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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A changing child welfare workforce: What worker characteristics are valued in child welfare?

Kristen Lwin, Barbara Fallon, Nico Trocmé, John Fluke, & Faye Mishna - Child Abuse & Neglect, 07 May 2018

This study examined data from five cycles over twenty years of Ontario Incidence Studies (-1993, -1998, -2003, -2008, -2013) to provide a profile of child welfare workers.

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Violence Against Children Survey in Lao PDR: Full Report

National Commission for Mothers and Children, Lao Statistics Bureau and UNICEF Lao PDR, 01 May 2018

This report provides estimates of the prevalence of physical, emotional and sexual violence against children and information about the circumstances in which violence occurs in Lao PDR, based on findings from the national Violence against Children Survey.

Communication patterns between foster parents and case managers

Melissa Denlinger & Cassandra Dorius - Children and Youth Services Review, 23 Apr 2018

The current study examined how to best facilitate a healthier professional relationship between case managers and foster families with the goal of identifying concrete ways to improve the relationship and drive foster parent retention.

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Residential child care workers: Relationship based practice in a culture of fear

Teresa Brown, Karen Winter, Nicola Carr - Child & Family Social Work, 16 Apr 2018

This study explores the views and experiences of 26 workers in the Republic of Ireland regarding relationship‐based practice.

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Residential child care workers: Relationship based practice in a culture of fear

Teresa Brown, Karen Winter, Nicola Carr - Child & Family Social Work, 16 Apr 2018

In a contemporary context dominated by reports of the historical institutional abuse of children and young people in residential children's homes, and where the voice of workers is largely absent, this study explores the views and experiences of 26 workers in the Republic of Ireland regarding relationship‐based practice.

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Serving clients and the community better: A mixed‐methods analysis of benefits experienced when organizations collaborate in child welfare

Marianna L. Colvin & Shari E. Miller - Child & Family Social Work, 16 Apr 2018

Data from extensive qualitative interviews (n = 67) and a survey instrument (n = 80) are used in this study to examine the perceived benefits experienced when organizations interact in community‐wide child welfare practice.

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Focused training of child and youth-care workers for promoting social and educational inclusion of youth at risk

Liat Yakhnich, Emmanuel Grupper & Shlomo Romi - Child & Youth Services, 16 Apr 2018

This opinion note aims at opening a discussion about a new, inclusion-focused perspective on higher professional education of CYC workers.

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Webinar 25: Ways in Which the Social Service Workforce Plays a Key Role in Preventing Violence Against Children

Global Social Service Workforce Alliance, 12 Apr 2018

This webinar reviewed the findings from the 2017 State of the Social Service Workforce Report and made recommendations for strengthening the workforce to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

Explaining Self-Reported Resilience in Child-Protection Social Work: The Role of Organisational Factors, Demographic Information and Job Characteristics

Paula McFadden, John Mallett, Anne Campbell, Brian Taylor - The British Journal of Social Work, 09 Apr 2018

This paper presents results from a cross-sectional survey and reports findings from a sample of 162 Northern Irish social workers.

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Between Professional Norms and Professionalism Risk Assessment and Decision-Making of Arab Social Workers Regarding Children at Risk

Hani Nouman, Guy Enosh, Amal Jarjoura - Research on Social Work Practice, 01 Apr 2018

This study examined the four factors that might bias child risk assessment and recommendation of treatment for children at high risk among Arab social workers in Israel.

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