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Consultation Theory and Practice
Oxford Workshop Series:
School Social Work Association of America

Series Advisory Board

Michelle E. Alvarez, President
Frederick Streeck, Executive Director

Evidence-Based Practice in School Mental Health

James C. Raines

The Domains and Demands of School Social Work Practice:

A Guide to Working Effectively with Students, Families, and Schools
Michael S. Kelly

Solution-Focused Brief Therapy in Schools:

A 360-Degree View of Research and Practice
Michael S. Kelly, Johnny S. Kim, and Cynthia Franklin

A New Model of School Discipline:

Engaging Students and Preventing Behavior Problems
David R. Dupper

Truancy Prevention and Intervention:

A Practical Guide
Lynn Bye, Michelle E. Alvarez, Janet Haynes, and Cindy E. Sweigart

Ethical Decision Making in School Mental Health

James C. Raines and Nic T. Dibble

Functional Behavioral Assessment:

A Three-Tiered Prevention Model
Kevin J. Filter and Michelle E. Alvarez

School Bullying:
New Perspectives on a Growing Problem
David R. Dupper

Consultation Theory and Practice:

A Handbook for School Social Workers
Christine Anlauf Sabatino
Consultation Theory and Practice
A Handbook for School Social Workers

Christine Anlauf Sabatino

■■■
Oxford Workshop Series

1
 1
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© Oxford University Press 2014
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
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Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above.
You must not circulate this work in any other form
and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Sabatino, Christine Anlauf.
Consultation theory and practice : a handbook for school social workers
/ Christine Anlauf Sabatino.
pages cm.—(Oxford workshop series: School Social Work
Association of America)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978–0–19–993462–1 (alk. paper)
1. Social work education. 2. Social service. I. Title.
HV11.S2493 2014
371.4′601—dc23
2013041309

1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
Contents

Preface  ix

Introduction  xi

Part One: History and Overview of School Social

Work Consultation
Chapter 1 Consultation and School Social Work
Practice  3

Chapter 2 Elements Common to All Models of

Consultation  14

Part Two: Consultation Models Applicable to School

Social Work Practice
Chapter 3 Organizational Consultation   29
Wendy Whiting Blome

Chapter 4 Program Consultation   43

Chapter 5 Education and Training

Consultation  54

Chapter 6 Mental Health Consultation   67

Chapter 7 Behavioral Consultation   77

Barbara Peo Early

Chapter 8 Clinical Consultation   100

Lynn Milgram Mayer

v
Part Three: Common Challenges and Unique Issues in
School Social Work Consultation
Chapter 9 Consultation Stages
and Objectives  119

Chapter 10 Consultation and Ethics   130

Lynn Milgram Mayer

Chapter 11 Culture, Diversity, and School Social

Work Consultation  142

Conclusion  155

References  157

Index  171

viContents
Contributors

Lynn Milgram Mayer

Associate Professor and Chair of Doctoral Social Work Program
The Catholic University of America
Washington, D.C.

Barbara Peo Early

Associate Professor, Retired
The National Catholic School of Social Service
The Catholic University of America
Washington, D.C.

Wendy Whiting Blome

Associate Professor
The Catholic University of America
Washington, D.C.

vii
Preface

School social workers offer consultation services every day. However, they
usually do not think about or label these practice tasks as consultation.
Consider the following questions.
Have you worked to enhance school leadership, administration, and staff-
ing? Have you worked to improve information exchange, coordination of
activities, and decision-making? If so, you have provided organizational con-
sultation services to the school system.
Have you worked with school personnel to address the needs of a speci-
fied group or population unable to achieve school success using traditional
pathways offered by the school system? Have you discussed with school
personnel the impact of existing school programs and how they might be
improved? If so, you have provided program consultation services to the school
system.
Have you provided information and referral services to students, families,
or school personnel? Have you participated in school interdisciplinary coor-
dination meetings or community interagency collaboration services? Have
you been involved in staff development workshops or in-service training
meetings? If so, you have provided education and training consultation ser-
vices to the school system.
Have you coached teachers working with complex and challenging stu-
dents by providing knowledge, skills, confidence, or a sense of objectivity? If
so, you have provided mental health consultation to the school system.
Have you helped school personnel develop Positive Behavioral
Interventions and Supports (PBIS) on a school-wide, class-wide, or individual
basis? If so, you have provided behavioral consultation to the school system.
Have you written a social case history for an Individualized Education
Plan (IEP) or documented a family’s priorities, resources, and concerns for
an Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP)? Have you been asked to share
your expertise during a crisis situation or traumatic event? If so, you have
provided clinical consultation to the school system.

