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REPORTS

Child Welfare

Promoting Child Welfare Workforce Improvements Through Federal Policy Changes, by the Children’s Defense Fund and Children’s Rights, Inc., February 2007.

This series of reports is the result of discussions among key child welfare organizations designed to examine the workforce challenges that impede efforts to meet critical child welfare outcomes, and to develop a set of federal policy recommendations to support workforce improvements.

Improving the Child Welfare Workforce: Lessons Learned from Class Action Litigation, by Children’s Rights and the National Center for Youth Law, February 2007.

In this paper, Children’s Rights and the National Center for Youth Law review numerous efforts to strengthen the child welfare workforce with a focus on litigation in twelve jurisdictions across the nation. In the child welfare field, reform has frequently been driven by class action litigation, which has served as a catalyst to enhance resources and address critical workforce issues.

Components of an Effective Child Welfare Workforce to Improve Outcomes for Children and Families, by the Children’s Defense Fund and Children’s Rights, August 2006.

This report is part of a project entitled “Promoting Child Welfare Workforce Improvements Through Policy Changes” undertaken by the Children’s Defense Fund and Children’s Rights. This report offers recommendations for areas of policy and practice focus and change designed to strengthen the child welfare workforce and subsequently improve outcomes for the vulnerable children and families these workers serve.

Child Welfare Workforce: Implications for the Private Nonprofit Sector, by the Alliance for Children and Families, June 2006

This paper identifies some of the major challenges facing the private agencies which are increasingly called upon to perform core child welfare functions. While the critical condition of the public child welfare system has received considerable attention, the situation in private agencies is rarely considered. Yet the private sector workforce faces challenges that are at least as difficult as those in the public sphere and can be unique to the private system. At the same time, private agencies are, together with their public partners, held accountable for better outcomes for children and families. This paper reports on the results of a conference session and focus group on private sector workforce issues.

Toward a High Quality Child Welfare Workforce: Six Doable Steps, by Susan Robison, April 2006.

This paper contains descriptions of a number of promising practices in use across the country to improve the working conditions and quality of the child welfare workforce. Taken together, these steps would go a long way towards helping today’s child welfare workers make a difference for vulnerable children and families.

Realistic Job Preview: A Review of the Literature and Recommendations for Michigan Family Independence Agency, by CPS Human Resource Services, February 2006.

Staff turnover plagues many human services agencies. It generates costs and inefficiencies and can impact the quality of services provided. Too often, staff turnover within a year or two of being hired – frequently because they did not understand the nature of the work when they first applied. In this paper CPS Human Resources describes how “realistic job previews” can help agencies and applicants avoid misunderstanding and screen out candidates whose interests and preferences lie elsewhere.

Tomorrow’s Vacancies, Today’s Priority: Michigan Family Independence Agency’s Centrally Coordinated Hiring Pool, by CPS Human Resource Services, February 2006.

In this paper CPS Human Resources reports on innovative recruitment methods employed by Michigan’s Family Independence Agency (FIA). Employing a centrally coordinated hiring pool and other methods allowed FIA to fill positions more rapidly, decrease vacancies rates and by some measures improve the quality of staff hired.

The Relationship Between Staff Turnover, Child Welfare System Functioning and Recent Child Abuse, by the National Council on Crime and Delinquency, February 2006.

This study points to system issues that are related to better agency functioning and reduced child maltreatment and that can be impacted by policy makers and administrators. These important change points are: increasing the salaries of child welfare workers and supervisors, not allowing or expecting overtime, not requiring “on-call” work, and focusing on the completion of written and approved case plans.

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Exploring the Effect of Juvenile Justice System Functioning and Employee Turnover on Recidivism Rates, by the National Council on Crime and Dependency, February 2006.

The costs for providing juvenile justice services are skyrocketing and some of the causes are high staff turnover, high detention rates, and a large percentage of youth cycling back through the system. If agencies can successfully reduce turnover and create the necessary support for officers and juveniles alike, we believe they can eventually reduce costs by reducing recidivism and the need for excessive new hiring and training of officers.

