| |
CWLA 2008 Children's Legislative Agenda
Child Welfare Workforce and Training
© Child Welfare League of America. The content of these publications may not be reproduced in any way, including posting on the Internet, without the permission of CWLA. For permission to use material from CWLA's website or publications, contact us using our website assistance form.
Action
- Pass and fund legislation in the Higher Education
Reauthorization to provide funding that forgives
educational loans to students who become child welfare
workers.
- Pass the legislation, H.R. 2314, to expand access to Title
IV-E federal training funds so they support the training of
all staff who are working with children and families
brought to the child welfare system's attention, including
staff of private agencies.
- Allow Title IV-E federal training funds to be used to provide
training related to all activities that help promote
safety, permanence, and well-being for children in the
child welfare system, and not be restricted to only foster
care and adoption activities, as is the case in some regions
of the federal Department of Health and Human Services.
- Support proposals that provide incentives, bonuses, and
increased funding for states that meet or exceed national
child welfare caseload standards and expand the new
workforce initiative funds, added to the Promoting Safe
and Stable Families (PSSF) program.
- Support a national child welfare workload study that
will assess and evaluate the impact of the workforce on
outcomes for children and families in child welfare.
Background
A quality child welfare workforce is essential to promoting
good outcomes for children in the child welfare system. No
issue has a greater effect on the child welfare system's
capacity to serve at-risk and vulnerable children and families
than the shortage of a competent, stable workforce.
This shortage affects agencies in every service field,
including foster care, adoption, child protective services,
child and youth care, social work, and support and supervision.
The timely review of child abuse complaints, the
monitoring and case management of children in foster care,
the recruitment of qualified adoptive and foster families,
and the management and updating of a modern, effective
data collection system all depend on a fully staffed and
qualified child welfare workforce.
Child welfare work is labor intensive. Workers must
engage families face-to-face, assess children's safety and
well-being through physical visits, monitor progress, see
that families receive essential services and supports, help
with problems that develop, and fulfill data collection and
reporting requirements.
- A comprehensive child welfare system cannot be maintained
if the foundation of the workforce is crumbling. The
CWLA Standards of Excellence For Services For Abused
and Neglected Children and Their Families stipulate that
the ideal caseload for child protection workers should not
exceed more than 12 to 15 cases. 1 Workers frequently have
caseloads that are two, three, or even four times what
good practice demands. The result is little time for training
new hires, and no time for ongoing training. And
supervision, although necessary, is often limited. These
factors and more, including concerns about worker safety,
create a workplace with high turnover and limited appeal
when recruiting.
The U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) documented
this crisis in the child welfare workforce, finding that the
child welfare system is seriously understaffed, undertrained,
and undervalued. The GAO found that these workforce
problems limit states' ability to meet the goals established
in the federally mandated Child and Family Service Reviews
(CFSRs), and stated that the analysis of the CFSRs "corroborates
caseworkers' experiences showing that staff shortages,
high caseloads, and worker turnover were factors
impeding progress toward the achievement of federal safety
and permanency outcomes." 2
CFSRs and the resulting state Program Improvement
Plans (PIPs) present a clear picture of how workforce
issues affect outcomes for children. Through this process,
the federal government has found that states need additional
workforce supports for making the improvements necessary
to meet the needs of children and families. Most PIPs
submitted to the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services (HHS) have addressed states' needs to improve
workforce training, reduce caseloads, improve management,
and provide better supervision.
Loan Forgiveness
As Congress resumes work on reauthorizing the Higher
Education Act, legislative language has been put forward
that allows a person who has a degree in social work or a
related field and is employed by a public or private child
welfare agency to get a part of their college education loan
forgiven. For each year of work, $2,000 may be forgiven, up
to a maximum of $10,000 over a five-year period. This proposed
language should be approved and funding should be
provided to implement this reform.
