This presentation was given by Beth Bradford at the ISPCAN European Conference in September 2015. The presentation reviews the joint paper ‘The Role of Social Service Workforce Strengthening in Care Reform’ by Better Care Network and the Global Social Service Workforce Alliance. The presentation includes an overview of the context of children’s care, an introduction and description of the methodology of the study (including case studies from three countries), an outline defining care reform, an overview of the social service workforce and its role in child protection, and a review of the lessons learned. The presentation highlights the strategies for social service workforce strengthening in care reform, including engaging a diverse set of actors, developing an evidence base for reform, developing and strengthening strategies, retraining and redeploying residential care workers, shifting human and financial resources, and more.