Child Care

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The Early Care and Education Teaching Workforce: At the Fulcrum, by the National Center for Children and Families, Teachers College, Columbia University, December 2006.

This paper focuses on the nearly five million individuals responsible for caring for and educating the almost two-thirds of America’s children under the age of five who spend time in non-parental care. It describes what is known about this workforce, and calls for a series of bold changes that would transform the early care and education workforce.

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Staffing Practices of High-Quality After-School Programs, by The After-School Corporation, November 2007.

Summary: In this report, The After-School Corporation describes the findings from a study of 20 after-school programs of varying quality and performance in New York City. The survey results, coupled with interviews, are used to explore organizational features such as hiring, compensation, training and supervision, that contribute to program practices. A number of differences emerged between the strong and weak after-school programs, which can offer guidance to program managers about improving organizational practices.

The Results of the Lowcountry ABC Youth Director Survey: Highlights,“Community,” by Community Foundation of the Lowcountry, March 2007.

This report provides a snapshot of the characteristics of directors and programs serving children and youth in the Lowcountry of South Carolina during out-of-school time. Using a survey developed by the Next Generation Youth Work Coalition to determine the characteristics of the youth workforce, the supports provided to these workers, and changes that might improve their employment experiences and increase the stability of the overall workforce, the results add to our knowledge of child-serving professionals in largerly rural areas.

Putting Youth Work on the Map, by The Forum for Youth Investment on behalf of The Next Generation Youth Work Coalition, November 2006.

This report paints the most comprehensive portrait to date of the estimated 3 million youth workers in the United States. Based on findings from two major studies conducted of more than 5,000 youth workers across the nation, this report illustrates the challenges and aspirations of these critical, but often overlooked workers.

Understanding the Afterschool Workforce: Opportunities and Challenges for an Emerging Profession, by the National AfterSchool Association, November 2006.

In this report, the National AfterSchool Association summarizes the results of its survey of afterschool workers, providing a detailed description of the workforce. These data, along with information from the Next Gen survey of youth workers, provides the most comprehensive illustration to date of the youth development workforce: who they are, what types of organizations employ them, and how - and if - they are supported by these organizations. Based on the results of these surveys, NAA suggests both policy and practice oriented strategies designed to strengthen the afterschool field.

Finding our Strength: Boston’s Youth Worker Survey Findings, by Achieve Boston on behalf of the Next Generation Youth Coalition, October 2006.

One of a series of briefs to be produced by the Next Generation Youth Work Coalition on the topic of the youth workforce, this report details the findings of a survey of 316 youth workers in Boston. The report describes who these youth workers are, what their level of education is, what types of supports their organizations provide, their job mobility and job satisfaction, and other characteristics which begin to draft a portrait of what this workforce looks like.

Voices and Choices: Illinois Youth Work Professionals Discuss Opportunities, Challenges, and Options for the Profession, by for Forum for Youth Investment on behalf of the Next Generation Youth Coalition, October 2006.

This report is one of a series of briefs being produced by the Next Generation Youth Work Coalition about the youth workforce. This brief summarizes themes from eight focus groups conducted among 83 Illinois youth workers from both urban and rural locations around the state. Questions asked, and addressed, include the motivation for entering this workforce, youth work preparation, what workers need to feel supported, career challenges, and factors influencing decisions to stay in, or leave, the field.

Growing the Next Generation of Youth Work Professionals: Workforce Opportunities and Challenges, by the Forum for Youth Investment, August 2006.

In this paper, the Forum for Youth Investment provides a detailed and nuanced description of youth work professionals, based on a survey of youth workers and program directors in eight cities and focus groups conducted among youth workers. This data helps to provide the most complete description available of this workforce, and to suggest policy and practice strategies that will strengthen the field of youth work.