Loan forgiveness is an important step in addressing the
shortage of child welfare workers. This provision will provide
incentives for more caseworkers to work in the child
welfare field and help reduce turnover and caseloads. We
believe the building block to improving our child welfare
system is a strong child welfare workforce.
Amending Title I-V for Training Funds
On May 15, 2007, Rep. Jerry Weller (R-IL) introduced legislation,
H.R. 2314, to amend Title I-V to allow private child
welfare agencies access to training funds.
Increased training resources and opportunities is one
way to improve the child welfare workforce. The major federal
child welfare programs include some support for training.
Training under Title IV-E of the Social Security Act, an entitlement
program, is the largest and most important of these.
Title IV-E training allows states to claim a 75% federal
match for allowable training of state and local agency staff,
and current and prospective foster and adoptive parents.
Improvements and clarifications to the Title IV-E training
program are necessary to improve child welfare practice
and outcomes for children. HHS has given inconsistent
directions to states about the use of Title IV-E training funds
and, as a result, states differ considerably on how they
expend the funds.
Title IV-E training should be extended to additional staff
working with children in the child welfare system, including
staff of private state-licensed or state-approved child welfare
agencies that provide services or care to foster and
adopted children and children with guardians.
In addition, the purposes of the Title IV-E training need
to be clarified. Current law refers to training foster or adoptive
parents and group care staff to increase their ability to
support children in foster care and adopted children.
Change is needed that will allow eligible training to include
any training intended to help states meet federal goals of
safety, permanence, and well-being for children.
The current Title IV-E requirement that training expenditures
be allocated in proportion to the percent of a state's
caseload that is eligible for federal Title IV-E Foster Care
assistance should be eliminated. This would allow states to
use training funds for staff that are working with all children
and families in the child welfare system to help them
achieve safety, permanence, and well-being.
Some recent child welfare financing reform proposals
would cap and combine these training funds with administration
funds and create a block grant that states could use
to provide services, cover administrative expenses, and supply
training. Under these proposals, however, no funding
would be designated for training-forcing workforce training
to specifically compete for funding with other vital child
welfare needs.
Caseload and Workload Standards
Recommendations
Findings of the federal CFSRs show that more positive outcomes
are reached when child welfare workers have more
contact with the children and families they serve. Despite
such findings, and the clear connection between caseloads
and workloads, service effectiveness, and caseworker retention,
only limited efforts have occurred to ensure appropriate
caseload sizes and to develop national workload standards.
Child welfare agencies continue to experience high levels
of caseworker turnover, resulting in repeated changes of
caseworkers for children and families, a lack of continuity in
services and planning, and poor outcomes for children and
families. As a consequence, reducing caseworker turnover is
now viewed as critical to child welfare workforce improvement.
Related to workforce retention is the need to address
caseloads (the number of clients for whom caseworkers
have responsibility) and workloads (the amount of time
required to perform the range of tasks assigned to a caseworker).
Appropriate caseloads and workloads are essential
for strengthening the child welfare workforce. Although
many jurisdictions have conducted caseload and workload
assessments through time and travel studies (Allegheny
County in Pennsylvania, the state of Arizona, and counties
in South Dakota, for example), and some have developed
caseload-weighting formulas and caseload allocation systems
(New Mexico and Oregon, for example), these efforts
are not national in scope.
One element of a national strategy to enhance the child
welfare workforce is offering incentives, bonuses, or higher
federal reimbursements to child welfare programs that
achieve national caseload standards. To reach this goal,
states need new resources to ensure appropriate caseload
standards, reduce caseworker turnover, and guarantee the
appropriate credentials, training, and supervision of the
child welfare workforce. CWLA has long recognized national
caseload standards based on the type, category, and work
required of the caseworker. Many states and local child
welfare systems use CWLA standards as the basis for model
legislation and policy.
