IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/bav/wpaper/246_drescher.rdf.html

Does School Social Work Work? The Impact of School Social Workers on Youth Crime and Education

Author

Listed:
  • Katharina Drescher

Abstract

I study the impact of school social workers on youth crime and education. As a political reaction to a school rampage, a large German state introduced funding for school social workers, resulting in a strong increase in their numbers. Using the spatial and temporal variation in its implementation and unique administrative crime data, I find that school social workers reduce youth crime by 17% per year, lower victimization from violent crimes, and help uncover sexual offenses. They also improve educational outcomes by reducing grade retention. The results emphasize the crucial role of school personnel beyond teachers in shaping youth development.

Suggested Citation

  • Katharina Drescher, 2026. "Does School Social Work Work? The Impact of School Social Workers on Youth Crime and Education," Working Papers 246, Bavarian Graduate Program in Economics (BGPE).
    • Handle: RePEc:bav:wpaper:246_drescher.rdf
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.bgpe.de/files/2026/01/DP246_final.pdf
    File Function: First version, 2026
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lavecchia, Adam M. & Oreopoulos, Philip & Spencer, Noah, 2024. "The Impact of Comprehensive Student Support on Crime: Evidence from the Pathways to Education Program," IZA Discussion Papers 16724, IZA Network @ LISER.
    2. Jeffrey R. Kling & Jens Ludwig & Lawrence F. Katz, 2005. "Neighborhood Effects on Crime for Female and Male Youth: Evidence from a Randomized Housing Voucher Experiment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 120(1), pages 87-130.
    3. Janet Currie & Erdal Tekin, 2012. "Understanding the Cycle: Childhood Maltreatment and Future Crime," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 47(2), pages 509-549.
    4. James Heckman & Flavio Cunha, 2007. "The Technology of Skill Formation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 97(2), pages 31-47, May.
    5. Fischer, Stefanie & Argyle, Daniel, 2018. "Juvenile crime and the four-day school week," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 31-39.
    6. Adam M. Lavecchia & Philip Oreopoulos & Robert S. Brown, 2020. "Long-Run Effects from Comprehensive Student Support: Evidence from Pathways to Education," American Economic Review: Insights, American Economic Association, vol. 2(2), pages 209-224, June.
    7. Baron, E. Jason & Goldstein, Ezra G. & Wallace, Cullen T., 2020. "Suffering in silence: How COVID-19 school closures inhibit the reporting of child maltreatment," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    8. Carmen Villa, 2024. "The effects of youth clubs on education and crime," IFS Working Papers W24/51, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    9. Evan K. Rose & Jonathan T. Schellenberg & Yotam Shem-Tov, 2022. "The Effects of Teacher Quality on Adult Criminal Justice Contact," NBER Working Papers 30274, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Schwerdt, Guido & West, Martin R. & Winters, Marcus A., 2017. "The effects of test-based retention on student outcomes over time: Regression discontinuity evidence from Florida," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 154-169.
    11. Liu, Jing & Lee, Monica & Gershenson, Seth, 2021. "The short- and long-run impacts of secondary school absences," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 199(C).
    12. Lisa D Cook & Maggie E C Jones & Trevon D Logan & David Rosé, 2023. "The Evolution of Access to Public Accommodations in the United States," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 138(1), pages 37-102.
    13. Raj Chetty & John N. Friedman & Jonah E. Rockoff, 2014. "Measuring the Impacts of Teachers I: Evaluating Bias in Teacher Value-Added Estimates," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(9), pages 2593-2632, September.
    14. Brian Bell & Rui Costa & Stephen Machin, 2022. "Why Does Education Reduce Crime?," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 130(3), pages 732-765.
    15. Aucejo, Esteban M. & Romano, Teresa Foy, 2016. "Assessing the effect of school days and absences on test score performance," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 70-87.
    16. Flavio Cunha & James J. Heckman & Susanne M. Schennach, 2010. "Estimating the Technology of Cognitive and Noncognitive Skill Formation," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 78(3), pages 883-931, May.
    17. Natalie Bau & Jishnu Das, 2020. "Teacher Value Added in a Low-Income Country," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 12(1), pages 62-96, February.
    18. Will Dobbie & Roland G. Fryer Jr., 2015. "The Medium-Term Impacts of High-Achieving Charter Schools," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 123(5), pages 985-1037.
    19. Jordi Blanes i Vidal & Tom Kirchmaier, 2018. "The Effect of Police Response Time on Crime Clearance Rates," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 85(2), pages 855-891.
    20. Magnus Carlsson & Gordon B. Dahl & Björn Öckert & Dan-Olof Rooth, 2015. "The Effect of Schooling on Cognitive Skills," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 97(3), pages 533-547, July.
    21. Mariesa A. Herrmann & Jonah E. Rockoff, 2012. "Worker Absence and Productivity: Evidence from Teaching," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 30(4), pages 749-782.
    22. Brian A. Jacob & Lars Lefgren, 2009. "The Effect of Grade Retention on High School Completion," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 1(3), pages 33-58, July.
    23. Christine Mulhern, 2023. "Beyond Teachers: Estimating Individual School Counselors' Effects on Educational Attainment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 113(11), pages 2846-2893, November.
    24. Alicia Sasser Modestino, 2019. "How Do Summer Youth Employment Programs Improve Criminal Justice Outcomes, and for Whom?," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 38(3), pages 600-628, June.
