do best in their learning, and that they are able to pass at the end of the day.”

(Enhle, SSW, DSD)

“We need a learner to be able to grasp or to be able to progress within their grade and ensure that they get the holistic support that we feel every learner requires. The school cannot achieve all of that without partnering with school social workers….”

(Ayanda, Supervisor, DSD)

Other participants explained that issues faced by the learners, such as domestic violence experienced at home, had an effect on the learners’ academic work and social and behavioral experiences. Therefore, a holistic intervention was needed to help stabilize or bring about a balance in their personal life and home environment and to ensure that learners do not drop out:

“So if issues such as domestic violence are not dealt with, or the learner is not provided with support and assistance, and the matter is not attended to within their home environment. Obviously, the learner will find it difficult to concentrate or engage with other learners, or even, in some instances, learners tend to project whatever behaviour is observed within their home onto other learners. You find that they are now bullying, and they are now aggressive to teachers and learners. So for them to progress and grasp the education they are being provided for, it needs to balance in terms of their home environment and whatever issues they are facing within their home.”

(Ayanda, Supervisor, DSD)

“If we don’t get involved, these kids drop out. We ensure that the child’s academic life is not disrupted. We ensure to bring balance to the child so that the child doesn’t drop out. We are trying to reduce the dropout rates of the children in schools; therefore, these kids will grow up, complete their studies, and become independent…. That’s why our role as social workers is very important in ensuring the child’s stability in their personal life so that their academic life does not get disrupted.” (Linda, Supervisor, DSD)

The availability of school social workers helped educators focus on their primary role of curriculum delivery instead of diverting their attention to the psychosocial needs of specific learners, which disrupted the teaching process:

“The school social work program benefits the schools as well in that it also assists the educators to focus on the curriculum. Before that, the educators will have to go to the School-Based Support Team (SBST) coordinator, who will have to drive to the social work service point, leave the other learners, and attend to this particular learner. So this program is also supporting educators to focus on curriculum, and they just refer, and then we go to the school, and they then focus on what they are there for….”

(Ursula, Supervisor, DSD)

3.2. Theme 2: Advocate for Social Justice and Child Protection at School and Home

The participants stressed that school social workers are necessary for ensuring social justice. Their role was to protect and advocate for learning and to ensure that learners were not discriminated against due to certain circumstances, such as being pregnant, and were not abused through corporal punishment:

“Our mandate is childcare and protection. We always say in our presentations to educators that I am paid to believe children. So when my social worker comes to your school, believe me, she will believe what the child is telling her because she is paid to believe and advocate for the child.”

(Thobisle, Supervisor, DSD)

“When a learner is pregnant and they reach a certain period during the process of the pregnancy, some schools would request the parent to come to the school and sit with the girl in the class or be within the school premises so that should there be any pains or anything, the parent should then take over… This has caused pregnant learners to drop out. We have a directive that we must keep a girl child in school even though they are pregnant. I’ve been to about two schools with a high number of pregnancies where they were practising this, and we had to tell them that this practice is not in the policy and that what they’re doing is actually wrong. We had to talk to them about their own policies….”

(Ursula, Supervisor, DSD)

Ursula (Supervisor, DSD) further explained that the use of corporal punishment was advocated against and that in cases where teachers are found to have used this method of discipline, they were reported to the police:

“If an educator is exercising corporal punishment. I’m going to insist that the parent open a case against the educator because that is assault. The teacher has violated the law of the country, and a case must be opened against them… This has reduced certain cases of corporal punishment, and also they understand that even if now we are taking action, it’s not personal, it’s mainly because we are doing our job.”

Other participants elaborated on the context of abuse that children experience at the hands of their parents, caregivers, and families and how school social workers actively work to protect the children in these situations:

“Sometimes we have your absent parents and sometimes the perpetrators are parents. So in those instances, we need to use the powers vested in us to ensure that we protect the children.”

(Ayanda, Supervisor, DSD)

“In a crisis situation, we are mandated by the Children’s Act that if the child requires care and protection, we have to intervene. For instance, we provide protection and intervention when issues such as physical, mental, and emotional abuse, and neglect are referred to us by the schools.”

