North Carolina Child Welfare

Our state is rapidly growing, in both population and diversity, and with any growth comes increased concerns of child abuse and neglect. Research shows that professionally trained child welfare workers offer improved outcomes for children.The Collaborative works to meet the State’s needs in public child welfare system in five key areas:

• Child welfare pre-service training. With the authorization of NC Division of Social Services, Collaborative schools are able to offer an alternative form of the state’s mandatory pre-service training by meeting competency-based pre-service standards. By providing this preparation through Collaborative-affiliated universities, the state experiences an average savings of four months and $20,000 in course training. This also results in a $9,000–$11,000 savings for agencies that hire Collaborative graduates.¹



• Significant savings to the state. National estimates suggest that the average turnover in public child welfare is 30%-40%, and that the average tenure for a worker is 2 years. ^2,3 In addition to pre-service training costs, to recruit and orient a new child welfare worker takes at least seven months and $10,000. Collaborative-trained graduates have made a commitment to employment in child welfare.⁴



• Workforce development. The statewide vacancy rate for child welfare workers is over 30 percent, which means there are more than 300 unfilled positions. A stable workforce is crucial to achieving federally mandated outcomes for children and families. The Collaborative increases the supply of child welfare practitioners in county departments of social service.⁵



• Field education placements. Since the Collaborative began, over half of North Carolina’s counties have been served through field internships and employment. The Collaborative envisions serving all 100 counties.⁶



• Stronger North Carolina families. Most importantly, a greater number of highly qualified child welfare practitioners in North Carolina means we’re providing more effective services to our state’s children and families. Children spend less time in foster care and more time with their permanent families.

State funding for the Collaborative provides service awards, reimbursement for school-related expenses and more educational opportunities in child welfare. To meet the state’s rising demand for child welfare workers, the Collaborative hopes to expand to all North Carolina public university social work programs.


Notes:
1 Quick Facts: NC Child Welfare Education Collaborative – February 2008
2 Cyphers, G., "Report from the Child Welfare Workforce Survey: State & County Data & Findings" American Public Human Services Association, 2003.
3 U.S. GAO "HHS Could Play a Greater Role in Helping Child Welfare Agencies Recruit & Retain Staff" (GAO-03-357). March 2003.
4 North Carolina Child Welfare Education pamphlet “Don’t let this happen in North Carolina”
5 Quick Facts: NC Child Welfare Education Collaborative – February 2008
6 NC-CWEC program statistics