Availability, Responsiveness, and Continuity
Child welfare and mental health agencies
Child Welfare Workforce Development and Support Programs
Definition
Child Welfare Workforce Development and Support Programs are defined by the CEBC as programs, interventions, and practices that assist with the recruitment, selection, development, and support of a diverse, skilled, and effective child welfare workforce to improve staff practice and retention. Programs may address the recruitment, selection, and hiring of new child welfare staff and/or the education, training, supervision, support, retention and leadership development of new and ongoing child welfare staff. Programs may also address methods for assessing and improving the workplace environment to make it more supportive of effective child welfare practice. In addition, programs may involve components and elements designed to: 1) mitigate and reduce work-related stress and trauma, 2) improve worker satisfaction, and 3) increase staff retention.
- Target population: Child welfare staff and practitioners (e.g., support staff, caseworkers, social workers, supervisors, managers, administrators, directors, etc.)
- Services/types that fit: Professional development, education, training, coaching and mentoring, supervision, individual and group interventions, incentive and reward programs, as well as programs to address organizational factors, agency climate, leadership development, supervision practices, career ladders, and caseload/workload reduction
- Delivered by: Child welfare professionals, trainers, educators, supervisors, clinicians, trained paraprofessionals
- In order to be included: Program must specifically target the recruitment, selection, development, support, retention, and/or leadership of Child Welfare staff as a goal.
- In order to be rated: There must be research evidence (as specified by the Scientific Rating Scale) that examines outcomes, such as improvement in child welfare workforce, performance, satisfaction, or retention or the knowledge or skills of the child welfare workforce.
Downloadable Topic Area Summary
Definition
Child Welfare Workforce Development and Support Programs are defined by the CEBC as programs, interventions, and practices that assist with the recruitment, selection, development, and support of a diverse, skilled, and effective child welfare workforce to improve staff practice and retention. Programs may address the recruitment, selection, and hiring of new child welfare staff and/or the education, training, supervision, support, retention and leadership development of new and ongoing child welfare staff. Programs may also address methods for assessing and improving the workplace environment to make it more supportive of effective child welfare practice. In addition, programs may involve components and elements designed to: 1) mitigate and reduce work-related stress and trauma, 2) improve worker satisfaction, and 3) increase staff retention.
- Target population: Child welfare staff and practitioners (e.g., support staff, caseworkers, social workers, supervisors, managers, administrators, directors, etc.)
- Services/types that fit: Professional development, education, training, coaching and mentoring, supervision, individual and group interventions, incentive and reward programs, as well as programs to address organizational factors, agency climate, leadership development, supervision practices, career ladders, and caseload/workload reduction
- Delivered by: Child welfare professionals, trainers, educators, supervisors, clinicians, trained paraprofessionals
- In order to be included: Program must specifically target the recruitment, selection, development, support, retention, and/or leadership of Child Welfare staff as a goal.
- In order to be rated: There must be research evidence (as specified by the Scientific Rating Scale) that examines outcomes, such as improvement in child welfare workforce, performance, satisfaction, or retention or the knowledge or skills of the child welfare workforce.
