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Governors Urged to Improve State Child Welfare Systems
Limited
resources, high turnover, and an inadequately trained workforce
put kids at risk.
WASHINGTON—The
Child Welfare League of America (CWLA) and the National Association
of Social Workers (NASW) in a letter dated November 20 urged
all governors, especially those who are newly elected, to
address the struggles their state’s child welfare system faces
in caring for abused and neglected children and their families.
CWLA
and NASW reminded
U.S.
governors that vulnerable children and families ultimately
suffer the consequences of allocating limited resources to
state child welfare systems. Governors have the responsibility
and ability to combat child abuse and neglect, and to make
sure that their state’s most vulnerable children are cared
for.
“Every
day, public child welfare agencies make life and death decisions
for children with complex needs, while striving to meet extensive
legal mandates,” says Shay Bilchik, president and CEO of the
Child Welfare League of America.
In
recent years, there have been a number of high profile reports
of child fatalities and other tragedies for children and families
involved with the child welfare system. The persistence of
preventable child fatalities, reports that children have been
lost while in custody of the state, and continuing difficulties
finding permanent living arrangements for children and youth
within reasonable timeframes, are all indicators that this
nation has not yet made an adequate investment in protecting
children and youth.
“The public
has high expectations for frontline human service workers,
but without a competent and stable workforce and appropriate
supports it is near impossible to deliver uniformly high quality
services. Gaps in care for our most vulnerable children are
unacceptable, but unavoidable, if resources are not increased,”
says Elizabeth Clark PhD, ACSW, MPH, executive director of
the National Association of Social Workers.
Child
welfare positions are particularly demanding and stressful,
often involving unreasonable workloads and low pay in comparison
to jobs in other sectors that require comparable amounts of
education and responsibility. Consequently, it is difficult
to attract the most qualified employees—those with professional
social work training and experience—and turnover and vacancy
rates among child welfare agencies are often alarmingly high.
The
letter noted an overall vacancy rate of 12.9%, with one state
reporting a maximum vacancy rate of 91.3% and an average turnover
rate of 11.5%, and another state reporting turnover as high
as 28.6%.
Governors
were asked to ensure that children in state child welfare
systems are cared for by making a commitment to hiring an
adequate number of professionally trained social workers and
other child welfare professionals and to maintaining reasonable
caseloads and workloads, with adequate compensation.
For additional
information about suggested improvements in the child welfare
system or to obtain a copy of the recent letter to governors,
please visit www.cwla.org or click the links below.
Letter
to the New Governor
Letter to the Incumbent Governor
<Back to Press Releases
Established in 1920, the Child Welfare League of
America
is the nation’s oldest and largest membership-based child welfare
organization. Headquartered in Washington, DC, CWLA strives
to advance sound public policy on behalf of the more than three
million abused, neglected, and vulnerable children served by
its more than 1,185 public and private member agencies. To further
its mission of preserving, protecting, and promoting the well-being
of all children and families, CWLA conducts research, develops
standards of best practice, hosts regional and national conferences,
provides comprehensive, field-based consultation and professional
development services, and is the largest publisher of child
welfare materials in North America.
The National Association
of Social Workers (NASW) is the largest membership organization
of professional social workers in the world, with
150,000
members. NASW works to enhance the professional growth and
development of its members, to create and maintain professional
standards for the social work profession, and to advance sound
social policies. Founded in 1955, NASW seeks to enhance
the well-being of individuals, families, and communities through
its work and advocacy.
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