ix
 This book explores in detail these six types of consultation in school set-
tings with the goal of providing school social workers advanced practice con-
sultation knowledge and skills. In addition, an underlying objective is to help
school social workers articulate the various ways schools receive consulta-
tion services every single day of the year as part of their school social work
practice model.

xPreface
Introduction

“Consultation” is defined as an indirect method of practice that assists others

to become more effective in dealing with their complex work-related prob-
lems (Caplan, 1970; Sabatino, 2009b). It is one of the most frequently used
methods of school social work practice (Kelly, Berzin, Frey, Alvarez, Shaffer,
& O’Brien, 2010; Timberlake, Sabatino, & Hooper, 1982).
The scope of school social work consultation has expanded from its origi-
nal form of clinical consultation for special education evaluations to current
practices involving consultative relationships and processes in the broader
social environments of the classroom, the school, and the community. Its goal
is to promote academic success, student well-being, and supportive school
environments.
School social workers provide consultation services on a daily basis to
children, families, teachers, administrators, and school systems in order to
overcome psychosocial barriers to educational learning and student achieve-
ment. Yet, these social workers seldom think about or describe these activities
as consultation. Further, many school social workers assume that professional
education and experience are adequate preparation for providing consulta-
tion services (Caplan, 1970). Training in professional social work does not,
however, prepare practitioners to understand the various models of consulta-
tion, their unique goals and methods, or the roles and functions of consul-
tants in school settings (Gallessich, 1982).
This book synthesizes the existing consultation literature from multi-
ple disciplines and adapts it for use by school social workers. The aim is
to develop a comprehensive practice handbook and reference guide to the
theory, principles, processes, and practice of consultation.
This book differs from other consultation texts because it is written for
school social workers employed by school systems. It incorporates perspec-
tives and issues experienced by school social workers as consultants within
the school setting. These experiences are different from those encountered
by community-based professionals who enter the school system to provide
consultation.

xi
 The book is organized into three parts. Part One presents the historical
background of school social work consultation, defining the method, and
discussing its main processes.
Included is a framework for comparing and contrasting the different con-
sultation models (Erchul & Sheridan, 2008; Gallessich, 1982). This frame-
work consists of a description of the model’s overarching goal, problem
formulation, practice methods, assumptions about change processes, sources
of professional power and authority, and underlying value system (Gallessich,
1982). In addition, theories of human behavior that guide each consultation
model are identified.
Part Two discusses the six models of consultation applicable to school
social work practice. These models include: 1) organizational consultation,
2) program consultation, 3) education and training consultation, 4) mental
health consultation, 5) behavior consultation, and 6) clinical consultation
(Gallessich, 1982). Case examples are presented to illustrate each model.
In addition, each model is discussed in relation to the Response to
Intervention (RtI) approach. At the end of each chapter, the model is tied to
one or more of the RtI levels to identify how it provides universal, targeted,
or individual services. Suggested readings and additional resources are pro-
vided, allowing readers to learn more about a consultation model that fits
their school social work practice model.
Part Three discusses unique principles and common processes related to
successful school consultation services. In addition to discussing stages and
objectives of consultation, we give particular attention to the ethical prin-
ciples surrounding consultation issues in school settings as well as the impact
of diversity and culture on school social work consultation processes.

xiiIntroduction
Consultation Theory and Practice
 Part One
■■■
History and Overview of School Social
Work Consultation
 1
■■■
Consultation and School Social Work Practice