Capturing Promising Practices, by the National Collaboration for Youth, June 2006.

In this paper, the National Collaboration for Youth reports on the findings of its investigation into best practices in the recruitment and retention of youth workers. Based on surveys, interviews, a symposium and on the input of an advisory group of experts, the report describes a variety of practical and effective strategies currently in use by a number of local organizations that serve youth.

Setting the Stage for a Youth Development Associate Credential, by the National Institute on Out-of-School Time, June 2006.

This paper reviews efforts to create professional and career development systems in the field of youth work. The report describes evidence of the value of credentialing programs in enhancing the workforce and improving the quality of programs and positive outcomes for youth. The report additionally includes information from the field of early care and education, which has considerable experience with professional development through credentials that provides valuable lessons for the field of youth work.

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Through a Kaleidoscope: How the Evolving Field of Workforce Development Impacts the Experiences of Frontline Workers in Three Cities, by Public/Private Ventures, November 2007.

In this paper, Public/Private Ventures reports on a study of workforce development workers in three different cities: Philadelphia, Houston and San Jose. The report identifies workers' positions, salaries, duties and experiences; the range of workforce institutions and approaches; the challenges each organization faces in recruiting and retaining qualified staff; and the frontline workers' access to, and need for, training. The report offers recommendations for supporting the continuing education and professional development of existing frontline workers and strategies for attracting new talent to the field.

The Organizational Effectiveness Institute: Building the 21st Century Workforce, by American Public Human Services Association, August 2007.

The American Public Human Services Association created and implemented a multi-session Workforce Development Institute designed to assist agencies in putting promising workforce approaches into practice. This report describes the lessons learned during the process of engaging and training human services administrators in effecting change in the workforce functions of their organizations.

Reforming the Human Services Workforce: The Essential Role of Life-Experienced Workers, by Children and Family Futures, February 2007.

In this paper, Children and Family Futures examines the differing contributions that professional preperation and formal credentials bring to the human services workforce, in contrast to the value of direct, personal experiences possessed by life-experienced workers. The paper explores the benefits of each.

The Workforce Partnership: Human Services and Human Resources, by CPS Human Resource Services, June 2006.

In this paper, CPS Human Resource Services describes the role that human services can play in improving the quality and working conditions of frontline human services staff. The report provides case studies of three human services departments and outlines best practices these agencies share in developing human services/human resources partnerships and working to improve their workforces.

What Counts? A Report on Workforce Planning Data used by the Nation’s Ten Largest Human Service Agencies, by CPS Human Resource Services, February 2006.

In this paper CPS Human Resources documents that most human services agencies, even the largest and most sophisticated, know very little about their staff or about the workforce related trends in their organizations. We believe developing a broad data system, one that includes information systems and garners input from staff through exit interviews, focus groups and other means is a necessary prerequisite to effectively addressing the workforce needs of a human services agency or system.

Performance Pays: Hamilton County, Ohio Department of Job and Family Services Pay for Performance Program, by CPS Human Resource Services, February 2006.

In this paper CPS Human Resources describes how Hamilton County, Ohio worked with staff and its bargaining unit to design and implement a pay for performance system. The system gave staff a clear understanding of agency expectations, a greater understanding about how their work aligns with federal standards and good practice, and rewarded high performing employees.

Job Turnover in Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice: The Voices of Former Frontline Workers, by the National Council on Crime and Delinquency, February 2006.

On a day-to-day basis, direct service providers in juvenile justice and child welfare face the unusual stresses of serving some of society’s most needy and helpless members, bridging the divide between the needs of their clients and the needs of the community or society, and all along navigating the cumbersome legal and social welfare systems. Yet it seems the reasons they leave their positions are not because of the inherent stress of the type of work they do. While stress certainly played a role, it seems there are organizational explanations – and possible solutions – for much of what drives them away; lack of opportunities for advancement, burdensome workloads, and lack of agency leadership and supervisory support.

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