Title IV-E Child Welfare Training Program Congressional Site Visit
Talking Points
Key Message
An adequately funded, financially stable Title IV-E training program is key
to transforming the child welfare system.
Amplification of Key Message
The program is too vital to jeopardize its future by capping funding, reducing
the matching rate, and pitting it against the need for services.
Explanation of Key Message
A well trained, highly skilled, and stable workforce is necessary to address
the problems facing the child welfare system. And the Title IV-E training program
is the only program with the capacity to systematically improve caseworkers'
knowledge and skills.
Supporting Messages - By The Numbers
Students
Since ____ (year), the Title IV-E training program has funded training for
__________ (number) caseworkers in _________ (state).
The number of programs and students continues to grow.
The program at ________ (state or university) began in ______ (year), training
___________ (number) staff to date.
Funding
In 2004, the program brought in ____________ (number) to ____________ (university).
Statewide, that figure is ___________ (number).
Effectiveness
Skills: Students who participate in the IV-E training program
score higher on a test of child welfare knowledge, report greater competency
in their work, and have a more realistic view of child welfare work than those
who do not participate. Overall, staff hired through the Title IV-E program
perform better on the job and apply their training more deftly than employees
hired through other means (Jones and Okamura, 2000).
Retention: Evaluations of the Title IV-E training program
found that more than 80 percent of participants remain with state agencies
after their initial work obligations conclude (Dickinson and Perry, 1998).
Cost of Turnover
Reducing the costs of turnover result in additional funding for more critical
needs.
One proven way to reduce turnover is to hire staff with social work degrees.
Caseworkers with social work degrees perform better on the job and are more
inclined to stay on the job than staff hired with other, unrelated educational
credentials (Barbee, 2003; Loring, 2002; Harrison, 1995; Lewandowski, 1998;
Okamura & Jones, 1995; Vinokur-Kaplan, 1991; Ellett, 2003; Albers, et al,
1993; Dhooper, et al, 1990).
Current turnover rates among the approximately 382,800 public child services
caseworkers range from 20% (Annie E. Casey, 2003) to more than 50% annually
(Child Welfare League of America, 2002).
The cost to an agency associated with the loss of a protective service worker
is estimated to be any where from one-third the salary of the employee replaced
(U.S. Department of Labor) to $10,000 (Graff & Hill, 1995) or as high as
200% of the employee's salary, depending on skill level (Griffeth and Horn,
2001).
With the average starting salary of a child welfare caseworker at approximately
$22,000, the financial cost of turnover to the nation's child welfare systems,
ranges from $561 to $765 million upwards to $1.4 to $1.9 billion using the
more conservative estimates. When more experienced workers leave, the costs
are even higher. The caseworker turnover losses represent 5% to 19% of the
$11.3 billion the federal government allocates to state and county child protection
agencies under Title IV-E.
In contrast, the federal share of the Title IV-E training program in FY 2002
was only $286 million (Ways and Means Green Book, 2003)--little more than half
of the lowest turnover cost estimate and less than 3 percent of the IV-E total.
Prepared by NASW October 2004
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