Changes to the Promoting Safe and Stable
Families Program
As a result of the PSSF (P.L. 109-280) program reauthorization
in 2006, a limited amount of funding is now given to
states for workforce initiatives. To receive these dollars,
each state must provide evidence that each child in foster
care is visited at least monthly. States that cannot immediately
meet this standard must negotiate and establish
benchmarks or goals with HHS. If a state reaches its benchmark,
it will receive its share of federal funds targeted to
this program. For FY 2006, $40 million was designated for
this workforce initiative. States can draw down and carry
over these federal dollars for up to three federal fiscal
years. In 2008, $5 million is provided to the states and the
District of Columbia; in 2009, funding is $10 million; in
both 2010 and 2011, funding is $20 million each year.
These funds can be used to promote workforce development
and retention. When spread across 50 states and with each
state guaranteed a minimum of $70,000, the funding will
not go far. The greater significance may be that funds are
set-aside specifically to address workforce issues in the
child welfare field.
Key Facts
- Between January 1, 2002 and January 1, 2003, the average
turnover rate in private agencies was 45% for casework
and case management positions, 57% for residential
and youth care positions, and 44% for supervisors. 3
- Between October 2000 and March 2001, the average
turnover rate in private agencies was 36% for direct
service staff and 38% for supervisors. 4
- Between October 2000 and March 2001, the average
turnover rate in public agencies was 20% for direct service
staff and 8% for supervisors. 5
- Between October 2000 and March 2001, private nonprofit
agencies reported an average supervisory turnover
rate of 38%, compared with 8% for public agencies. 6
- In a 2003 GAO study, one-third of the 27 states reviewed
cited workforce issues as a barrier to caseworkers' ability
to diligently provide services for families to protect
children in the home and prevent removal. 7
- One-third of the states in the GAO study reported that
workforce issues made finalizing adoptions in an appropriate
and timely manner difficult for caseworkers. 8
- Twelve states in the GAO report indicated they had problems
with their caseworkers adequately monitoring safety
and well-being through frequent visits with children,
focusing on case planning, service delivery, and reaching
goals for the family. 9
- Social work education, supportive supervision, and job
flexibility are associated with better work performance
and higher retention rates. 10
- Less than one-third of staff employed in public child welfare
agencies have a formal social work education. 11
- The poor image of child welfare agencies has an adverse
effect on morale and retention of qualified employees. 12
- The GAO reported in 2006 that state agencies identified
three primary challenges that must be addressed to
improve outcomes for children under their supervision:
providing an adequate level of services for children and
families, recruiting and retaining caseworkers, and finding
appropriate homes for children. 13
- The GAO reported in 2006 that more than half of the
states reported dissatisfaction with the average number of
cases per worker, administrative responsibilities of caseworkers,
and effectiveness of caseworker supervision. 14
- Child welfare officials in 35 states interviewed by the
GAO reported having trouble recruiting and retaining
caseworkers because many caseworkers are overwhelmed
by large caseloads. 15
Sources
- Child Welfare League of America. (1999). CWLA standards of excellence for services for abused or neglected children and their families. Washington, DC: Author. back
- U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO). (2003). HHS could play a greater role in helping child welfare agencies recruit and retain staff. (GAO-03-357). Available online. Washington, DC: Author. back
- Drais-Parrillo, A. (2003). 2003 salary study. Washington, DC: CWLA Press. back
- Drais-Parrillo, A. (2001). 2001 salary study. Washington, DC: CWLA Press. back
- Ibid. back
- Ibid. back
- GAO, HHS could play a greater role in helping child welfare agencies recruit and retain staff. back
- Ibid. back
- Ibid. back
- Child Welfare League of America, Research to Practice Initiative. (2002, September). Child welfare workforce. Research Roundup. Available online. Washington, DC: Author. back
- Ibid. back
- Ibid. back
- U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO). (2006). Child welfare: Improving social service program training and technical assistance information would help address long-standing service-level and workforce challenges. (GAO-07-75). Available online. Washington, DC: Author. back
- Ibid. back
- Ibid. back
CWLA Contact
Tim Briceland-Betts
703/412-2407
 Back to Top  Printer-friendly Page  Contact Us
|
|
