Siv Oltedal

An institutional comparison of child protection systems in Australia and Norway focused on workforce retention

By any standard, child protection work is a demanding field of social services work. Throughout much of the post-industrial world, child protection agencies face significant problems in recruiting and retaining front-line staff with the abilities required to undertake this often complex and stressful work. The capacity of these agencies to achieve their social policy objectives can be compromised by workforce instability. Despite a growing body of evidence about the contribution of local organisational and caseworker characteristics to workforce turnover, policy-makers face a dearth of information about how the broader institutional context of child protection systems contributes to challenges in workforce retention. This lack of evidence is notable given the varying rates of caseworker turnover observed internationally, particularly between social policy regimes where different institutional contexts shape workforce conditions. This article aims to contribute to the evidence base for improving workforce retention in child protection services through an institutional comparison of child protection systems in Queensland (Australia) and Norway. We analyse the role of the institutional conditions in shaping the nature and scope of child protection work, characteristics and responsibilities of caseworkers, and their financial remuneration for this work. We discuss how these institutional effects help to explain the differences in workforce turnover among child protection workers in Queensland and Norway.

Close but not too close. Distant but not too distant

In this explorative and comparative article a suitable social distance in the client-social worker relationship will be in focus. When do clients need a social worker “as if she is a friend” and when do they appreciate a professional “as if she is a stranger”? How does context have an impact on what we see as legitimate relationships? We will be listening to voices on these issues from poor single mothers and social workers in five countries – Australia, USA, Canada, Russia and Norway.