Historically, the child welfare “workforce” has included people employed by public child welfare agencies and staff working for contracted providers and partner organizations. CWLA’s National Blueprint for Excellence in Child Welfare defines workforce in a broader context, including anyone whose efforts contribute to the well-being of children and youth in some way.

This includes individuals in paid positions of any kind (salaried, wages, or stipends), volunteers who are unpaid, and interns who are engaged in any aspect of services or supports to children, youth, and their families. The workforce also includes individuals in a broad range of disciplines, in addition to social work, who represents a range of personal experiences with services and supports.

National Blueprint Guiding Principle – The workforce consists of people with a variety of experiences who are competent and skilled and represent various disciplines. They are committed to high-quality service delivery and are provided with the training, tools, resources, and support necessary to perform their roles effectively.

Focus areas include:

• Caseload & Workload
• Worker Safety
• Supervision
• Emerging Leaders