Social Service Workforce Strengthening

A strong social service workforce is critical to meeting the needs of children without adequate family care. From government policy-makers, local administrators, researchers and social workers, to educators, community workers and care providers, social service actors play a key role in protecting girls and boys and promoting their care.

The development of a skilled and well-supported social service workforce is particularly important as countries move toward reforming their care systems and work to reduce reliance on residential care, strengthen families, prevent separation and promote family and community-based alternative care options. This is a challenging undertaking that requires social service actors from national to community level who are competent and willing to make changes to the way they deliver care, and are able to establish and manage a new range of preventive and responsive care services to children and families.

Strengthening the social service workforce in any country is complex. It involves creating supportive legislation and policies; developing recruitment, selection, employment, supervision, support and registration procedures; establishing education and training programmes; improving working conditions, ensuring licensing and practice standards; recognizing the status of care professionals; and raising awareness to change mindsets on care.

All of this requires working with a wide range of actors involved in supporting children and families. Substantial allocation (or redirection) of financial resources is also required, to ensure that sufficient numbers of skilled social service workers are available to work directly with children and their families at the community level, as well as at a higher administrative level to oversee care services and regulations.

This section contains documentation of social service workforce development within the context of national care reform and child protection system strengthening, including guidance, lessons learned and training tools.

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Professional competencies of practitioners in family and parenting support programmes. A German and Dutch case study

Franziska Cohen, Mareike Trauernicht, Ryanne Francot, Martine Broekhuizen, Yvonne Anders - Children and Youth Services Review, 26 Jun 2020

The authors of this study conducted a qualitative case study and obtained in-depth knowledge about the necessary professional competencies from the perspective of financiers, providers, practitioners, and participants across three cases of family and parenting support programmes in Germany and the Netherlands.

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Preparing the child welfare workforce: Organizational commitment, identity, and desire to stay

Kathryn C. Trujillo, Lara Bruce, Annade Guzman, Carole Wilcox, Aurora Melnyk, Kathy Clark - Child Abuse & Neglect, 11 Jun 2020

For this study, a ten-year cohort study was conducted to understand program graduates' experiences with organizational commitment, the impact of stipends on child welfare professional identity and desire to remain in the child welfare field.

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Frontline Staff Characteristics and Capacity for Trauma-Informed Care: Implications for the Child Welfare Workforce

Emily A. Bosk, Abigail Williams-Butler, Debra Ruisard, Michael J. MacKenzie - Child Abuse & Neglect, 10 Jun 2020

The purpose of this study was to understand the relationship between staff characteristics, endorsement of Trauma-Informed Care (TIC) and intent to turnover.

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Moving from procedure to practice: a statewide child protection simulation training model

Betsy P. Goulet,Theodore P. Cross,Yu-Ling Chiu & Susan Evans - Journal of Public Child Welfare , 07 Jun 2020

This paper chronicles the goals of the partnership and the planning and implementation of the Child Protection Training Academy, developed by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services and the University of Illinois Springfield in the U.S.

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Young Children and Ongoing Child Welfare Services: A Multilevel Examination of Clinical and Worker Characteristics

Joanne Filippelli, Kristen Lwin, Barbara Fallon, Nico Trocmé - Child Maltreatment, 28 May 2020

This study uses secondary data analysis of the Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect 2008 to explore what case and worker factors predict the provision of ongoing child welfare services.

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Professional quality of life and intent to leave the workforce: Gender disparities in child welfare

Stephanie Grace Prost & Jennifer S. Middleton - Child Abuse & Neglect, 22 May 2020

The current study aimed to describe the relative contributions of measures of professional quality of life (ProQOL) to intent on leaving the workforce among child welfare professionals.

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Prepare for Leaving Care Training in Spain: Young people as co-trainers

SOS Children's Villages, 22 May 2020

In this video, care professionals and care leavers describe their experiences of participating in the Prepare for Leaving Care Training, co-developed and co-delivered by young people with care experience.

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Webinar Recording: Social Service Workforce Safety and Wellbeing during the COVID-19 Response

Global Social Service Workforce Alliance, the Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action, UNICEF and the International Federation of Social Workers, 14 May 2020

This webinar focused on the newly released technical note on Social Service Workforce Safety and Wellbeing during the COVID-19 Response.

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COVID-19: Wellbeing and Self Care Resources for Carers and Practitioners

Ian Thomas & Dr Justin Rogers - The Martin James Foundation, 01 May 2020

This  briefing explores the importance of self-care for parents and carers, whilst outlining some ‘top-tips’ and helpful resources that can be accessed online. 

Compassion Fatigue and Resilience among Child Protection Service Workers in South Africa

Emma Janet Campbell & Leon Holtzhausen - Southern African Journal of Social Work and Social Development, 08 Apr 2020

The aim of this quantitative, inferential research was to investigate how working with vulnerable and abused children and families has an impact on child protection service workers in South Africa.

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