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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Social workers' views on community involvement in child protection work in Italy

Luca Fazzi - Child & Family Social Work, 2018

The article presents the results of an empirical pilot study carried out on a sample of 24 child protection social workers employed in four public agencies in Italy.

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Llamado a la acción: Fortalecimiento de la fuerza laboral del servicio social para proteger mejor a la niñez y lograr los ODS

Global Social Service Workforce Alliance & Partners, 2018

Este llamado pide a los gobiernos nacionales y locales, en coordinación con socios nacionales y globales, fortalecer la fuerza laboral del servicio social para mejorar los resultados de protección, salud y bienestar para niños, niñas, jóvenes, familias y comunidades como se describe en los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible.

Promoting the Social Inclusion of Migrant Children and Young People: The duty of social services

Valentina Guerra, David Brindle - The European Social Network, 2018

This report aims to address some common and key themes emerging from a questionnaire and in-person meeting to discuss the role of the social service workforce in the inclusion of migrant children and young people.

ARC Reflections Training Program

The Annie. E. Casey Foundation, 2018

Because foster parents play a critical role in supporting children in foster care, who often have experienced trauma, the Casey Foundation developed ARC Reflections, a nine-session program that child welfare agencies can use to train foster parents to better care for children who have had traumatic experiences.

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Talleres de Autocuido para servidores públicos en atención a la emergencia del volcán de fuego

Maria Angelina Oliva, 2018

Este informe se detalla la propuesta metodológica para otorgar espacios seguros para que los servidores públicos que han atendido a los damnificados por una tragedia en Guatemala puedan descargarse emocionalmente y poner en práctica técnicas de autocuido.

State of the Social Service Workforce in South Asia

UNICEF South Asia and Global Social Service Workforce Alliance, 2018

This report from UNICEF South Asia and Global Social Service Workforce Alliance provides information on the current status of the social service workforce in the eight countries in South Asia.

New Directions in Children’s Welfare

Sharon Pinkney, 2018

This book makes a distinctive contribution to reflections on what child-centred practice means in the complex area of child welfare.

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The role of the social worker in adoption – ethics and human rights: An Enquiry

Professor Brid Featherstone, Professor Anna Gupta, Sue Mills - BASW, 2018

This report presents the findings of a UK national Enquiry into the role of the social worker in adoption with a focus on ethics and human rights.

Rwanda Violence Against Children and Youth Survey: Findings from a National Survey, 2015-2016

Rwanda Ministry of Health (MOH), 2018

This report presents findings from the national Violence Against Children Survey (VACS), administered in Rwanda from 2015-2016, and lays out recommendations for addressing and preventing violence against children based on those findings.

Implicit Racial Bias 101: Exploring Implicit Bias in Child Protection

Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP) and the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race & Ethnicity, 2018

This online course on implicit bias was developed by the Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP) and the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race & Ethnicity to aid practitioners in understanding and addressing racial bias in the US child protection system.

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