Robin Leake

Using Simulation Training to Improve Culturally Responsive Child Welfare Practice

Child welfare professionals need to understand the complexities of the factors that influence parenting, values, and worldviews. Being able to work across cultures is critical to assessing safety, obtaining effective services, and creating permanent healthy families for children of color. The purpose of the project was to grapple with the challenge of increasing culturally responsive practice in a context of safety and permanency that is defined by American political and cultural values. The response to this challenge was a competency-based training program designed to enhance the effectiveness of child welfare practice with Latino families. A key feature of the training was a simulation to raise awareness and learning readiness through an experiential approach to learning. The simulation is the first component of a multi-faceted training curriculum aimed at the integration of culturally responsive practices in child welfare practice. The training series was part of a 3-year demonstration project funded by the Childrens Bureau (Washington, DC).

NCWWI Traineeships: A National Cross-Site Evaluation of Child Welfare Stipend Programs for Ethnically Diverse Students

The task of recruiting and retaining ethnically diverse, qualified, and committed social workers in child welfare is challenging. Federal funding supporting BSW and MSW education has been a catalyst for university–agency partnerships across the country. An important goal of these partnerships is to prepare social work students with the knowledge, skills, and competencies for effective child welfare practice. The National Child Welfare Workforce Institute’s innovative child welfare traineeships program prepares students from 12 social work programs around the country. This study focused on diversity, competency attainment, and readiness for the job. Results showed that programs recruited ethnically diverse students, and after receiving child welfare–specific content and hands-on experiences in the field, students felt competent and prepared for child welfare work.

Investing in the Child Welfare Workforce A Response to David Stoesz

Responding to David Stoesz’s invited article criticizing the Children’s Bureau and the National Child Welfare Workforce Institute (NCWWI), the author’s inaccurate assertions are challenged, and new information is provided about the significant work underway to support the child welfare workforce. The Children’s Bureau has made historic investments in workforce capacity building, which bring multiple universities, public, and tribal child welfare systems into a partnership designed to support a multilevel approach to workforce development. Information that counters the author’s spurious claims is provided with regard to the structure of NCWWI and the evaluation protocol being implemented.

A Deeper Look at Burnout in the Child Welfare Workforce

ABSTRACT Child welfare workers experience high levels of burnout, contributing to poor job performance and turnover. Using a sample of 2,302 child welfare case workers and supervisors from three states, this study (1) validates the use of the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory with child welfare workers and (2) examines sources and consequences of burnout in that population. Compared to client-related burnout, staff experienced higher levels of burnout related to agency-level factors. Work-related burnout was also more strongly associated with job stress, job dissatisfaction, and intent to leave than was client-related burnout. Suggestions are offered to help improve staff retention and reduce burnout.

Examining internal and external job resources in child welfare: Protecting against caseworker burnout

Given intense job demands, it is not surprising that job burnout is a consistent threat to the well-being and retention of the child welfare workforce. Guided by central postulates of the Job Demands and Resources (JD-R) model which suggests that job burnout develops because of experiences of high work demands coupled with low resources in the workplace, we applied a conceptual model of job burnout (client and work related) that accounts for both internal and external resources available to child welfare workers. Findings among child welfare caseworkers from three states (N = 1917) indicate that job demands (stress and time pressure) were positively related to client- and work-related burnout. Additionally, both internal and external resources moderated the relationships between job demands and client- and work-related burnout. Study findings have workforce management implications in the child welfare sector, including the role resources might play in mitigating the negative impact of job demands on burnout in the child welfare workforce.

Evaluating the Cultural Fit of an Approach for Practice Model Development for Tribal Child Welfare

Three American Indian tribes utilized Business Process Mapping (BPM) as a tool to develop culturally-based tribal child welfare practice models. This study employed a multi-methods design to evaluate the cultural fit of BPM when used in tribal settings. Findings indicated that although programs considered BPM a “mainstream” intervention, each still found the process to be an effective means of creating models reflecting child welfare practice within tribal cultural contexts. Findings further suggested that BPM can, however, benefit from examination of how it might better articulate cultural values and norms, as well as differences between tribal and mainstream child welfare approaches.

Expressions of Culture in American Indian/Alaska Native Tribal Child Welfare Work: A Qualitative Meta-Synthesis

This qualitative meta-synthesis of materials from three national projects that had examined more than 75 American Indian/Alaska Native child welfare programs sought to articulate how culture is expressed within tribal child protective services (CPS)work and to uncover whether there are cultural elements of tribal child welfare practice that are distinct from practice in non-tribal settings. Through the meta-synthesis, a framework emerged outlining a cultural approach to practice that incorporates: (a) a culturally-distinct definition of Native child well-being; (b) tribal values that form a foundation for practice; (c) practice intentions linking child protection with cultural and community health; and (d) two specialized worker skills.