Downloadable Topic Area Summary
Programs
Child Advocacy Studies
Undergraduate/graduate students and frontline professionals seeking continuing education
Hope Enhancement for Child Welfare
Child Welfare professional workforce
Training for Adoption Competency
Mental health clinicians and child welfare professionals working with adopted children and youth, birth families, and families formed through adoption
Child Welfare Trauma Training Toolkit
Professionals working in the child welfare system
Children’s Corps
Graduating Bachelor-level students, recent Bachelor- or Master-level graduates, young professionals, career changers, individuals looking to start a career that makes a difference for children and families
Design Team
Child welfare agencies
EQ2: Empowering Staff to Build Trauma-Informed Communities for Youth
Adult direct care staff and supervisors serving trauma-impacted youth (ages 8-22) in residential, juvenile justice, and community-based settings
Enhanced MiTEAM Practice Model
All public and private child welfare staff (primarily caseworkers and supervisors)
Foundations of Pennsylvania Practice
Newly hired child welfare professionals
Georgia Child Welfare Employee Selection Protocol (ESP)
Child welfare applicants
ICWA: Working with Native American Families and Tribes
State child welfare social workers and agencies serving Native American youth in child welfare, Native American children and families, and tribes
Maryland Child Welfare Academy (CWA) Pre-Service Competency Training
Recently hired public child welfare workers across Maryland's 24 jurisdictions
Resilience Alliance
Child welfare staff, supervisors, and administrators
Supervision Matters Training Series: Journey Through Supervision
Child welfare supervisors (any program area), who have been in their current role for 5 years or less
The Coaching Toolkit for Child Welfare Practitioners
Child welfare professionals who are interested in issues pertaining to workforce development
Tribal STAR (Successful Transition for Adult Readiness)
State child welfare social workers and agencies serving Native American youth in child welfare, Native American children and families, and tribes
Programs
Availability, Responsiveness, and Continuity
Child welfare and mental health agencies
Child Advocacy Studies
Undergraduate/graduate students and frontline professionals seeking continuing education
Hope Enhancement for Child Welfare
Child Welfare professional workforce
Training for Adoption Competency
Mental health clinicians and child welfare professionals working with adopted children and youth, birth families, and families formed through adoption
Child Welfare Trauma Training Toolkit
Professionals working in the child welfare system
Children’s Corps
Graduating Bachelor-level students, recent Bachelor- or Master-level graduates, young professionals, career changers, individuals looking to start a career that makes a difference for children and families
Design Team
Child welfare agencies
EQ2: Empowering Staff to Build Trauma-Informed Communities for Youth
Adult direct care staff and supervisors serving trauma-impacted youth (ages 8-22) in residential, juvenile justice, and community-based settings
Enhanced MiTEAM Practice Model
All public and private child welfare staff (primarily caseworkers and supervisors)
Foundations of Pennsylvania Practice
Newly hired child welfare professionals
Georgia Child Welfare Employee Selection Protocol (ESP)
Child welfare applicants
ICWA: Working with Native American Families and Tribes
State child welfare social workers and agencies serving Native American youth in child welfare, Native American children and families, and tribes
Maryland Child Welfare Academy (CWA) Pre-Service Competency Training
Recently hired public child welfare workers across Maryland's 24 jurisdictions
Resilience Alliance
Child welfare staff, supervisors, and administrators
Supervision Matters Training Series: Journey Through Supervision
Child welfare supervisors (any program area), who have been in their current role for 5 years or less
The Coaching Toolkit for Child Welfare Practitioners
Child welfare professionals who are interested in issues pertaining to workforce development
Tribal STAR (Successful Transition for Adult Readiness)
State child welfare social workers and agencies serving Native American youth in child welfare, Native American children and families, and tribes
Topic Expert
The Child Welfare Workforce Development and Support Programs topic area was added in 2017. Robin Leake, PhD was the topic expert and was involved in identifying and rating any of the programs with an original load date in 2017 (as found on the bottom of the program's page on the CEBC) or others loaded earlier and added to this topic area when it launched. The topic area has grown over the years and any programs added since 2017 were identified by CEBC staff, the Scientific Panel, and/or the Advisory Committee. For these programs, Dr. Leake was not involved in identifying or rating them.
Topic Expert
The Child Welfare Workforce Development and Support Programs topic area was added in 2017. Robin Leake, PhD was the topic expert and was involved in identifying and rating any of the programs with an original load date in 2017 (as found on the bottom of the program's page on the CEBC) or others loaded earlier and added to this topic area when it launched. The topic area has grown over the years and any programs added since 2017 were identified by CEBC staff, the Scientific Panel, and/or the Advisory Committee. For these programs, Dr. Leake was not involved in identifying or rating them.