National Child Welfare Workforce Institute

Who We Are

The purpose of the National Child Welfare Workforce Institute (NCWWI) is to build the capacity of the nation’s child welfare workforce and improve outcomes for children and families through activities that support the development of skilled child welfare leaders in public, private, and Tribal child welfare systems. The NCWWI also serves as a workforce resource to other members of the T&TA Network.

NCWWI staff include faculty from social work schools at eight universities around the country that were funded by the Children's Bureau in 2003 as grantees for "Developing Models of Effective Child Welfare Staff Recruitment and Retention Training." The eight grantees established collaborative working relationships during their 5-year projects, and this partnership has been carried over to the NCWWI. Leading the effort is the University at Albany, State University of New York, which is joined by the University of Denver, Fordham University, University of Iowa, Michigan State University, University of Michigan, University of North Carolina, and University of Southern Maine. They are joined by the National Indian Child Welfare Association, which brings expertise in Tribal issues.

Background

In 2003, a General Accounting Office study, citing interviews and CFSR findings, reported that high turnover and staffing shortages in the child welfare workforce increased the workload burden on remaining caseworkers. Consequently, this greater burden resulted in delayed maltreatment investigations, fewer worker visits with children and their families, limited opportunities for building relationships, and hastened decision-making that affected systems’ abilities to ensure the safety and placement stability of children served.

In response, the Children's Bureau has developed and supported child welfare training initiatives and other discretionary programs to promote the development and dissemination of promising and proven approaches to workforce problems. Building the capacity of child welfare systems to effectively recruit, train, supervise, manage, support, and retain the workforce of child welfare professionals has become one of the Children’s Bureau’s critical strategies for systemic change.

Roles and Responsibilities

The NCWWI will undertake a broad range of activities to promote effective child welfare practice and support leadership development, skill-building, and growth. Delivery of child welfare leadership training curricula, facilitation of a national peer network of child welfare leaders, strategic dissemination of effective and promising workforce practices, administration of subgrants to colleges and universities for child welfare professional education stipend programs, and an extensive evaluation are critical components. The NCWWI will advance Federal priorities while supporting training systems and workforce initiatives at the State and national levels.

Specifically, the NCWWI’s responsibilities fall under eight categories:

Convening a National Child Welfare Workforce Institute Advisory Committee
Conducting activities related to knowledge management and assessment, including identifying best practices in workforce development, leadership, and cultural competence and developing training curricula
Providing national leadership training for middle managers and distance learning opportunities for supervisors
Funding and monitoring subgrants for M.S.W. and B.S.W. traineeships in child welfare
Coordinating peer networking around workforce and leadership issues
Collaborating with the Children’s Bureau and the T&TA Network to be a resource on workforce issues, and partnering with Regional Offices and State and Tribal child welfare agencies to implement NCWWI activities
Disseminating evidence-based, effective, and promising workforce practices
Evaluating NCWWI activities, as well as activities of the M.S.W. and B.S.W. traineeships and the five Comprehensive Workforce Grants

For More Information

Address:	NCWWI, Mary McCarthy, Co-Principal Investigator School of Social Work University at Albany 114 Richardson Hall 135 Western Avenue Albany, NY 12222
Website:	http://www.ncwwi.org/
Contact:	Nancy Dickinson, Project Director ndickins@email.unc.edu 919.962.6407

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