CHAPTER
9
Workforce
and Workload: The Foundation of Quality Child Protection
Workforce
and Workload
The
prerequisite condition to the success of any meaningful
changes in our state's system of child protective services
is an adequate number of well-trained and highly skilled
social workers. Any proposed changes in policy, organization,
structure, and practice must be evaluated in the context
of whether they will result in substantial improvement in
staffing capacity at the front line. This improved staffing
capacity must include investigation workers, case managers
responsible for ongoing cases, and those overseeing the
foster care and adoption process.[196]
Frequent
calls to improve the quality of child protection investigations
have been made over the years as well. Whether adopting
better standards, adding multidisciplinary capacity to assessments,
or moving toward multi-tracking, any improvements are
likely to be limited unless adequate staffing is concurrently
achieved.
In the
past, licensing and organizational management have often
been substituted for this systemic commitment to proper
staffing. As the 1993 Governor's Commission Report stated:
"So long as that situation persists (poor staffing which
places children at risk), any policy, managerial, or structural
amelioratives will be doomed to fail."[197] To change these
outcomes, Massachusetts must do whatever is necessary to
stabilize the staff assigned to our most at-risk children.
Salaries
and Staff Turnover
The
call to increase salaries that reflect the responsibility
and risks of the job, and that compensate for the increased
demands for licensing, has not been acted upon. Other states
have recognized child protective service staff as highly
valued state employees and have raised compensation levels
accordingly. Starting salaries for bachelor level staff
in Rhode Island and Connecticut are $10,000 higher than
in Massachusetts. Even within our state, daycare licensors
for the Office of Child Care Services receive a higher salary
than DSS social workers though their degree requirements,
licensing requirements, and level of responsibility, are
significantly below those of DSS social workers.
The
Department of Social Services currently pays incoming DSS
workers the same level of pay, whether or not they have
a Bachelors or Masters degree. This is not conducive
to the recruitment of Masters level social workers, and
not consistent with good business practice that motivates
workers to attain higher levels of education and rewards
them with increased compensation.
While
the entry-level salary for all DSS social workers needs
to be raised significantly, the Commonwealth should also
incorporate a reward system similar to incentives being
considered for teachers or those that currently exist for
police. This would demonstrate a commitment to maintaining
and rewarding staff for their ongoing training and professional
development. It would also address the salary inequity described
above.
In the
current economy, inadequate salary for DSS workers is becoming
an even greater factor in the high staff turnover. Seasoned
workers with years of seniority, and also newer employees,
are leaving the field to take substantially higher salaries
in unrelated fields. One veteran DSS Supervisor recently
reported that of the five employees he supervises, three
have less than six months of experience. This is a startling
example of how unstable the child protection workforce has
become.
Incentives,
such as more paid educational leave and better career development
opportunities, could help retain competent staff. Consistent,
high quality, and supportive supervision to frontline staff
is equally critical to maintaining a stable and experienced
workforce. In addition to case review, this supervision
must include emotional support and adequate political protection
to these workers.
Caseloads
It
is clear that any meaningful system reform must address
the caseload issue. Taking into account the complexity of
cases, an optimum caseload size for a worker should be established.
The Child Welfare League of America recommends that caseload
standards for "initial assessments should involve not
more than 12 active reports" and that "ongoing services
to families opened for services and support after the assessment
should involve no more than 17 active families, assuming
the rate of new families assigned is no more than one for
every six open families".[198]
The
Commonwealth and DSS have for years stated their commitment
to a caseload average of 18. However, numerous independent
evaluations of this commitment, including four legislative
commissions and three arbitrations, have recorded that far
too many social workers still routinely carry responsibility
for 20 or more cases. This failure to adhere to a professional
standard not only contributes to burnout and staff turnover;
it results in a lowering of casework quality and, therefore,
in an increase of risk to children.
Lower
caseloads, quality supervision, and higher, stable staffing
standards translate into higher costs for service delivery,
but such changes are essential to achieving substantial
improvements in the quality of service to vulnerable children
and their families. To improve the system, resources must
either be expanded to meet the standards, or demands for
service must be reduced to match the resources. Supporting
a reduction in standards or an increase in caseloads in
order to manage costs are not acceptable remedies.