(Eleanor, SSW, DSD)

Where abuse is suspected or is reported by the school staff, school social workers would gather information and involve the relevant authorities, like the police and health care workers, at clinics:

“If the child is being abused, we gather more information from that client. And if need be to involve the police, then we do that… If the child is physically abused or sexually abused, we take the child to the clinic so that the child can be examined and then the reporting form can be filed and the perpetrator can be arrested.”

(Eleanor, SSW, DSD)

3.3. Theme 3: Conduct Interviews and Assessments with Learners

Another key aspect of the school social workers’ role was to conduct interviews and assessments with the learners who had been identified as having problems that needed social work support. These interviews and assessments are intended to ascertain the problems and difficulties faced by the learners by gathering relevant information:

“We do intake in social work following the referral procedure to check the case’s significance and essence. Thereafter, we move to what we call an assessment, which will determine whether or not this case needs crisis intervention, therapy, psychosocial intervention, or family preservation. So the assessment will usually inform the action or plan we need to take.”

(Khethani, SSW, DSD)

“So anything and everything that hinders the child from progressing within their studies is considered a barrier and is then referred to us, social workers to come and interview. We go and attend to cases that have been reported, the school social worker will then request to see those learners so that they can have one-on-one interview sessions with them.”

(Ayanda, Supervisor, DSD)

3.4. Subtheme 1.4: Provide Counseling and Trauma Debriefing to Learners

Once conclusions were made from the interviews and assessments, school social workers would then provide counseling services to learners who were found to require psychosocial support. The counseling was dependent on the identified issues:

“So in terms of individual cases, social workers provide services like counseling and therapy as most of the children experience behavioural problems.”

(Martha, Supervisor, DSD)

“For example, if the school has referred the learner to social work, a case requiring counseling, it’s important to first check the psychosocial well-being of the child. What is the problem? Do you have any influence on this problem? Who are their support systems? who is relevant or who has contributed to ensuring that you overcome this challenge.”

(Enhle, SSW, DSD)

In situations where the learners were referred to school social workers following a crisis (e.g., death of school personnel, dealing with grief, and accidents), some participants reported that school social workers provided trauma counseling, which they referred to as trauma debriefing:

“If maybe there is a teacher or learner who passed away, we offer a group trauma debriefing session…If there is a death in the school, then we go there and offer traumatic debriefing sessions with the learner in school.”

(Eleanor, SSW, DSD)

“I do emotional support for learners if they experience a trauma incident, or maybe a child was in a car accident, or over the weekend, there was trauma. I then do trauma debriefing.”

(Natasha, SSW, SGB)

“There was an incident this morning that needed containment… the social workers went to assess what the need was, and then they will go again to actually do the counseling and trauma debriefing, and make appropriate referrals.”

(Faith, Key Informant, GDE)

Moreover, Eleanor (SSW, DSD) highlighted the complexities involved in providing trauma debriefing, especially for a young school social worker. They explained that in some cases, they would request the assistance of more experienced colleagues to help navigate the sensitive nature of these situations:

“Considering that I am young, I felt like talking with the parents might be a challenge, given that they are devastated. So I requested colleagues who had 10 years of experience to accompany me so that they could assist me with the case. Then I was able to deal with the young ones and offered them traumatic debriefing sessions”

3.5. Theme 5: Conduct Home Visits and Provide Family Services

School social workers were reported to be responsible for conducting home visits and supporting families to address the challenges faced by learners. Although all participants seemed to have shared acknowledgement of this role, some had varying experiences with the contextual nature and processes of conducting home visits. Some participants emphasized that after the initial interview with the learner, the school social workers would often conduct home visits to assess the home environment and engage directly with the parents or caregivers:

“After the interview with the learners at the school, I would conduct a home visit to assess the home circumstances and interview the parents about the issue that the school referred for investigation… The parents will be called if the child doesn’t want to go home. If the mom is at home, then I will immediately conduct a home visit and explain that the child doesn’t want to go back home and explore what is happening at home.”

(Emelda, SSW, DSD)

“After the intake [session], I conduct a home visit where I investigate the child’s circumstances and investigate more regarding the case in order to determine what further intervention is needed regarding that specific case… Sometimes we have family mediation or a conference with the parents and the child, if maybe they don’t have a good relationship. So we just need to get both sides of the story on what could be raising these issues.