    25. Emily K. Weisburst, 2019. "Patrolling Public Schools: The Impact of Funding for School Police on Student Discipline and Long‐term Education Outcomes," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 38(2), pages 338-365, March.
    26. Zhuan Pei & Jörn-Steffen Pischke & Hannes Schwandt, 2019. "Poorly Measured Confounders are More Useful on the Left than on the Right," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(2), pages 205-216, April.
    27. Jonathan M.V. Davis & Sara B. Heller, 2020. "Rethinking the Benefits of Youth Employment Programs: The Heterogeneous Effects of Summer Jobs," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 102(4), pages 664-677, October.
    28. Bjerk, David, 2012. "Re-examining the impact of dropping out on criminal and labor outcomes in early adulthood," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 110-122.
    29. Jeffrey R Kling & Jeffrey B Liebman & Lawrence F Katz, 2007. "Experimental Analysis of Neighborhood Effects," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 75(1), pages 83-119, January.
    30. Victor Lavy, 2021. "The Long-Term Consequences of Free School Choice," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 19(3), pages 1734-1781.
    31. Fischer, Stefanie & Royer, Heather & White, Corey, 2018. "The impacts of reduced access to abortion and family planning services on abortions, births, and contraceptive purchases," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 43-68.
    32. Ozkan Eren & Michael F. Lovenheim & H. Naci Mocan, 2022. "The Effect of Grade Retention on Adult Crime: Evidence from a Test-Based Promotion Policy," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 40(2), pages 361-395.
    33. Hjalmarsson, Randi, 2008. "Criminal justice involvement and high school completion," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(2), pages 613-630, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hjalmarsson, Randi & Machin, Stephen & Pinotti, Paolo, 2024. "Crime and the labor market," Handbook of Labor Economics,, Elsevier.
    2. Stephen Machin & Matteo Sandi, 2025. "Crime and Education," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 17(1), pages 241-260, August.
    3. Adam Lavecchia & Philip Oreopoulos & Noah Spencer, 2024. "The Impact of Comprehensive Student Support on Crime," Department of Economics Working Papers 2024-01, McMaster University.
    4. Lavecchia, Adam M. & Oreopoulos, Philip & Spencer, Noah, 2024. "The Impact of Comprehensive Student Support on Crime: Evidence from the Pathways to Education Program," IZA Discussion Papers 16724, IZA Network @ LISER.
    5. Cattan, Sarah & Kamhöfer, Daniel A. & Karlsson, Martin & Nilsson, Therese, 2017. "The Short- and Long-Term Effects of Student Absence: Evidence from Sweden," IZA Discussion Papers 10995, IZA Network @ LISER.
    6. Huebener, Mathias & Kuger, Susanne & Marcus, Jan, 2017. "Increased instruction hours and the widening gap in student performance," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 47, pages 15-34.
    7. Chao Fu & Nicolás Grau & Jorge Rivera, 2022. "Wandering astray: Teenagers' choices of schooling and crime," Quantitative Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 13(2), pages 387-424, May.
    8. Zhang, Shiying & Huang, Ao, 2022. "The long-term effects of automatic grade promotion on child development," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    9. Ron Diris, 2017. "Don't Hold Back? The Effect of Grade Retention on Student Achievement," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 12(3), pages 312-341, Summer.
    10. Almond, Douglas & Currie, Janet, 2011. "Human Capital Development before Age Five," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 15, pages 1315-1486, Elsevier.
    11. Giorgio Di Pietro & Federico Biagi & Patricia Costa & Zbigniew Karpinski & Jacopo Mazza, 2020. "The likely impact of COVID-19 on education: Reflections based on the existing literature and recent international datasets," JRC Research Reports JRC121071, Joint Research Centre.
    12. Maxime Fajeau & Julien Grenet & Emma Laveissière & Orane Leonetti, 2025. "Efficacité des politiques éducatives : sources et hypothèses de calcul," Institut des Politiques Publiques halshs-05458929, HAL.
    13. Matthew A Lenard & Mikko Silliman, 2025. "Informal social interactions, academic achievement and behavior: Evidence from peers on the school bus," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 135(671), pages 2359-2373.
    14. Katharina Werner & Ludger Woessmann, 2021. "The Legacy of Covid-19 in Education," CESifo Working Paper Series 9358, CESifo.
    15. Duncan Pieterse, 2015. "Childhood Maltreatment and Educational Outcomes: Evidence from South Africa," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(7), pages 876-894, July.
    16. Vincenzo Andrietti & Xuejuan Su, 2019. "The Impact of Schooling Intensity on Student Learning: Evidence from a Quasi-Experiment," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 14(4), pages 679-701, Fall.
    17. Sandner, Malte & Thomsen, Stephan L., 2020. "Preventing Child Maltreatment: Beneficial Side Effects of Public Childcare Provision," Hannover Economic Papers (HEP) dp-669, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Fakultät.
    18. Avitabile, Ciro & de Hoyos, Rafael, 2018. "The heterogeneous effect of information on student performance: Evidence from a randomized control trial in Mexico," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 318-348.
    19. Nicola Fuchs-Schündeln & Dirk Krueger & André Kurmann & Etienne Lalé & Alexander Ludwig & Irina Popova, 2023. "The Fiscal and Welfare Effects of Policy Responses to the Covid-19 School Closures," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 71(1), pages 35-98, March.
    20. Sandner, Malte & Thomsen, Stephan L., 2018. "The Effects of Universal Public Childcare Provision on Cases of Child Neglect and Abuse," IZA Discussion Papers 11687, IZA Network @ LISER.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bav:wpaper:246_drescher.rdf. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Anton Barabasch (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/vierlde.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.