When did consultation become an identifiable social work practice method

with unique attributes, differentiating it from other intervention methods
and problem-solving processes? An historical review of the literature identi-
fied only two social work consultation publications between 1927 and 1966,
according to Kadushin (1977). In addition, his review of the annual program
meeting conference brochures for the years from 1874 through 1975 (for
what is now known as the National Association of Social Workers [NASW])
identified only two presentations on consultation.
Kadushin’s and Buckman’s national survey (1978) of NASW members
who identified consultation as their primary job responsibility found that
most social work consultants were affiliated with “psychiatric–mental health
agencies, child welfare–family service agencies, and with school social work”
(p. 379). Findings on the types of consultation, problem situations, and inter-
vention methods were very mixed, leading the authors to conclude that social
work consultation had yet to “achieve a clear and stable image” (p. 379).
A contemporary online social work literature review, using the data-
base Academic Search Complete for “social work consultation” from 1973
to 2012, identified only 10 consultation publications. “School social work
consultation” literature searches for this same time period identify only two
articles, by Early (1992) and Sabatino (2009a). The same online review for
“educational psychology and consultation” yields 127 publications.
Today, the field of social work publishes no journals devoted to the topic
of consultation. In contrast, the American Psychological Association has
published the Consulting Psychology Journal since 1993 and the Journal of
Educational and Psychological Consultation since 1990.

3
 Finally, a search for current books on social work consultation or school
social work consultation finds none in publication. Again, in contrast, there
are hundreds of consultation books published by school psychologists, edu-
cational psychologists, and school counselors.
Based on this information, it might appear that consultation is not a major
practice method used by professional social workers, especially school social
workers. A review of the research literature on the roles, tasks, and functions
of the school social worker, however, tells a surprisingly different story.
In fact, there is a longstanding historical connection between consulta-
tion and school social work practice that has been traced back to the turn of
the twentieth century (Oppenheimer, 1925). Visiting teachers went into the
community to speak with families about the mission and function of educa-
tion, a topic unfamiliar to many neighborhood families. The visiting teacher
was charged with facilitating communication and developing partnerships
between the home and the school. She would bring back to the school the
information learned from these families about their lived experiences and
interpret for the school teacher those factors that interfered with student
academic performance. In other words, for a century the school system has
recognized the value in addressing the “forces that often thwart the school in
its endeavors to educate” students, using techniques consistent with consul-
tation (Constable, 2006, p. 12).
Consultation has been identified as a key element of school social work
practice for nearly half a century. In 1969, Lela Costin’s seminal national task
analysis survey found that school social work practice was centered around a
clinical-casework model, but that consultation with teachers was one of the
eight factors that formed the structure of school social work practice. Meares’
replication of this study (1977) found a shift from the earlier clinical-casework
model to a home-school-community liaison approach. Again, however, con-
sultation tasks were found to be an element within multiple factors in Meares’
research.
The passage of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (P.L.
94-142) served as the impetus for Timberlake, Sabatino, and Hooper (1982)
to revisit the question What is the current model of school social work practice? by
asking a national sample of NASW school social workers how frequently they
performed a set of tasks and whether this frequency had changed since the
implementation of the new public law. Consultation was ranked as the num-
ber one school social work task. More than three-quarters of the respondents
(79.1%) reported consultation as the most frequently used service in their

4 History and Overview

school social work practice model. Furthermore, 41.3% of the respondents
reported an increase in the use of this practice task since the passage of P.L.
94-142.
Thus, consultation has been historically and empirically identified as a
distinctive, enduring, and valued school social work service (Allen-Meares,
1994; Boyle-Del Rio, Carson, and Hailbeck, 2000; Carr, 1976; Constable,
Kuzmickaite, Harrison, & Volkmann, 1999; Meares, 1982; & Timberlake,
Sabatino, & Hooper, 1982). Indeed, current school social work textbooks
have consistently identified consultation as a critical component of school
social work practice (Allen-Meares, 2010; Dupper, 2003; Franklin, Harris, &
Allen-Meares, 2006; & Openshaw, 2008). Yet, professional social work schol-
arship in general and school social work literature in particular are devoid of
substantive discussions of consultation theory and practice.