(Martha, SSW, DSD)

“So after assessment, if there’s a need for the home visit and support families, that’s when the school social worker will do a home visit and do the family assessment and provide support there.”

(Nnaketsi, Supervisor, DSD)

One school social worker described that they initiated the family-related services within the school premises, and thereafter, they would conduct home visits as part of the family preservation interventions, whereby they would check the safety of the child and determine if the child had been abused.

Other participants expressed that home visits were conducted according to the identified challenges the learner faces, like school uniforms. Consequently, the home visits allowed them to identify practical challenges faced by families, such as issues of poverty or lack of resources, which may not have been evident from the initial referral.

“Sometimes you find that the school is complaining that the learner is not properly dressed or comes to school dirty, so when the social worker conducts a home visit they find that it is not because the mom doesn’t want to wash the learner’s uniform, but it is an issue of poverty and that mom does not have the money to buy washing powder.”.

(Wendy, Supervisor, DSD)

“School social workers will need to do the home circumstances assessment to see if maybe the challenge that has been reported from the school does not stem from the home environment. So if the investigation proves that there are challenges within the home environment. They will then work with the family to ensure that whatever challenges have been identified within the home environment, they work together to improve those current circumstances.”

(Ayanda, Supervisor, DSD)

3.6. Theme 6: Remove Children When Child Abuse Is Suspected

Most of the participants, specifically those working in the DSD, reported that, in some cases, the school social workers were required to remove the child from the home environment due to the severity of the abuse or neglect:

“If the school reports that the child is in danger, the preliminary investigation will be done, whereby they confirm whether the child is in danger or not. If they find out that the child is in danger, they will do what we call containment, removing the child from danger through court processes. When removing the child from danger, they will go to the extent of confirming at the court that, for sure, the child is in danger and the child has to be removed.”

(Sarah, SSW, DSD)

However, some participants emphasized that removal was considered a last resort, and the primary focus was on preserving the family unit whenever possible:

“We don’t just go there and remove the child just because they are being abused. We need to find out where the abuse emanates from to help mitigate the problem and stop it. If there’s a perpetrator in the house, can the perpetrator be provided with services? So that they don’t do this (abuse) because some of the families are not deliberately neglecting the children, but there are family issues that are causing that neglect. So our focus becomes to preserve the family.”

(Linda, Supervisor, DSD)

“In a scenario where the school notified me that the mother was neglecting the child, my assessment with the child at school showed that, although the mother is present, she neglects the child due to alcohol abuse. I opened a case against her, and she was arrested for a weekend and released thereafter. When I went to see her that Monday, she started opening up about needing help caring for my child.”

(Sarah, SSW, DSD)

In circumstances where all efforts to preserve the family had failed, the removal of the child from the home was considered, and the child was placed in temporary care (i.e., a home, childcare, family relatives, or volunteer community members):

“Where we find that this family is beyond us to help, we remove the child and place them in temporary safe care while we find a permanent situation. Permanent situation may include reuniting the child with the family after we have helped the family, or finding other people who can care for the child, such as family members or anyone in the community who is vetted. We must also vet these people against our child protection register to see if they are suitable to take care of the child.”

(Martha, Supervisor, DSD)

Local NGOs were contacted when accommodation was needed for mothers and their children who were victims of domestic violence:

“If there’s abuse in the family, and the mother and the children cannot continue to live with the perpetrators, I will have to find placement for the family in one of the NGOs that offer accommodations to victims of domestic violence. But that NGO only offers that kind of service for six months; after that, the person who was abusing them will have to move out of that house so that the mother and the children can come back. Or I can motivate this mother and the child to stay for another six months because they cannot return to their home for whatever reason.”

(Uthando, SSW, DSD)

3.7. Theme 7: Provide Parental Skills Training and Support

Some participants reflected that school social workers also play a significant role in providing parental skills training and support to families, recognizing the importance of strengthening parenting capacities to support learners’ academic and personal development:

“I do parenting skills training where I provide parenting guidance and educate parents on parenting style, skills, how to create better relationships with their children, and also how to support them in academics and linking how good relationships also affect their children’s academic performance.”

