Social Work Commons^™

Addressing The Disconnects Between Hr And Child Welfare, Michelle Graef, Maggie Thompson

QIC-Takes

When it comes to efforts to improve workforce outcomes, how would you describe the relationship between human resources (HR) and child welfare leadership in your agency? Is the working relationship collaborative or are the divisions siloed? Do child welfare and HR departments routinely share information, needs, data, and expertise? Is HR involved in child welfare workforce planning and decision making? These are just a few of the questions we have explored with child welfare agencies as part of our work at the QIC-WD. Overall, agency representatives have indicated that opportunities for increased collaboration exist between these departments and that closer …

Political Skill, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What is political skill?

Political skill refers to “the ability to effectively understand others at work, and to use such knowledge to influence others to act in ways that enhance one’s personal and/or organizational objectives” (Ahearn et al., 2004, p. 311). Unlike organizational politics, which involve selfserving and detrimental behavior, political skill involves positive, sincere, and effective influence (Ferris et al., 2005). The primary measure of political skill is the 18-item Political Skill Inventory, which assesses political skill through four factors: social astuteness, interpersonal influence, networking ability, and apparent sincerity. Example items from each factor, respectively, include “I always seem …

Learning Styles, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What are learning styles?

The concept of learning styles is the idea that people differ in the way that they learn best, and instructors should determine each trainee’s optimal style and then use training methods that match the trainee’s style (Pashler, 2009). There are dozens of different learning style classifications, including such styles or dimensions as visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and tactile modality preferences (Dunn & Greggs, 2003, cited in Coffield et al., 2004); concrete vs. abstract and sequential vs. random (Gregorc, 1982a, cited in Coffield et al., 2004); holistic vs. analytic and verbalizer vs. imager (Riding & Raynor, 1998, cited …

Trainee Reactions, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What are trainee reactions?

Trainee reactions refer to “subjective evaluations learners make about their training experiences” (Sitzmann et al., 2008, p. 280). Commonly referred to as “level 1” evaluations (e.g., Kirkpatrick, 1998), reactions are the most commonly used type of training evaluation and are measured with post-training surveys. Though measures are occasionally included in published research, there are no universal or even widely used measures. Instead, questions are developed by each organization or trainer based on their particular goals and interests. As a result, there is significant variation in what is measured. Originally, reactions referred only to how well a …

Compensation, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What is compensation?

For the purposes of this review, compensation is defined in two primary ways: a) pay and b) pay satisfaction. Pay refers to “the amount of money an individual receives for their job” (Rubenstein et al., 2017, p. 6). It is sometimes measured as the exact amount or in terms of pay levels (Judge et al., 2010). Pay satisfaction is about an employee’s feelings about their pay, either in general or in terms of more specific aspects. Depending on how it is measured, pay satisfaction often also includes feelings about benefits, which might be more appropriately called compensation …

Untapped Potential For Child Welfare Administrative Data, Dana Hollinshead

QIC-Takes

Although a lot of data are captured through child welfare management information systems, there is much we still need to learn about the experiences of children and families involved in child protective services, and especially why some fare better than others. This is especially true with respect to dynamics that may influence caseworkers’ decisions, actions, and case outcomes. For example, are there certain caseworkers or service providers who are more effective in engaging families? Is there something about the type or dosage of services that makes a difference? Which workers or supervisory units are more likely to place a child …

Worker Turnover Is A Persistent Child Welfare Challenge--So Is Measuring It, Megan Paul, Courtney Harrison, Jonathan Litt, Michelle Graef

QIC-Takes

Turnover and other workforce challenges for child welfare professionals have been the subject of attention for many years. Consider this statement from a study published by the Children’s Bureau in 1960, “Turnover of staff in social agencies has been a serious concern of agency administrators for at least the past 10 years. Repeatedly, at conferences and in the professional journals, the complaint has been heard that staff turnover (1) handicaps the agency in its efforts to provide effective social services for clients; (2) is costly and unproductively time consuming; and (3) is responsible for the weary cycle of recruitmentemployment-orientation-production-resignation …” …

Supervision In A Virtual Workplace, Cynthia F. Parry

QIC-Takes

Some agencies have increased their use of telework due to office closures, a desire to decrease their carbon footprint, or because of the pandemic. This can add stress on supervisors as they have to manage staff virtually. Remote supervision requires changes in communication (both styles and tools) which can result in staff feeling micromanaged or neglected. Navigating these and other issues have been difficult for many child welfare agencies. The QIC-WD sites, like other child welfare agencies around the country, pivoted to virtual supervision quickly due to the pandemic. Most supervisors were unprepared for managing a virtual workforce and are …

