The school is a place that enables the early recognition and prevention of numerous developmental risks of the child and the undertaking of early social interventions that can empower not only the child, but also parents and families at risk, and for more successful coping with personal, family and social challenges. Social work is a profession that is trained to recognize social risks and work with children and families living in poverty and at risk of social exclusion, violence, abuse and neglect. School social work is a specialized field within the profession of social work that is aimed at improving the educational and psychosocial environment in schools, emphasizing the strengthening of relationships between teachers, students and their parents. The purpose of school social work is to provide professional support and help to students who come from families that are burdened with various economic, social, health, educational and numerous other risks. In this paper, we will try to get answers to the question of what challenges professional associates working in elementary schools in Osijek County face in their direct work with children and parents, and what interventions they think should be implemented by social workers. The goal of the research is to gain a deeper understanding of the problems that children face in their families, personally and/or in the school environment, which professional associates perceive to be beyond their responsibility and that social workers could address them more adequately and provide the necessary support. The methodology used in this research is qualitative. The data will be collected using a semi-structured interview and will be processed using a thematic analysis, which includes the interpretation of the data and a critical review of it.