(Olivia, SSW, DSD)

“I organise support groups for parents from similar areas, like squatter camps or RDP housing. These support groups cover topics such as domestic violence, the importance of education, and recognising changes in children’s behaviour. Through these groups, I often identify individual parents who need further intervention.”

(Koketso, SSW, SGB)

Another participant noted that the parenting programs were used as a platform to raise awareness about mental health issues and address any misconceptions surrounding them:

“There are parenting programs so that parents become aware of those issues because parents don’t know that there are issues of mental illness and are not familiar with issues related to it. They will just say the child is misbehaving, or that the child is stubborn, only to find the child has mental issues… [by] attending a parenting program, that’s when they learn more from other parents or social workers.”

Other participants reported that, through parental programs, school social workers were “wanting to guide the mom on how to look after the child” (Wendy, Supervisor, DSD) and that “we have done evening information sessions with the parents on suicide prevention and to guide them” (Natasha, SSW, SGB).

4. Discussion

The findings reflect the critical role of school social workers in fostering a supportive learning environment that addresses the diverse needs of learners, ultimately enhancing their academic success. Previous research (Boboyi 2024; Huxtable 2022) supports these findings as school social workers are reported to support learners’ positive educational experiences, especially those who are exposed to situations that make them vulnerable. The participants expressed that school social work services were needed in order to identify learners with learning barriers related to stress and abuse, including domestic abuse. These issues, as noted by Stanley et al. (2015), significantly impact the learners’ psychosocial functioning and mental wellbeing. Additionally, Lucas et al. (2015) explained that learners exposed to domestic abuse tend to also show violent behaviors in the school setting towards peers and school administrators. By recognizing these issues as detrimental to the learners and the school environment and addressing them, school social workers ultimately contribute to learning and educational success. The participants further reflected on the school dropout issue that needed school social work intervention. This is prevalent, with the UNESCO (2020) reporting that of the 11.6 million 7- to 17-year-olds out of school, 232,000 learners were from South Africa. Therefore, the support from school social workers is relevant and significant. If left unaddressed, the consequences of school dropout are severe for South Africa’s economy, as learners are likely to engage in high-risk social behaviors, such as substance abuse and criminal activity, or sexual behaviors, which can lead to pregnancy (Desai et al. 2024; Roman et al. 2022). This suggests that school social workers must not only respond to individual dropout risks but also engage in systemic-level prevention strategies, such as initiating school–community partnerships and programs that address broader social issues, such as domestic abuse and out-of-school children.

These findings on school social workers’ positive contribution to learning and education suggest that school social workers are uniquely qualified to lead interventions directed at social issues that lead to school-going children to drop out, address issues such as domestic abuse, and, overall, improve school climates and promote psychosocial development (Finigan-Carr and Shaia 2018).

The next critical role that school social workers play in public schools is advocating for social justice and protecting children’s rights at school. Previous research (Authors; Maiti 2021) suggests that schools are not always a safe space, as learners are exposed to unfair practices, such as discrimination because of their circumstances (e.g., pregnancy), and violent disciplinary measures (e.g., corporal punishment). As such, these unfair practices reflect broader systemic and institutional failures that place learners at greater risk of psychological and physical harm and exclusion. While these findings suggest a need to examine why these unfair practices persist, despite being unlawful in South Africa, we put forth that harmful cultural norms and a lack of teacher training in alternative disciplinary methods contribute to the unfair practices. Like Heekes et al. (2020), we also argue that contextual perspectives, such as corporal punishment being an efficient and effective form of classroom discipline, contribute to these practices. Therefore, school social workers are strategically positioned to lead school-wide interventions that challenge such unfair practices. Such interventions should include evidence-based awareness campaigns (Khumalo et al. 2025; Ngidi and Kaye 2022), such as teacher training and capacity development opportunities focused on managing learner disruptive behaviors, professionalism, and strategies for healthy and non-violent methods of discipline. Moreover, school social workers should educate learners and teachers about learners’ educational rights and introduce restorative discipline programs.

