Dr. Bridgette Webster, director of Mental Health Services for the East Baton Rouge Parish School System, is honored to be one of the contributors to a new national publication designed to strengthen school social work practices and improve support services for students.
“Implementation Guide: The National School Social Work Practice Model 2.0: Engaging with Key School Personnel and Collaborators” is published by Oxford University Press in partnership with the School Social Work Association of America.
“I am extremely excited and honored to have been included in this publication,” said Webster, who has been with EBR Schools for 26 years, including the last six leading Mental Health Services.
Webster is a contributing author of Chapter 7 titled “Supervisors of School Social Workers.” She collaborated on the chapter with Laura Ainsworth, Rachel Pounders and Chelsea Trice.
The chapter provides guidance for professionals responsible for supervising school social workers, addressing the importance of clinical supervision, professional ethics, state and federal laws, regulatory requirements, clinical documentation and Medicaid guidelines.
“The national organization really created a model of what our practice in schools should be like, and this is just a guide to that,” Webster said.
The 13-chapter implementation guide is designed for both practicing professionals and graduate-level university students preparing for careers in school social work.
Webster’s contribution also reflects a longstanding commitment to advancing the school social work profession. Throughout her career, she has worked with professionals across Louisiana on initiatives to strengthen the field, including reviewing legislation and making recommendations that helped expand leadership opportunities for school-based professionals holding specialized credentials rather than traditional teaching certificates.
For Webster, however, the work has always centered on students.
“It’s always about the students,” she said. “They are there to learn, but there are things that interfere with their learning. Sometimes, it’s a disability. Sometimes, it’s something that happens in their families.”
She emphasized that student challenges are not always present at birth. Disabilities, traumatic injuries, family circumstances and other unexpected life events can significantly affect a child’s educational experience and well-being. Those experiences can also affect siblings and other family members, making comprehensive school-based support especially important.
Webster’s professional accomplishments also include a 2012 dissertation examining the impact of school social work services on students with disabilities.
A native of Jena in Central Louisiana, Webster has degrees from Louisiana State University and Nova Southeastern University of Florida. She was founding president of the Louisiana Association of School Social Workers, an adjunct professor at Southern University at New Orleans and a licensed LCSW-BACS CSSWS ACSW, LPP. She has also been a program specialist and team leader and owner and CEO of Holistic Professional Services LLC.
The guide was published online by Oxford University Press on Sept. 2, with its print edition released on Nov. 6.
