They say, “Talk is cheap,” and for years, the industry has talked about the shifts we need to make to “get upstream,” but are we doing what’s needed? The answer should be evidenced by better outcomes, right? And yet, it still seems the actions don’t match all the talk. To be clear, I’m in no way criticizing the profession I chose, the intentions of its leaders, and certainly not the dedicated workers on the front lines. In fact, the SHIFT is very much about the workforce in that they’re key stakeholders, second only to the families we’re entrusted to serve, so it’s essential to approach the way forward from the workforce lens. It’s difficult to create meaningful and sustainable change and ultimately transform child welfare if our workers are an afterthought. Getting upstream starts with our front-line workers and how we prepare them for the life-changing work they do.
It starts with the workforce (but it’s not solely on them)
Transformation begins with the business (program) side. I’m not talking about a “top-down” approach either; it must be an “all in,” with clear, common, and collaborative goals benefiting all, yet emphasizing the most essential – in this case, our workers toiling in the trenches daily. At a high level, child welfare initiatives aim to improve service delivery and, in turn, improve outcomes through strengthened competencies and practices. While it’s not solely a program’s responsibility (or capability) to bring transformative plans to fruition, the child welfare workforce will play a pivotal role in effecting meaningful change. If we intend to go from talk to action, we need a groundswell effort with common, clear goals and rolled-up sleeves in partnerships with shared responsibilities. We need collaboration…not an “us versus them” mentality, but all of us for all of them. In a later blog post, I’ll dig into the full ecosystem needed to support transformation. For now, let’s take a closer look at the workforce.
We know what’s not working
We know caseloads are too high and workloads are too cumbersome to enable deep engagement and adequate time to partner with families. Yet, we continually expect caseworkers to do all the things. In return, we pile on more and make promises to enhance their practices and create efficiencies in their daily activities by giving them the new and improved tools to make it all possible. Promises amount to nothing more than chatter when they don’t come through, leaving workers more frustrated and less hopeful about their ability to do the job and make a difference.
It’s time we all put our money and mission where our mouth is and do something – well, something different. These are not the same things we’ve tried a million times, like implementing a new, often reactive procedure with varied interpretations and applications. I’m also not talking about throwing more training at them, at least not training that only serves to communicate those new/reactive procedures. Didactic, “do it like this” training feels more like “because we said so” logic than meaningful practice innovation. In fact, many efforts have proved relatively futile rather than improving workers’ lives. We’re nearing what feels like a thirty-year identity crisis in child welfare, and it’s contributing to a mass exodus from the child welfare field. It’s time to fundamentally change how we prepare social workers before they enter the field and how we support them once there.
Addressing the workforce crisis
From coast to coast, there are headlines about insufficient staffing at child welfare agencies and the dire state of programs nationwide. It’s no wonder there’s such a shortage: a career in child welfare is demanding, working conditions are incredibly challenging, mentorship and supervision are limited, technology is disjointed and obsolete, and many of the new, ‘promising’ systems lack the innovation intended with Comprehensive Child Welfare Information System (CCWIS). These factors alone lead to burnout and high turnover, a snowball effect for programs, remaining workers, and families – at this point, it’s a full-fledged avalanche. However, we must understand some underlying factors impacting the workforce to tackle workforce instability. Obviously, many other challenges contribute to the dwindling workforce in social work/helping professions in the United States. Still, I believe leveraging innovation in their learning and training opportunities could significantly stabilize the current workforce, stop the bleeding…and attract people to the profession.
Plain and simple, people must want to be a social worker. Before accepting that first casework job, they must seek out, enroll, and complete educational programs geared toward human services. The goal of universities, other learning institutions, and public sector programs must be to better prepare future social workers by addressing their learning needs holistically and hopefully thwarting the shortage by regenerating stability.
This includes:
Practical hands-on education: Despite their best intentions, many educational programs that prepare future social workers are highly theoretical. Aspiring social workers will learn all about family systems theory, generational trauma, harm reduction, and various other models. These theories are crucial to foundational understanding but do little to adequately prepare social workers for the realities they will face with their first knock on a door. Translating theory into practice is a vital component of educating our future workforce. However, this must be done through experiential learning and case simulations. They need tangible examples to practice, gain feedback, and practice again…and again. Letting them dip a toe in the pool is a good way of gauging whether the professional path is right for them. If they’re going to bail, it’s better to happen before spending more time and money on costly education or before taking a job and quitting soon after. And when they know what to expect and have the tools and training to handle it, I think they’d be far less likely to bail later.
Use technology to help tell the story: We are a digital culture. Although the sentiments about technology are mixed with promise and pain, technology isn’t going away. It seems trite to message this in 2024 when many don’t think twice about doing Target pick-ups or online grocery shopping. Admittedly, I never fathomed it, but my improved process for errand-running evolved to where I rarely go inside stores. We need this same evolution in education, where future professionals learn their respective disciplines, practice learned skills and theories, and document their simulated work using technology tools that mimic what they will encounter in the field. There are many wins here: first, immersing technology in classrooms provides authentic feedback about design and functionality and engages students collaboratively. Second, this puts the proverbial cherry on the sundae. If experiential/simulated learning is the gold standard, technology is the cherry on top. (Or whatever topping suits you…I personally think those cherries are gross…)
Improved on-the-job training: In addition to what’s often a chaotic onboarding experience, initial/entry training and support activities generally lack substance. From frantic ‘baptism by fire’ approaches, a shortage of consistent and quality supervision, the unavailability of team/peer mentorship, and other common gaps, there is much room for advancing workforce development models inside the public sector. Right off the bat, one common challenge is not giving new workers enough time to absorb everything they will learn before sending them out into the field, followed by continuous learning opportunities that don’t exist or workers don’t have the time to pursue.
We get it: programs desperately need resources. So much so that caseloads are often assigned before workers have barely learned where the bathrooms are located. New workers may be fresh and ready to tackle the world, but it is a massive disservice when they’re pushed from the nest too soon. There are potential worker safety concerns if expectations and awareness don’t match on-the-job realities. Not to mention the impact on families when their caseworker isn’t ready for them.
You might have guessed I’d also put in a plug for hands-on learning here. The points made about pre-employment learning also apply to public programs. Staff development training must be experiential to unpack and practice what’s learned. Workers also need ample time to engage in available training and development opportunities. We may never crack the workload/caseload time issues entirely, but training that interrupts their day-to-day responsibilities ought to be worthwhile. Otherwise, we are just adding more to an already full plate.
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