This role of advocacy is supported by South African laws, which highlight that social workers have a non-negotiable human rights role to ensure that all children have access to care and protection services in any setting (Khumalo et al. 2024; Matulayova and Pesatova 2013; Republic of South Africa 2006). As part of this role, school social workers were found to educate teachers about unfair practices and corporal punishment as a criminal act. This role is imperative, as Veriava and Power (2017) and Maiti (2021) confirmed that teachers actively use corporal punishment when they cannot manage learners’ disruptive behaviors. The South African law highlights that such disciplinary measures are banned, and any teacher who uses them should be reported to the police, as found in this study. Contrary to the findings of other studies on the use of corporal punishment as an effective method (Heekes et al. 2020; Ncontsa and Shumba 2013), we argue that corporal punishment has severe consequences for the psychosocial development of learners and affects their engagement in school and overall academic performance. Therefore, school social workers should play a critical role in the intersection of safeguarding the learners’ rights and ensuring the schools do not have systems that infringe on their rights and their overall psychosocial wellbeing

The findings further revealed that school social work services extend to the learners’ home environment. This was particularly relevant for school social workers employed by the DSD, playing a role in ensuring social justice and child protection from harmful living environments, including their respective homes. In this role, school social workers would perform statutory mandates of intervening in child abuse cases, like emotional, physical, and sexual abuse as well as neglect (Herselman et al. 2023; Khumalo et al. 2024). As per the prescriptions by the South African Children’s Act 38 of 2005 Section 150 (1–3) (Republic of South Africa 2006), social workers should conduct investigations into alleged child abuse reports and provide any necessary interventions. The process is iterative, as found in this study, with school social workers also involving the police and healthcare workers, visiting the learners’ homes to assess the concerns raised in the referral from the school, checking the child’s home environment for risks and needs, and providing recommendations for a care protection plan (Truter and Fouché 2019).

The findings of this study showed that school social workers conducted interviews and assessments. This role signifies that school social workers are the first responders to learners’ issues identified by the school and are allowed to assess them. In assessing the issues, school social workers would clarify whether the issue was within their scope of practice or needed to be referred to other professionals. This ensures appropriate intervention. These findings reflect the generic nature of social work in terms of assessments and were confirmed by Van Sittert and Wilson (2018), who focused on school social work in the South African context. However, standardized assessment tools are still lacking within the school social work practice in the country. Therefore, the education and social development departments should develop comprehensive and uniform tools for school social workers to use in the initial assessments and evaluation processes. Such tools will promote and ensure consistency in these practices.

Once the interview and assessment were conducted, school social workers provided counseling and debriefing as intervention services to affected learners. Counseling was provided to individual learners, while trauma debriefing was provided in groups following traumatic school incidents. These intervention strategies were necessary for school social workers to support the learners’ psychosocial wellbeing. Similar to previous research (Chigondo 2019; Kjellgren et al. 2024; Van Sittert and Wilson 2018), by providing counseling and trauma debriefing, school social workers were able to explore the challenges faced by learners in-depth, help them develop a deeper understanding of their emotional responses to grief and loss, and help them cope with their life circumstances. The findings further revealed that social work supervisors employed by the GDE provided direct intervention (i.e., counseling and trauma debriefing) to learners following a crisis situation This presents a unique aspect to the context of school social work services in the Gauteng province as this contradicts the traditional supervisor’s roles in social work (Gumbi et al. 2024).

As found in this study, home visits were conducted as part of services provided to learners and when there was a link between the learner’s issues and home situations. Research on the role of school social workers during home visits is limited and has only been reported as part of general social work practice (Allen and Tracy 2004). Cook (2019) and Winter and Cree (2016) confirmed that home visits are significant, especially if the identified learners’ issues include child abuse, absenteeism from school, and unconducive home situations. During home visits, the school social workers provided a number of services related to ensuring family function and protection of children’s rights, including addressing family issues, domestic violence, and misuse of child support grants These services are outlined in South African education policies, such as the SIAS and ISHP, which place emphasis on providing support to families and addressing these issues. Home visits also allow school social workers to understand the child’s family system, which influences their psychosocial development and overall social and academic experiences (Lynch 2017; Zastrow and Kirst-Ashman 2019). Moreover, the findings highlight that home visits promote and facilitate a link between the home and school settings; they also highlight school social workers’ abilities to listen to families, encourage parental involvement in the learner’s development, and link the families with school uniforms and food parcels. To strengthen home visit support services, school social workers must collaborate with community stakeholders such as religious and community leaders, police services, non-governmental organizations, and other key community members. Such collaboration would enhance the practitioners’ capacity to respond to safety and security risks during home visits, mobilize community resources for support programs, and contribute to building a community support network that addresses the unique needs of families and children.