Research To Consider While Effectively Re-Designing Child Welfare Services: A Response To Commentaries, Jill Duerr Berrick, Richard P. Barth, Antonio R. Garcia, Brett Drake, Melissa Jonson-Reid, John Gyourko, Johanna K. P. Greeson

Department of Social Work - Faculty Scholarship

Barth et al. (2021) published an article in this journal identifying ten topics in the field of child welfare that are frequently discussed among professionals, advocates, and researchers in an effort to shape discussions of practice and policy reform. Concerned that these discussions are often poorly informed by the research evidence, Barth et al. intended to offer a corrective to these common, erroneous narratives. The Editor-in-Chief, Bruce Thyer, asked for suggestions for commentators and then invited some number of respondents to offer their perspectives on the original article. Here, we respond to each of the submitted papers, highlighting areas of …

Child Welfare Workers’ Development Of Cultural Competency For Clients In Poverty, Rachel Armstead

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Children of families living in poverty are at a higher risk of being victims of child maltreatment than children of families not living in poverty. Many families involved in the child welfare system live in poverty and have low socioeconomic status. The National Association of Social Workers requires all social workers to have a level of cultural awareness, knowledge, and skill to engage clients from diverse cultures. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore child welfare workers’ understanding of cultural competence and their implementation of culturally sensitive practices as they engage clients living in poverty. Bacote’s cultural competence …

Child Welfare: Workforce Retention, Competence, And The Connection To Social Work Education, Brittany Stanley

DSW Capstone Projects

While there are many avenues to discuss and explore, the key area of interest for the Capstone Project is that of retention of a competent frontline workforce. Each state has their own set of guidelines for hiring frontline workers which allows for variety in the educational backgrounds of the investigative and ongoing workers. This can become problematic when the educational background may not be the most suited for the work and challenges faced by child welfare workers.

During the development of the Capstone Project, one could not help but wonder that if workers were adequately prepared for the demands of …

Making The Most Of Program Evaluation Data: Understanding Human Services Professionals’ Well-Being Through Qualitative Secondary Analysis, Elizabeth Ann Deaton Wacker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Qualitative secondary analysis (QSA) allows researchers to explore new research questions and ensure that participants’ voices are heard to the greatest extent possible, without the burdens of additional data collection. However, this approach is rarely used outside of the health sciences, and little guidance exists in the literature about how to conduct QSA. This study is a secondary analysis of qualitative program evaluation data related to the well-being of human services professionals from two fields: child welfare and early care and education (ECE). It explores these professionals’ well-being, as well as the methodological issues of how well-being has been addressed …

The Perceptions And Practices Of Child Welfare Caseworkers And Decision-Making Related To Reunification, Sonja D. Ulrich

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The child welfare system exists to support safe and healthy families. When children cannot remain safely with family, they are removed and often placed with nonrelatives. Only half of all of the children removed from their homes achieve reunification. In the current study, research questions examined the perceptions of caseworkers in determining whether or when a child could reunify with their family of removal, and how the perceptions of the caseworker affected their practice regarding reunification. Using social learning theory as a framework, a caseworker’s decisions were viewed as a balance between their work environment and their personal perceptions. Following …

Workplace Incivility, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What is workplace incivility?

Workplace incivility refers to “low-intensity deviant behavior with ambiguous intent to harm the target, in violation of workplace norms for mutual respect. Uncivil behaviors are characteristically rude and discourteous, displaying a lack of regard for others” (Anderson & Pearson, 1999, p. 457). Though there is some conceptual and empirical overlap between incivility and ostracism, bullying, and abusive supervision, incivility is considered distinct (Yao et al., 2021). Incivility has been examined from the perspective of both the victim and the instigator, exploring factors related to being the target of incivility and factors related to engaging in uncivil …

Emotional Exhaustion Among Child Welfare Social Workers In Southern California: A Qualitative Study, Irma Mondragon

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore emotional exhaustion among child welfare social workers in Southern California. Most of the research studies on this area have been conducted outside the southern region of the Golden State. Through semi-structured interviews with 12 current and former child welfare social workers, this study found three major themes: (1) child welfare social workers suffer from a multifaceted form of emotional exhaustion; (2) child welfare social workers believe that the benefits of child welfare ultimately outweigh its costs, and (3) child welfare social workers use a variety of ways to cope with work-related emotional …

Behavior Modeling Training, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What is behavior modeling training?