Over
the years, it has been the practice to dismiss as impractical
calls for improved staffing and lower caseloads. Calls for
reduced caseloads by workers and their Union representatives
have been perceived as self-serving. Ignored is the tangible,
and often devastating impact these operational deficiencies
have on the children who must depend on the state for their
well-being, protection, and in some cases, their basic survival.
Education,
Recruitment and Training
Partnerships
between the Department of Social Services and the schools
of social work in Massachusetts state and private colleges
are weak, and strategies for the development of social service
curricula are lacking. Schools of social work do not stress
the development of child protective service curriculum and
there is little demand from students since salaries in child
protective services are not competitive with social worker
positions in other settings.
Efforts
to recruit quality child protective staff, therefore, are
hampered by lack of an available pool of graduating students
from qualified academic programs. Currently, the workers
at the Department of Social Services are drawn from a variety
of Bachelors level programs. A notable percentage includes
graduates of Bachelors level social work programs while
the rest include those who majored in psychology, sociology
or a similar social science.
Bachelor
level training has long been viewed as appropriate for service
in the Department. While this may be more practical, we
believe these individuals should at least have been exposed
to programs that focus on child welfare practice and that
include field practicum. Accordingly, the bachelors level
training best suited is the Bachelors in Social Work, which
includes senior year fieldwork, as well as other field experience.
Another is the Bachelors in Human Services available through
the Springfield College of Human Services that attracts
older students already exposed to the human service field.
Current
DSS core job preparation includes a one-month pre-service
training, four days per week of classroom instruction, and
one day per week of field experience. A new worker shadows
an experienced worker for several weeks. Specialized trainings
for job functions, such as the nine-day curriculum for investigation
and the five-day supervisor training, are available.
In-service
training consists of approximately 48 workshops and 8 trainings
in each of the six DSS regions staggered to "attract" as
wide an audience of social workers as possible. The in-service
trainings are not mandatory. Given current workload demands,
many choose not to participate, especially if trainings
are held across the state and require lengthy travel. Since
the workshops cover such critical issues as posttraumatic
stress syndrome, concurrent planning, substance abuse treatment,
etc., failure to attend can hamper the abilities of social
workers to identify the needs of the population they serve.
Reducing
caseloads is essential if workers are to participate in
these important trainings. The level of staff participation
would also increase if expectations or standards regarding
participation in ongoing trainings were incorporated into
performance reviews.
Child
Protective Services Training Institute
Through
an expanded and reorganized DSS Training Program or Child
Protective Services Institute, the Department could confer
its own certification that the workers and supervisors it
trains are qualified to carry out the full range of child
protective services duties and responsibilities. Establishing
this standard of practice is especially important to address
the acute shortage of workers within child protective services
who have completed either a Bachelors or Masters of Social
Work degree.
Under
this Child Protective Services Institute, all newly hired
staff would be required to complete a two-year curriculum,
which would include a comprehensive sequence of courses.
Supervisors would complete an additional one-year curriculum
in child protective supervision. Each worker would be required
to pass a certification examination at the end of the course
work. Newly hired staff would participate in an initial
six-month mentoring program and be assigned to "shadow"
or work side-by-side with an experienced protective services
worker. During this internship period, new staff would not
assume any decision-making roles.
Linking
training and performance measures to annual evaluations
and promotions would be central. Also, time and support
must be built into job functions so that workers and supervisors
could avail themselves of training opportunities without
compromising their ability to handle their caseloads.
Licensing
of Social Workers
The
call for increased staff certification, licensing and advanced
training was also made in the 1993 Governor's Commission
on Foster Care Report.[199] Though licensing and certification
have become a reality since then, these still require modification.
The
licensure of DSS workers must be adjusted. Currently, the
vast majority is licensed under the social work licensing
law, Massachusetts Board of Registration of Social Workers
Rules and Regulations CMR 258-12.00 [200] despite
the fact that a large percentage of these workers have no
formal social work training at all. This State law mandating
that DSS workers be licensed was passed in the late 90s.
