Schools are increasingly confronted with challenges. Teachers identify student behavior as the most pressing issue with nearly half reporting instances of psychological or physical violence in the school environment (Robert Bosch Stiftung, 2024). Although a significant portion of their time is spent on crisis management, many feel unable to adequately meet students’ needs (Robert Bosch Stiftung, 2022). This situation highlights the need for specially trained staff, such as school-based social workers.
This project investigates whether school-based social workers affect youth crime, victimization, and educational outcomes among adolescents. I evaluate a reform in the German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg that aimed to expand school social work. Following the school shooting in Winnenden in 2009, the state government launched a political initiative to provide public funding for school social work. Since the reform’s implementation in 2012, the number of school social workers in Baden-Wuerttemberg has more than doubled, reaching a ratio of 1.8 social workers per 1,000 students, which is approximately four times higher than in the United States. I leverage the regional and temporal variation in the expansion of school social work using a generalized difference-in-differences design. I link data on the number of school social workers at the county level with administrative crime data provided by the State Office of Criminal Investigation in Baden-Wuerttemberg. Preliminary findings indicate that school social work reduces youth crime rates by approximately 16% and also lowers victimization rates. However, there is an observed increase in reported sexual offenses committed by adult family members, indicating that school social workers are uncovering previously hidden cases of abuse. In terms of educational outcomes, they also help to lower grade retention rates among older students. The results emphasize the crucial role of school personnel, beyond teachers, in shaping the outcomes of young individuals.