Behavior modeling training (BMT) involves the following five steps: “(a) describing to trainees a set of well-defined behaviors (skills) to be learned, (b) providing a model or models displaying the effective use of those behaviors, (c) providing opportunities for trainees to practice using those behaviors, (d) providing feedback and social reinforcement to trainees following practice, and (e) taking steps to maximize the transfer of those behaviors to the job” (Taylor et al., 2005, p. 692). BMT can be used to train a variety of skills, from interpersonal skills like conflict management, interviewing, assertive communication, and …

Signaling In Training, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What is signaling?

In a learning environment, signaling refers to cues that direct learners’ attention to specific instructional content or that emphasize how the content is organized (van Gog, 2014). Signals can be verbal (oral or written) or visual (static or dynamic images or graphics). More commonly studied examples include:

signals in written materials: underlining, italics, bold, highlighting, outlines, headings, overviews, and summaries

signals in visual materials: arrows, circles, flashing, color coding, spotlighting (graying out some content), zooming in on key content, and gestures of pedagogical agents

When signals are used only in written text (i.e., without accompanying visuals), they …

Opportunities For Positive Youth Development: The Organized Activity Participation And Educational Outcomes Of Adolescents In Adopted, Foster, And Kinship Care, Ryan D. Heath, Keunhye Park, Sarah Faith Millward

Falk College Research Center

Purpose: Children who grow up outside the care of their biological parents – e.g., those in adoptive, foster, or kinship (AFK) care – experience poorer educational outcomes than their peers. However, the protective factors that could mitigate any risks of AFK care have received less attention. One understudied area is the participation of AFK youth in organized activities (e.g., extracurricular or afterschool programs).

Method: Drawing on nationally representative data from the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (n=16,197), this study used multilevel modeling to (1) examine the association of AFK care status with organized activity participation and …

"We Had To Rely On Each Other": Voices Of Latinx Foster Youth With Experiences In Care With Siblings, Isabella B. Ginsberg

PSU McNair Scholars Online Journal

Relationships between members of sibling groups have been found to impact well-being for children who enter foster care (Herrick & Piccus, 2005). Being placed in stranger foster care is often challenging and can be traumatic with children reporting confusion, worry, and loss of identity and sense of belonging (Herrick & Piccus, 2005, Unrau et al, 2008). While there is some research that explores the experiences of siblings groups in foster care and others separately that examines Latinx children in foster care, there is very little information that looks into the potentially unique experiences of Latinx individuals who were in care …

Self-Explanation In Training, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What is self-explanation?

Self-explanation is “a process by which learners generate inferences about causal connections or conceptual relationships” (Bisra et al., 2018). It involves pausing to think more deeply about instructional content, to better connect it with prior knowledge or to check for understanding. Self-explanations can be prompted (through specific instructions or questions) or unprompted (done spontaneously by a learner). Prompts can include instructions to explain, open-ended questions, or closed-ended questions such as multiple choice (Bisra et al., 2018). There is no one type of self-explanation. Examples include providing rationale for a decision or belief and explaining a concept, process, …

Time Management, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What is time management?

The definition of time management varies across disciplines, researchers, and practitioners. In the context of workplace research, one suggested definition is “behaviours that aim at achieving an effective use of time while performing certain goal-directed activities” (Claessens et al., 2007, p. 262). Another is “a form of decision making used by individuals to structure, protect, and adapt their time to changing conditions” (Aeon & Aguinis, 2017, p. 311). Most research on time management has used self-report measures; diaries and ratings by others (e.g., supervisors) are used much less frequently. Of the self-report measures, no one measure …

Leadership Training, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What is leadership training?

Leadership training is a broad term with no universal definition. For the purposes of this review, it refers to “programs that have been systematically designed to enhance leader knowledge, skills, abilities, and other components” and it includes “all forms of leader, managerial, and supervisory training/development programs and/or workshops” (Lacerenza et al., 2017, p. 1687). As with all training, leadership training can vary in many ways. Below are some of the more common aspects that have been empirically evaluated:

Needs analysis: whether a systematic process was used to identify training needs and design the training accordingly

Content: …

Conversational Style In Training, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What is conversational style?

