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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Care-‘less’: exploring the interface between child care and parental control in the context of child rights for workers in children’s homes in Ghana

Ernest Darkwah, Marguerite Daniel, Joana Salifu Yendork - BMC International Health and Human Rights, 20 Feb 2018

This study explored how employed caregivers experience the interface between child care, parental control and child rights in the context of Children’s Homes in Ghana.

What does “recovery” from mental illness and addiction mean? Perspectives from child protection social workers and from parents living with mental distress

Anne Lorraine Scott, Kelly Pope, Donald Quick, Bella Aitken, Adele Parkinson - Children and Youth Services Review, 13 Feb 2018

This paper analyzes the perspectives of eleven social workers doing child protection work and examines the accounts of thirteen parents living with mental illness or addiction who have been involved in child custody investigations in Aotearoa New Zealand.

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Whole of Syria Child Protection: 2018 Operational Strategy

Child Protection Area of Responsibility (CP AoR), 08 Feb 2018

This report from the Child Protection Area of Responsibility (CP AoR) highlights the child protection needs and responses in Syria and includes objectives and targets for continued child protection interventions and strategies.

Partnerships with children in child welfare: The importance of trust and pedagogical support

Inger Sofie Dahlø Husby, Tor Slettebø, Randi Juul - Child & Family Social Work, 06 Feb 2018

On the basis of qualitative interviews with 10 children about their experiences collaborating with child welfare professionals, this study has identified ways in which professionals can facilitate children's participation.

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Experiences of child protection workers in collaborating with adult mental health providers: An exploratory study from Ontario, Canada

Robin Mason, Janice Du Mont, Maeve Paterson, Ilene Hyman - Children and Youth Services Review, 05 Feb 2018

The aim of this paper is to describe findings from a survey which identified barriers and facilitators to collaboration between child welfare and adult mental health service providers.

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Rural Child Welfare Practice: Issue Brief

Child Welfare Information Gateway, 01 Feb 2018

This issue brief highlights the importance of understanding the concerns and needs of children and families in rural communities in the United States

Do social work education, job description, and cultural competence foster child-welfare caseworkers' therapeutic alliances?

Tyrone C. Cheng, Celia C. Lo - Child & Family Social Work, 01 Feb 2018

This study explored whether the strength of caseworkers' engagement with families in the child-welfare system was associated with the caseworkers' academic degrees, job responsibilities and environments, and/or ethnicity.

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Training child welfare citizen review panel members: A promising approach?

J. Jay Miller, LaToya Burns Vaughn - Children and Youth Services Review, 31 Jan 2018

This brief documents the evaluation of an online training for Citizen Review Panel (CRP) members in one southeastern state in the United States.

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The effectiveness of social work services for families whose children are in temporary custody

R. Bardauskiene and J. Pivoriene - 6th International Interdisciplinary Scientific Conference SOCIETY. HEALTH. WELFARE, 31 Jan 2018

The article aims to uncover what hinders social workers to carry out effective work in providing social services for families whose children are in temporary custody.

Social work, poverty, and child welfare interventions

Kate Morris, Will Mason, Paul Bywaters, Brid Featherstone, Brigid Daniel, Geraldine Brady, Lisa Bunting, Jade Hooper, Nughmana Mirza, Jonathan Scourfield, Calum Webb - Child & Family Social Work, 17 Jan 2018

This article, based on a unique mixed‐methods study of social work interventions in the UK and the influence of poverty, highlights a narrative from practitioners that argues that, as many poor families do not harm their children, it is stigmatizing to discuss a link between poverty and child abuse and neglect.

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