Definition
Consultation is often used as a generic term to mean a conventional discus-
sion between professionals about a problematic setting, population, problem,
or practice. At other times the term is used to mean common advice-seeking
and advice-giving (Caplan & Caplan, 1993; Gallessich, 1980). By contrast,
the definition of consultation used in this book is quite specific.
Consultation is defined as an indirect method of practice that assists others to
become more effective in their professional work. It is a specialized interac-
tion between professionals who hold the restricted roles of consultant and
consultee (Caplan, 1970). The consultant is someone who has unique exper-
tise that the consultee believes will help resolve a particular work-related
difficulty.
Consultation does not fall under the exclusive domain of one helping
profession. It is an interdisciplinary method of practice with a set of core
characteristics that apply across all helping professions. Table 1.1 identifies
these core characteristics (Parsons, 1996).
The consultant assists the consultee through using a strengths-based
problem-solving process. The strengths perspective “emphasizes the cli-
ent’s resources, capabilities, support systems, and motivation to meet chal-
lenges and overcome adversity” (Barker, 2003, p. 420). The problem-solving
process is a multistage method of planned change in relation to an identi-
fied client system (Timberlake, Farber, & Sabatino, 2008). Strengths-based
problem-solving tackles the challenges, issues, needs, and problems that cre-
ate barriers to well-being and interfere with the ability of people, groups,

Consultation and School Social Work Practice5

Table 1.1 Core Characteristics of Consultation
1. Consultation is a strengths-based problem-solving process.
2. Consultation takes place between a consultant and a consultee who has
responsibility for providing direct service to a client system, which may be
persons, groups, programs, or organizations.
3. Consultation is a voluntary relationship.
4. Consultation aims to resolve a work-related problem of the consultee.
5. Consultation requires the consultant and the consultee to share equally in
resolving the issues of concern.
6. Consultation prepares the consultee to deal with similar issues in the future.

programs, organizations, and communities to reap their full rights to psycho-

social functioning, human dignity, and social justice.
In the social work tradition, problem resolution traditionally has meant
providing direct service to clients. Consultation methods are completely dif-
ferent, however, because the consultant rarely has direct contact with the tar-
geted client system. Rather, the assessment and intervention are undertaken
in partnership with the consultee, who is ultimately responsible for providing
the direct services.
Unlike other professional relationships, the consultation relationship is
unique because it is entirely voluntary (Caplan, 1970). In other words, con-
sultees maintain their freedom to accept or reject conclusions and recom-
mendations made by a consultant. They are under no obligation to follow the
consultant’s suggestions. This stance is one of the defining characteristics of
consultation. That is, it challenges the consultant to let go of managing the
problem situation and give over authority and responsibility for the change
process to another professional.
Consultation focuses exclusively upon the consultee’s work-related prob-
lems. This is not to say that consultees’ personal issues, beliefs, and attitudes
are unrelated to workplace problems. Permitting discussion of personal prob-
lems as part of the consultation process, however, breaches the boundaries of
a consultation relationship. Personal issues that interfere with work perfor-
mance oblige the consultant to offer referrals to another professional in order
to maintain consultation roles. Supportive listening is one thing, but opening
the doors to a rich discussion of a consultee’s personal issues is a pitfall to be
avoided. Consultation does not address the consultee’s personal or non–work
related issues (Gallessich, 1982).

6 History and Overview

 Rather, the consultant and consultee focus exclusively on resolving
work-related problems that have been brought by the consultee (Sears,
Rudisill, & Mason-Sears, 2006). Caplan and Caplan (1993) refer to this inter-
action as the “coordinate relationship” that helps underscore the viewpoint
that the consultee is a fully competent professional who retains full author-
ity for the target-client situation. This indirect method is very different from
traditional direct intervention methods. It requires the consultant to step
back and allow another professional to be in charge of the strengths-based
problem-solving processes.
This stance is taken because consultation theory and practice are predi-
cated on an assumption that work on the current problem situation will have
a “spread of effect” (Caplan, 1970) on similar situations in the future, thus
serving as a form of professional development. In this regard, the cost–ben-
efit ratio of consultation is very good and offers a strong rationale for school
systems to view consultation as a first approach to addressing many school
issues.

Professional Role
Another way to define consultation is to compare it with other professional
roles (Caplan, 1970), such as teacher, social work clinician, or supervisor.
The role of the consultant is that of an expert or technical advisor, who intro-
duces new information, perspectives, skills, and values. The consultant’s role
also includes helping the consultee cope with job stressors that interfere with
service delivery and rekindling excitement in a job well done.
Teachers implement a curriculum devised by others to instruct students
on different subject matters. Knowledge is imparted in a structured format
that has been predetermined by educational administrators. School per-
sonnel are required to evaluate the extent to which students have achieved
annual yearly progress in various academic subjects. Teachers have little voice
in choosing the content, methods, or evaluative mechanisms.
Although consultants do propose to change levels of knowledge, skill,
and attitude in consultees, they bring no preconceived or predesigned con-
tent, methodology, or evaluation process to consultation. Any educational
development that becomes part of the consultation process does so out of an
extensive dialogue with consultees about subject matter that interests them.
Further, instructional methods are explored together and chosen together.