Conversational style refers to a combination of stylistic strategies to personalize instructional text (oral or written) for learners. These include “the use of first and second rather than third person, directly addressing the reader, revealing [the author’s] personal beliefs, and/or using polite forms of address” (Ginns et al., 2013, p. 452). The following excerpts illustrate such styles:

“During inhaling, the [your] diaphragm moves down creating more space for the [your] lungs” (Mayer et al., 2004)

“Let me tell you what happens when lightning forms” (vs. just the scientific description; Moreno & Mayer, 2000)

“You are about …

Workplace Ostracism, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What is workplace ostracism?

Workplace ostracism is “the extent to which an individual perceives that he or she is ignored or excluded by others at work” (Ferris et al., 2008, p. 1348). The most popular measure is the 10item Workplace Ostracism Scale (Ferris et al., 2008). Example items include “others avoided you at work,” “others refused to talk to you at work,” and “others at work shut you out of the conversation.”

Why is workplace ostracism important?

Ostracism in the workplace is important because it is associated with an array of job attitudes, stress indicators, and behaviors. Specifically, ostracism is …

Workload, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What is workload?

There is no one, universally accepted definition of workload. A broad definition is that it is “an all-encompassing term that includes any variable reflecting the amount or difficulty of one’s work” (Bowling & Kirkendall, 2012, p. 222). Quantitative workload is the label for the amount of work done, and qualitative workload is the label for the difficulty of work (Bowling & Kirkendall, 2012). Further, there is a distinction between mental and physical workload and between objective and perceived workload (Bowling & Kirkendall, 2012). A variety of approaches have been used to measure objective workload. A common one …

Organizational Constraints, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What are organizational constraints?

Organizational constraints are work conditions that interfere with an employee’s motivation or ability to perform (Spector & Jex, 1998). Though the overall definition sounds quite broad, the assessment focuses on 11 specific types of constraints: inadequate training, incorrect instruction, lack of necessary information about what to do or how to do it, poor equipment or supplies, lack of equipment or supplies, organizational rules and procedures, conflicting job demands, other employees, the supervisor, inadequate help from others, and interruptions by other people (Spector & Jex, 1998). Respondents indicate how frequently these factors make it difficult or impossible …

Cultural Intelligence, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What is cultural intelligence?

Cultural intelligence (CQ) is “a person’s adaptation to new cultural settings and capability to deal effectively with other people with whom the person does not share a common cultural background and understanding” (Earley & Ang, 2003, p. 34). Note that this is about general capabilities that cut across different cultures, rather than effectiveness in a specific culture (Ang et al., 2015). Though this definition sounds like it includes all types of intercultural interactions, the focus is a bit more limited—work settings and situations that involve differences in race, ethnicity, and nationality, either within or across countries. …

Abusive Supervision, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What is abusive supervision?

Abusive supervision refers to “subordinates' perceptions of the extent to which supervisors engage in the sustained display of hostile verbal and nonverbal behaviors, excluding physical contact” (Tepper, 2000, p. 178). Abusive supervision is most commonly measured using 15 items that describe abusive behaviors, and subordinates rate the frequency with which the supervisor engages in each behavior. Examples include “Ridicules me,” “Puts me down in front of others,” “Blames me to save himself/herself embarrassment,” and “Breaks promises he/she makes” (Tepper, 2000). Thus, subordinates do not judge whether they feel abused or consider their supervisors’ behavior abusive; they …

Generations In The Workplace, Stephanie Weddington

Umbrella Summaries

What is a generation?

A generation is defined as “a group of individuals, who are roughly the same age, and who experience and are influenced by the same set of significant historical events during key developmental periods in their lives, typically late childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood. Further, these differences are not attributable solely to an individual’s age but rather to the common influence of shared experiences on the cohort” (Costanza et al., 2012, p. 377). There is general agreement on the labeling of generations (i.e., Silent, Baby Boomer, Generation X, Millennial, Generation Z); however, the date ranges used to …

Video Feedback, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What is video feedback?

Video feedback refers here to a training method that involves giving learners feedback on their skills using a video recording of their behavior in a real or simulated environment. Though video feedback is used in a variety of settings (e.g., athletic, parenting, or surgical training), the focus here is on skill development among professionals that engage in interpersonal interactions (e.g., teachers, social workers, nurses; Fukkink et al., 2011). Targeted skills may be broad (e.g., empathy, nervousness, active listening) or narrow (body posture, eye contact, gestures, use of open questions). The process typically involves recording learners as …