Whenever I first talk to someone about the SHIFT needed in child welfare (as well as lot of other public services programs), most people agree that something needs to change in our current system. Most, however, focus on singular shifts: new technology, enhanced practice models or addressing workforce needs. And while each of these play a very important role in the SHIFT, they are just pieces of it.
Independently, we call them projects or initiatives. Another “thing” to roll out. You can practically hear the staff sentiment, “here we go again” and visualize their eye rolls as they batten down the hatches as if preparing for a massive storm. Whatever the ‘it’ is, it is happening to you [staff] and around you.
Unfortunately, this is often what it feels like in the trenches. The child welfare industry has done this for years, so many years, decades and decades, always with the notion that ‘this time’ will be different. And it is not exclusive to child welfare, human services, or even public sectors. Private, for-profit industries share common pitfalls, process woes, and failed projects or initiatives. Why? Because we zero in on pieces and parts, often so much so that we are heads down with blinders on for years doing that one thing. And what is worse, we tend to label our debacles as success, leaving staff wondering if the shuttle will ever land. Wash, rinse, repeat.
I am tired of pieces. I know you are too. I have often heard colleagues say, “you can only eat the elephant one bite at a time.” Ok, if you are planning to eat an elephant, that’s great advice. Of course, the saying, attributed to the remarkable Desmond Tutu, is about tackling complex and challenging tasks one step at a time, bit by bit. However, in the context of the SHIFT, I will introduce another way of looking at the elephant-eating task. Together, friends.
Collective Impact…what in the world does that mean? First, it means the elephant cannot be dealt with incrementally. Not in this case. We have to tackle that big boy all at once. And in this case, it has nothing to do with eating it. What we must do with the work at hand is take what we have and nurture it, build it up. We ALL have to roll up our sleeves and find our place in the solution. Those individual pieces will not get us where we need to go, and we have spent decades proving this. However, collectively, they present incredible possibilities.
In my last piece, Unlocking innovation in child welfare, I introduced the SHIFT in terms of three key elements. Developing the workforce, enhancing practice, and leveraging innovative technology. The SHIFT is all those things…and more. It is difficult to conceptualize because it’s a ginormous onion: so many dang layers.
Meaningful and Engaging Practices | ✅ |
Educating and Training the Workforce | ✅ |
Purposeful innovation and technology tools | ✅ |
Here's the MORE:
The SHIFT is about monumental change, on a national scale. It’s a mission, a movement, a call to action. It extends far beyond the social workers and agencies tasked with child welfare and reimagines the status quo to include a full ecosystem of programs, institutions, industries, and individuals working collaboratively to drive universal well-being. In this reimagined world, we’d reach a broader understanding of community involvement and implement an expanded approach to engaging communities.
The SHIFT begins with understanding the problems. Easy enough, right? At least there’s a consensus about what’s not working. Yet the tendency is to first , hyper-focus on the problems, and second , generalize the solutions, usually with more training, tighter policy, and newer tools. The SHIFT is not this. It’s different from what we’ve always done.
What makes the SHIFT different?
THIS NOT THAT
Evolutionary | Revolutionary |
Transformational | Transactional |
Wellness driven | Welfare focused |
People-centric | Policy-centric |
Community supported | Agency dependent |
Inclusive & collaborative | Exclusive and siloed |
Stories & journeys | Backgrounds & histories |
Partners & collaborators | Clients & service providers |
Authentic & relational | Guarded & disconnected |
Solution focused | Sales focused |
Business led | IT managed |
Data informed | Data driven |
One potential misconception that I want to immediately dispel is that the SHIFT is some brand-new concept. It’s not. As stated above, it’s evolutionary not revolutionary. So, it isn’t about throwing out all of the old ways of doing things or burning it all to the ground and starting from scratch. Instead, it’s about transformation: tweaking existing practices, adjusting perspectives, adopting new approaches, being open-minded, and, as I will continually crusade, creating the best possible outcomes for people and communities. Buckle up, we’ve got quite a journey ahead.
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