Consultation and School Social Work Practice7

Any measures of change in consultees’ knowledge are for their own use only
and not to be used as part of work performance evaluations.
The role of the social work clinician is to eliminate or reduce impairments
in someone’s psychosocial functioning. The work focuses on bringing about
change in personal problems, decreasing stress, and increasing well-being.
Exploring personal history, affect levels, and coping skills are some of the
seminal elements of clinicians’ work to bring about insight, emotional growth,
and personality development.
In contrast, consultants focus only on work-related problems. They
steer clear of addressing personal issues as an element of the consultation
problem-solving process. Consultants are often ascribed sources of power
in the relationship such as “expert” power for having valued knowledge or
“legitimate” power for having the right to bring about change. The bond
between the consultant and consultee does not make use of these power
differentials. Rather, consultation maintains the “coordinate relationship”
wherein the focus of change is on the target-client and not the consultee.
Another way to illuminate the role of the consultant is to compare it to
the supervisor’s role. Supervisors are responsible for the work performance
of their staff and are accountable to agency administrators (Kadushin, 1992).
The school delegates full and complete legal authority to administrators,
managers, and supervisors to coordinate, define, and evaluate the teacher’s
performance. The district expects these school personnel to address gaps
between staff performance and school system expectations in order to ensure
fidelity to policy, program, and practice outcomes.
School social work consultants carry no direct line or positional author-
ity over consultees’ work performance. Nor are they in a position to evaluate
consultees’ professional competency. In fact, consultants must guard against
being placed in an evaluative position or providing information to a supervi-
sor that evaluates a consultee’s work capacity. Doing so violates the major tenet
of consultation—the collaborative relationship between the consultant and the
consultee. Full and rich discussions between social work consultants and con-
sultees are not possible if consultees believe their weaknesses will be reported
to a supervisor.
Consultation efforts by school social workers are aimed at developing
interdisciplinary problem-solving teams that pool their knowledge, skills,
and resources to address target-system needs. The assumption is that no
one discipline in the school system is able to resolve all academic and
behavioral problems because countless factors contribute to the situation,

8 History and Overview

requiring multiple professional viewpoints to analyze and remedy the
difficulty.
All allied professions, including social work, education, nursing, public
health, psychiatry, psychology, and counseling, have recognized consulta-
tion services. However, pre-service professional education and field training
about consultation are not consistent within or between the allied professions
(Sears, Rudisill, & Mason-Sears, 2006). There is no clear educational path for
learning how to take on the role of consultant. Training in one’s own profes-
sion rarely equips the professional to understand the different types of con-
sultation models, the boundaries and roles of the consultant, or the nature of
the collaborative relationship (Caplan, 1970; Gallessich, 1982). In fact, this
indirect method of intervention is in great contrast to the direct intervention
methods that constitute the majority of theory and practice course work as
well as practicum experiences in professional education programs.
Scholars and researchers have written about theory, training, prac-
tice, and evaluation of professional education in school consultation
(Costenbader, 1992). They have explored questions about models of prac-
tice (Anton-LaHart & Rosenfield, 2004), coursework (Hazel, Laviolette, &
Lineman, 2010; Rapoport, 1963), field placements (Alpert & Taufique, 2002),
and competencies (Ysseldyke, Burns, & Rosenfield, 2009). Furthermore,
Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research (March, 2012) and Journal
of Educational and Psychological Consultation (2002, Volumes 1 & 2) have
published special editions that address issues of consultation and pre-service
training in psychology and education. Even so, there are no professional cre-
dentials or state licenses to demonstrate competency, or to certify or regulate
the professional role of the consultant.