Workers without advanced social work degrees were subsequently
licensed as either licensed social workers (LSW), or licensed
social work associates (LSWA). The LSW requires either a
Bachelor degree in Social Work (BSW), a Bachelor degree
(BA) in another field and two years of work supervised by
a masters-level social worker, or a high school diploma
and eight years of supervised experience. The LSWA requires
a Bachelor degree or an Associates Degree (AA) in human
services.
The
"scope of practice" for these license levels actually prohibits
the holder of the license from performing many of the necessary
functions carried out by DSS workers. Stated simply, these
licensees are often functioning beyond the scope of their
licenses. These licensing standards are not understood,
either by the public or the families who receive services
from the Department. Most often, clients of the Department
simply assume that their workers are trained and qualified
"social workers."
RECOMMENDATIONS
- Increase the salaries of DSS workers to reflect
the responsibility and risks of the job.
An inadequate commitment to a strong and well-supported
workforce over the years has been a central cause of the
current crisis in protective services and of the collapse
of so many reform initiatives proposed over the last twenty
years. New policies, administrative strategies, and service
models alone will not lead to improved services, unless
their implementation includes an upgrading of staff and
staff support. Adequate capacity is the foundation on
which to rebuild the mandate, mission, and organizational
structure of child protective services. It begins with
compensation that fairly reflects the responsibility and
risks of the job.
- Establish legislation to adopt caseload standards
as promoted by the Child Welfare League of America.
Given the demanding role and functions of DSS caseworkers,
caseload standards promoted by the Child Welfare League
of America should be implemented.
- Tap into federal Title IV-E/B funding to develop
graduate-level training for DSS staff.
Federal IV-E Funds should be used to expand the opportunities
for Department staff to pursue graduate level training
in social work, psychology or other related human service
fields on a part-time or full-time basis. Time and support
factors must be built into the job function so that workers
can meet training requirements and opportunities. Currently
DSS workers may avail themselves of opportunities to obtain
a masters degree or other certification, however no mechanism
is in place to provide support to the DSS office during
the worker's absence. This places a burden on other workers
and skews caseloads, creating a prohibitive environment
for educational advancement.
- Establish staff reimbursements to support advanced
training.
In order to support advanced training and degree qualification,
reimbursement mechanisms should be established for DSS
social workers, similar to those afforded police. This
reimbursement program should be established either through
legislation or administrative directive.
- Create a partnership between DSS and the Schools
of Social Work to expand the pool of MSWs and BSWs for
Child Protective Services.
To increase the recruitment of graduate level staff into
the Department of Social Services, DSS and the Massachusetts-based
Schools of Social Work, both public and private, should
develop an active partnership to promote education in
child protective service within current undergraduate
and graduate social work training curricula. DSS and the
Schools of Social Work should explore ways to use in-service
training courses as credited courses towards a graduate
degree in social work. Federal funding to support this
partnership and the development of a model education curriculum
should be sought through Title IV-E funds described above.
- Develop the current DSS training program into a
full-fledged Child Protective Services Institute.
The current training program at DSS has been developed
by highly qualified individuals, and, with additional
support and creativity, could be expanded into an exemplary
training opportunity for young professionals seeking careers
in public service. This model of an internal worker-training
institute has been successfully implemented in business,
e.g. within banking, and it could serve as a new way for
DSS to effectively meet the need for an experienced and
competent workforce. The successful development of such
a strategy would transform DSS into a respected provider
of quality child protective services. The elements are
in place for this bold move and the leadership and talent
already exist within the Department to make it happen.
- Adjust the licensure of DSS workers.
Currently, the vast majority of DSS front line workers
are licensed under the social work licensing law, CMR
258, despite the fact that a large percentage of
these workers have no formal social work training. The
"scope of practice" for some of the law's license levels
actually prohibits the holder of the license from performing
many of the necessary functions carried out by DSS workers.
As a result, these licensees are often functioning beyond
the scope of their licenses.
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Section
III: Protecting Our Children:
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