In instances where child abuse was reported at home, school social workers had a non-negotiable role of supporting families to address this issue or removing the child from the unsafe home environment. This role was an extension of services provided by school social workers employed by the DSD. As such, the school social workers provide family preservation services, whereby they support families and parents in caring for their children, removing children from unsafe home environments, and placing children in temporary care with other family members or vetted familiar community members. These findings are reflected by Strydom (2014), who argued that it is imperative for social workers to provide family preservation services by helping parents develop mechanisms to care for their children in instances where abuse has been noted. The role to remove children from unsafe home environments is supported by Nhedz and Makofane (2015) and the Children’s Act 38 of 2005 (Sections 150, 152, and 156) (Republic of South Africa 2006).

As part of school services, school social workers provided parental skills training and support. This may be seen as an effort to support parents in caring for their children and strengthening their understanding of their psychosocial issues. In this specific role, school social workers would equip the parents with the necessary skills needed to parent their children. Vseteckova et al. (2021) acknowledge this role as important in enhancing parenting, while Li and Qiu (2018) noted it as crucial, as parents can be encouraged to cultivate their children’s learning. Parental skills and support sessions served as a platform to raise awareness about learners’ mental health and wellbeing, thereby promoting an understanding of the challenges that learners face during psychosocial development.

The implications of this study are context-specific. Considering that no national and provincial guidelines exist for school social workers, which hinders standardized practice, we recommend that the reported roles and responsibilities identified in this study be included in any developed practice guideline or in the MOU between the GDE and DSD. This will ensure that the roles are not only applied during field practice to support South African learners, their families, teachers, and the entire school community but also that education and training for school social workers adequately address these roles within the planned specialization programs. Specifically, these roles towards support for learners and their families should are as follows: school social workers should (i) conduct in-depth interviews and assessments, (ii) provide counseling services, (iii) conduct home visits, when necessary, (iv) provide family mediation services, and (v) facilitate parental programs aimed at improving parent–child relationships. This recommendation aligns seamlessly with the structure, principles, and values embedded in school social work models introduced in international contexts, such as the United States (Lucio et al. 2023; Tan and Frey 2025). For instance, the School Social Work Association of America (SSWAA) has developed the National School Social Work Practice Model 2.0, which offers a comprehensive and multidisciplinary understanding of the various roles of social workers within educational settings (Tan and Frey 2025). Like the model, our proposed roles reflect the micro-level interventions central to school social work, which the SSWAA model views as essential and interlinked with broader systemic considerations. Moreover, the model emphasizes the socioecological and person-in-environment perspectives within the home–school–community practice domains of school social workers and highlights professional activities that include practice, research, policy, leadership, and advocacy. In this case, our proposal falls within the practice in terms of the actual groundwork practitioners do and the advocacy role they fulfill to ensure child protection within their practice. We also propose that the employers of school social workers develop a comprehensive assessment tool to assist with initial interviews and assessments.

The findings present the significant strengths regarding how school social workers actively identify and address challenges faced by learners in public schools, advocate for social justice, and provide crucial services within the home–school–community domains. The roles and responsibilities reported align with the international research on school social work. This alignment provides evidence of effective practices within the Gauteng context, where practitioners identify vulnerable learners, intervene in cases of abuse, and facilitate positive changes in family dynamics and the school environment. Ultimately, the findings of this study serve the broader South African population by highlighting the benefits of school social work services, particularly in supporting vulnerable learners and learners experiencing learning barriers.

5. Conclusions

This study explored the roles and responsibilities of school social workers in the Gauteng province. This study was undertaken because of the lack of research in school social work practice in South Africa and, specifically, in the province due to its unique context. As indicated, the uniqueness is in the nature of school social work employment, as different organizations, including the education department, social development department, and specific schools, employ school social workers. While some of the identified roles of school social workers are similar to those highlighted in other provinces and globally, this study is context-specific. Also, it introduces new insight into the roles fulfilled in the home setting when issues (i.e., child abuse, poverty, and social grant misuse) are identified. This study also provides insight into the perceived significance of school social work services and the direct support to families and parents.