Process of Consultation
The process of consultation involves principles and practices that are differ-
ent from those traditionally used in direct practice. As previously stated, con-
sultation is an indirect method of intervention that assists others to become
more effective in their work. Consultants step back from providing direct
service and position themselves in a manner that helps other professionals
resolve problem situations or handle complex circumstances. Consultants
leave control of the service delivery with the consultee who has primary
responsibility for the situation. It is important to note that this process is far
more complicated than working directly with clients (Caplan, 1970).

Consultation and School Social Work Practice9

 Five major principles and practices foster the consultation process. These
principles and practices revolve around the concepts of time, change, atmo-
sphere, relationship, and language (Caplan & Caplan, 1993).
Time (Caplan, 1970): Understanding how consultation processes differ
from traditional school social work services can be confusing for faculty and
staff. Very often there is an unspoken wish for the school social worker to
take the lead in handling a troubling situation. Although this is understand-
able given school social work’s historic role of working directly with children
to overcome psychosocial and behavioral challenges to school performance,
this wish is not realistic. Therefore, school personnel need time to understand
intellectually and practically how consultation by the school social worker
actually works.
It is important to spend as much time as necessary discussing what con-
sultation is and what it entails before beginning the consultation process.
Consultees need help understanding what their role is in the process, what
information they are expected to provide, what tasks they will undertake,
and what outcomes they can expect. Parallel to this process, consultees
need to understand the role of a consultant, what expertise will be pro-
vided, what kind of help to expect, and what the consultant has to offer.
Quite often some variation or part of this dialogue has to be repeated at the
start of each consultation session. Helping school personnel understand
what the consultation process is and is not becomes well worth the time
expended.
Change (Caplan, 1970): Often consultees are in a hurry to resolve problem
situations as quickly as possible. Yet few major problems can be corrected
rapidly and without school personnel becoming involved in the change pro-
cess. Thus, school personnel need to understand that significant challenges
may need the input and coordination of many people to bring about change.
Therefore, it is import to ask consultees what results they wish to see and
to clarify what change may take place through consultation so that they are
not disappointed in the process or view consultation as a failure. Here again,
it is important to remind consultees that it takes time to create changes in
home-school-community circumstances.
Relationship (Caplan, 1970): The consultation relationship, like all school
social work relationships, is the primary medium through which change
occurs. Each consultation relationship is unique, reflecting the different
needs of the situations at hand. To strengthen the relationship, the consultant
establishes a “belief bond” (Bisman, 1994) with the consultee. This bond

10 History and Overview

is characterized by the belief that the consultant has expertise, new infor-
mation, and original perspectives for addressing the situation, and that, by
working together, consultant and consultee will make progress towards over-
coming the consultee’s work-related problems. Coupled with this belief is the
establishment of a “co-ordinate relationship” (Caplan & Caplan, 1993) that
views school personnel as fully competent professionals who have the ability
and responsibility for solving school issues.
Atmosphere (Caplan, 1970): Consultees reveal their inconsistencies and
mistakes during the consultation process. Therefore, an atmosphere of trust
and respect is essential. It is critical to the success of the consultation that
the consultee feel accepted and respected. Since it is often deflating and
embarrassing to expose one’s difficulties in work performance to another
professional, the consultation process will thrive only when the consultant
maintains a nonjudgmental approach to the work.
Language (Caplan, 1970): It is important to use language that demonstrates
an understanding of the organization and its purpose, culture, and values.
Using the consultees’ professional language enhances the consultation pro-
cesses. It enhances the power and authority implicit in the consultation role.
Use of professional social work jargon does not demonstrate a school
social work consultant’s competency. Rather, use educational language that is
routinely used in school settings. This approach makes the consultation work
more easily understood. It demonstrates an understanding of the broader
contextual issues that interfere with academic and behavioral success, and it
advances the consultation processes.
The definition, professional role, and processes of consultation remain the
same whether the consultant is a school employee (internal consultant) or
a community-based professional (external consultant). Some dynamics and
issues are different for internal versus external consultants, however, and they
need to be noted.
School social work consultants (internal consultants) have preexisting
professional relationships with school staff, having already established col-
laborative relationships as part of their school social work practice model.
Community-based professionals (external consultants) do not always have
ties to a school or its staff when they are hired to be consultants, making it
most important to discuss participants’ understanding of the consultation
contract and establishing collaborative consultation relationships. This dis-
cussion clarifies for the external consultant as well as the school staff the
nature of the contract and their professional relations.

