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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Human Trafficking and Child Welfare: A Guide for Caseworkers

Child Welfare Information Gateway, 01 Jul 2017

This bulletin for professionals in the child welfare field explores how caseworkers can identify and support children who are victims of human trafficking as well as children who are at greater risk for future victimization.

Strengthening the Social Welfare Workforce to address Violence against Children in care

Jonna Karlsson - UNICEF, 23 Jun 2017

This UNICEF presentation describes the need for social service workforce strengthening in East and Southern Africa and presents recommendations based on a case example from Rwanda.

Minimum Standards on Comprehensive Services for Children and Young People in the East African Community

Rebecca Theuri & Isabel de Bruin Cardoso - Save the Children & Maestral International/East African Community, 22 Jun 2017

This presentation provides a background on the East African Community (EAC) Child Policy (2016) and describes the minimum standards and corresponding framework and strategies for providing services to children and young people within the East African Community.

Strengthening the care workforce in how to prevent and respond to VAC and care

Beatrice Ongalo – SOS Children’s Villages, 21 Jun 2017

This presentation describes the issue of violence against children in alternative care settings in East and Southern Africa and offers recommendations on how to strengthen the care workforce to ensure it is equipped to prevent and respond to violence against children in alternative care.

Case Management for Children Orphaned or Made Vulnerable by HIV (OVC)

4Children - Catholic Relief Services , 13 Jun 2017

This publication provides a description of 4Children's approach to case management for children orphaned or made vulnerable to HIV and their families.

From the ground up: Developing a national case management system for highly vulnerable children - An experience in Zimbabwe

N. Beth Bradford - Coordinating Comprehensive Care for Children (4Children), Catholic Relief Services, 01 Jun 2017

This case study describes the adaptation of a community-based case management model to a national case management framework for highly vulnerable children in Zimbabwe.

Building a User-Friendly and Government-Owned Case Management System for Highly Vulnerable Children: The Yekokeb Berhan Program Experience in Ethiopia

Kelley Bunkers & Suzanne Andrews - 4Children/CRS, 01 Jun 2017

This case study describes the coordinated care and case management system for highly vulnerable children and their caregivers implemented by the Yekokeb Berhan program in Ethiopia.

Thoughts on Public Policy to Expand Family-Based Care and Contract Institutional Care

Gary Newton - Child Abuse & Neglect, 01 Jun 2017

This paper highlights some of the challenges of reforming child care policy and offers recommendations to advance the political priority of care reform at the national level.

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4th Annual Global Social Service Workforce Alliance Symposium: Case Management and the Social Service Workforce (Video recording)

Social Service Workforce Alliance, 24 May 2017

The Global Social Service Workforce Alliance hosted its 4th Annual Symposium on May 24, 2017, in Washington, DC, and also via live webcast on the topic of case management and the social service workforce.

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Global Advocacy Toolkit for the Social Service Workforce

Global Social Service Workforce Alliance, WithoutViolence, 01 May 2017

The purpose of this Global Advocacy Toolkit is to provide advocates with a common set of tools and messages with which to bring about greater political and programmatic priority for strengthening the social service workforce.