Do Social Workers Make Better Child Welfare Workers Than Non–Social Workers?

Abstract

Objective: To empirically examine whether the educational background of child welfare workers in Florida impacts on performance evaluations of their work. Method: A proportionate, stratified random sample of supervisor and peer evaluations of child protective investigators and child protective service workers is conducted. ANOVA procedures are used to test if performance scores on a multitude of items differ for workers with university degrees in social work, psychology, sociology, criminology, education, business, and other fields. Results: The ratings of social workers' skills and competency do not statistically differ from those workers with other educational backgrounds on 20 measures of performance. Conclusion: Findings suggest that the educational background of child welfare workers is a poor predictive variable of their performance as evaluated by supervisors and peers. However, more research is needed to determine if performance evaluations of workers are positively correlated with successful service outcomes with clients.There has been an accelerated effort during the past 15 years to reprofessionalize public child welfare with bachelor's of social work and master's of social work graduates from accredited schools of social work. This effort has been supported by educational institutions (S.

Twenty-Five Years of the Children's Bureau Investment in Social Work Education

“…In fact, while several publications were focused on evaluation findings for IV-E stipend programs in volumes edited by Drs. Zlotnik in 2002 and, only a handful of publications or presentations have focused on this topic since 2003 (Auerbach, McGowan, & LaPorte, 2007;Barbee et al, 2009aBarbee et al, , 2009bBoyd et al, 2006;Folaron & Hostetter, 2007;Leung, 2011;Morazes et al, 2010;O'Donnell & Kirkner, 2009;Perry, 2006;Rosenthal & Waters, 2006). This lack of evaluation and writing about the results of Title IV-E efforts to professionalize child welfare needs to be addressed.…”

Social Work Education as Preparation for Practice: Evidence from a Survey of the New South Wales Community Sector

“…More recent studies of public sector workers in the United States of Amernica (USA) have raised doubts about educational background as an indicator of preparedness or competence. Perry (2006aPerry ( , 2006b analysed supervisor and peer evaluations of child welfare workers and child welfare supervisors in Florida, and found educational background did not make a difference to performance when measured in this way.…”

“…For example, practitioners work in a range of fields of practice, with child welfare being the focus of particular attention in previous research on the adequacy of social work qualifications (Healy & Meagher, 2007;Perry, 2006aPerry, , 2006b. The geographical location of work may also affect the nature and complexity of work demands, with practice likely to be more challenging in rural and remote areas, compared to urban contexts, because of the specific ethical challenges of working in smaller communities, less access to professional supports, and the multidimensional nature of social disadvantage outside Australian cities (AIHW, 2008;Green & Gregory, 2004;Pugh, 2007).…”

“…However, our measure of preparedness was narrow in that it captured only whether workers felt their postschool qualifications prepared them well for work in community services, and did not include manager, peer, or client-based assessment or other measures of competent practice (Dhooper, Royse, & Wolfe, 1990;Perry, 2006aPerry, , 2006b. Notwithstanding, our measure offers an indication of practitioners' confidence in their own skills and efficacy, and capacity to perform high quality work.…”

Commitment of Private and Public Agency Workers to Child Welfare: How Long Do They Plan to Stay?

“…For example, there is a study that used coworker and supervisor ratings of the index child welfare worker (Perry, 2006a(Perry, , 2006b. This study, however, has been widely contested for its assumptions, questions, methods, and conclusions (Dickenson, 2006;Ellett, 2006; …”