Consultation and School Social Work Practice11

 If external consultants do not accept the fact that their recommendations
are, by definition, open to acceptance or rejection because consultees main-
tain final responsibility for direct service to the target-clients, they may feel
constrained by this limitation and disappointed in the consultation process.
If school personnel expect community-based consultants to “fix” a prob-
lem rather than be a partner in the problem-solving process, they may be
confused by the consultation process and dissatisfied with the external con-
sultant. If administrators expect consultation to be a form of supervision,
they are establishing a corrupt consultation contract and misunderstand the
nature of consultation relationships.
Community-based, external consultants must see consultation as an
indirect service. It carries no positional authority in the school system that
allows them to place a demand on a consultee to implement changes dis-
cussed during consultation. Schools, not community-based consultants, have
direct responsibility for correcting school issue, and change is brought about
through joint problem-solving efforts. And given the hierarchical nature of
school organizations, external consultants must not accept a consultation
contract that explicitly or implicitly includes elements of supervision. Many
external consultants are deeply disappointed and baffled by their consulta-
tion experiences because their professional training has not prepared them
to be aware of differences between direct and indirect services, especially the
working definition, role boundaries, and unique processes of consultation.

Summary
There is a strong historical relationship between consultation and school
social work. This fact is underscored by practice research findings that consis-
tently indicate consultation is a central element of school social work practice
models. To augment these research findings, this book defines “consultation”
in very specific terms, including the unique roles and processes that distin-
guish it from other intervention methods.
This approach is important because consultation services are an important
pathways for helping school systems fulfill their educational mission (Taylor &
Adelman, 2002). It is a cost-efficient practice framework that provides pre-
vention and intervention services to students, families, teachers, adminis-
trators, school districts, and the community (Reddy, Barboza-Whitehead, &
Files, 2000).

12 History and Overview

 This book discusses the principles and practices of six consultation models
in order to provide school social workers with advanced practice knowledge
and skills. It identifies how school social work consultation is consistent with
the RtI three-tiered service framework as well as social work ethics, while
incorporating the needs of diverse communities and students. The overarch-
ing goal is to help school social work practitioners recognize and identify
with these consultation models and to help school personnel appreciate and
value the impact of these services.

Suggested Reading and Resources

Caplan, G., & Caplan, R. B. (1993). Mental Health Consultation and Collaboration. San
Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Erchul, W., & Martens, B. (2010). School Consultation: Conceptual and Empirical Bases of
Practice (3rd. ed.). New York: Springer.
Erchul, W., & Sheridan, S. (2008). The state of scientific research in school consultation.
Retrieved from http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/edpsychpapers/75.
Gallessich, J. (1980). The Profession and Practice of Consultation. San Francisco,
CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
Kadushin, A. (1977). Consultation in Social Work. New York: Columbia University Press.
Center for School Mental Health, retrieved from: csmh.umaryland.edu.
UCLA School Mental Health Project, retrieved from: smhp.psych.ucla.edu.

Consultation and School Social Work Practice13

 2
■■■
Elements Common to All Models of Consultation

Understanding the common elements common for all models of consultation

provides a structure to compare and contrast each one along defined dimen-
sions (Gallessich, 1980). This discussion gives a deeper understanding, richer
perspective, and a clearer framework for deciding which consultation model
is most appropriate in a given school situation. Identification of the underly-
ing theory of human behavior and human development further guides con-
ceptual understanding of the planned change processes for each model. In
addition, the connection between each consultation model and the Response
to Intervention (RtI) pyramid brings further clarity on how to incorporate
consultation services with school social workers’ practice models.

Problem Formulation
For all models of consultation, the overarching problem is conceptually defined
as obstacles to school success. Beyond this conceptual problem definition, how-
ever, there are specific types of issues addressed by each consultation model
that vary according to the target of change.
Change may be directed toward structures and processes (organizational
consultation); policies and services (program consultation); information,
coordination, and preparation of school personnel (education and training
consultation); work challenges with students (mental health consultation);
shaping pro-social conduct (behavioral consultation); or providing psycho-
social expertise (clinical consultation). In other words, the problem may be a
micro, mezzo, or macro issue.
Challenges, issues, needs, or problems may be readily apparent, such
as teacher–student relationships or classroom behaviors. They may not be

14
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