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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Case Management for Care Reform

UNICEF ESARO Regional Learning Platform, 27 Jul 2023

This UNICEF ESARO webinar explores the role of case management in care reform and examines strategies for effective case management from Kenya, Ghana and Uganda.

Childcare Workers: Challenges faced during COVID-19

Enid Pitsoane, Fhatuwani Makahane, 22 Jun 2023

This study explores the resilience of childcare workers in South Africa in managing the well-being of vulnerable orphans during COVID-19.

Children's Services Reform Research: Rapid Evidence Review

Robert Porter, Emma Young, Jane Scott, Leanne McIver, Kate Mackinnon, Nadine Fowler, Heather Ottaway - CELCIS, 01 Jun 2023

Strand 1: Rapid Evidence Review reviewed existing published national and international research evidence focused on better understanding the evidence associated with different models of integration of children’s services with health and/or adult social care services in high income countries, as defined by the World Bank.

Children’s Services Reform Research: Case Studies of Transformational Reform

Alexander McTier, Kate Mackinnon, Heather Ottaway - CELCIS, 01 Jun 2023

Case studies of transformational reform programmes examined a range of approaches to the delivery of children’s services to better understand the evidence regarding systems-level integration between children’s social work/social care with health services and/or adult social care.

UK Social Work and the War in Ukraine: A BASW Briefing on Context, Ethics and Practice Under the Visa Schemes for Ukrainians

BASW, 01 May 2023

The focus of this document is to support, inform and empower social workers across the UK in their ongoing practice and consideration of issues that arise in relation to people arriving and staying under the UK Ukraine visa schemes.

Insight: Scaling Family Care Through Systems Strengthening

Changing the Way We Care (CTWWC), 01 May 2023

This Changing the Way We Care Insights Learning Brief describes how systems strengthening alone can lead to scaling of interventions, including interventions that already exist.

Learning Event: Strengthening the Social Service Workforce as Part of the Recovery Process to Support a Transformed Care and Protection System for Children in Ukraine

Better Care Network and Global Social Service Workforce Alliance, 26 Apr 2023

On 26 April 2023, the Better Care Network (BCN) and the Global Social Service Workforce Alliance (GSSWA) organized an event under the auspices of the Ukraine Children’s Care Group with child protection and care actors focused on strengthening the social service workforce as part of the recovery process in Ukraine to support a transformed care and protection system for children. The event brought actors practitioners, technical advisors, policymakers and donors together to better understand the impact of the conflict on the existing social service workforce, and to identify concrete recommendations for strengthening and reforming it as part of the recovery process to support a transformed care and protection system for children in Ukraine.

Strengthening the Social Service Workforce as Part of the Recovery Process to Support a Transformed Care and Protection System for Children in Ukraine

Better Care Network and the Global Social Service Workforce Alliance, 26 Apr 2023

On 26 April 2023, the Better Care Network (BCN) and the Global Social Service Workforce Alliance (GSSWA) organized an event under the auspices of the Ukraine Children

Moldova Insights: Role of Collective Impact in Workforce Strengthening

Changing the Way We Care, 01 Mar 2023

In March 2022, Changing the Way We Care in partnership with the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection (MoLSP) launched a Working Group focused on strengthening the social service workforce in Moldova.

Herramientas Para La Evaluación Participativa De Práctica

Family for Every Child, 01 Mar 2023

El nuevo conjunto de herramientas de evaluación participativa de Family for Every Child pone en el centro el conocimiento y la experiencia de las organizaciones de la sociedad civil (OSC) locales. Ofrece una alternativa a las dinámicas de evaluación tradicionales, aprovechando la fuerza de las soluciones locales.