An Invitation to Choose

A Realistic Job Preview of North Carolina Child Welfare Work

The public child welfare system is experiencing what many describe as a state of national crisis. The root of the problem—difficulty recruiting and retaining qualified caseworkers—is typified by North Carolina’s near 50-percent turnover rate and its loss of many new hires within their first year of employment.

Responsible for at least some of the turnover is an unrealistic understanding among new hires of what the work of child welfare actually entails. Research information from child welfare workers in thirty-three North Carolina counties during 2005–2006 indicates that workers who had an unrealistic understanding of child welfare work were likely to leave the profession, whereas workers who had realistic job expectations were prone to stay on the job.

The Realistic Job Preview (RJP) is a job-candidate selection tool designed to help North Carolina child welfare agencies recruit and retain qualified and committed caseworkers. The RJP, titled An Invitation to Choose, features thirty-three minutes of interviews with North Carolina child welfare workers, who talk openly about both the challenges and the rewards of their work, providing a balanced and realistic overview of day-to-day experience in a variety of public child welfare positions.

While no one can fully understand the profession of public child welfare before actually working in the field, An Invitation to Choose redresses many unrealistic career expectations a prospective job applicant might have.

FAQ

This RJP shows unrehearsed interviews with actual public child welfare workers and other professionals in two North Carolina county departments of social services. It also depicts a fictional situation for demonstration purposes only, and is not intended for practice training purposes.
The following are questions that may be raised by viewers. The sample answers are general and will depend on the job the applicant is seeking, as well as specific county practices and procedures.

Q. How often will I have to respond to emergencies like I saw in this RJP?

That will vary according to specific county practices and the job for which you are applying. But everyone coming into public child welfare work must be prepared to respond to emergency situations.

Q. How will I know whether kids are safe or not?

You will receive specialized training to be able to assess whether children are at risk of abuse or neglect. You will learn how to interview the child, family members, and others, gather relevant information, and complete a safety plan. You will work with your supervisor and others to make a decision about the best plan for the children.

Q. Would children really be removed like the ones in the video?

This is a real story presented by actors, so this removal really happened. There are many details that are not included, however, and many other examples of removals that were not in the RJP. When a parent is unable to keep a child safe, it is very serious and a possible cause for removal, but removals don’t happen very often.

Q. Are the police involved in every removal situation?

Police are often involved, due to the unpredictability of some situations, especially when they happen at night.

Q. How often will I have to work overtime or stay late at night?

That depends on your county of employment. Some agencies have special on-call workers who handle situations in the evenings and on weekends. Even if that’s the case in your county, however, there will be times when you will need to work late, for such reasons as catching up on your paperwork, seeing working families during their off hours, preparing for court, and taking kids for visitations in other areas.

Q. How often will I have to go to court?

Going to court is a regular part of the work. You may go for long periods without making a court appearance, or, depending on your position and the nature of your caseload, you may appear routinely in court.

Q. Will I have to deal with angry people like that very often?

Because of the intense circumstances that child welfare clients face, it is not unusual to have to deal with difficult emotions of all types. Some of your training will help you learn how to deal with upset clients.

Q. How much time will I spend on paperwork?

Everything about a case must be documented in order to ensure continuity and quality of care. Much of your time—more than you’ll like—will be devoted to documentation and paperwork.

Q. Why do families only get one year to reunify?

A year is a long time to a child. So, we work as intensively as possible with family members to support their competence in caring for the child. If families are not able to make the basic changes needed for safety, the child deserves a different permanent home in which to grow up.

Q. How many families will I work with?

The number will depend on your specific position, as well as the number of referrals for services, availability of funds to hire more staff, and the existence of vacancies in the agency. Caseload standards are from 10–18 families for different positions.

Q. Is the work primarily with families? I thought it would be with children.

Child welfare workers strive to increase the capacity of each family to provide a safe and nurturing environment for children. The amount of time spent with parents or children and youth will vary according to your position.

Q. How often will I make home visits?

You can expect to make home visits regularly, and your training will prepare you for being effective on these visits. Your agency may provide you with a county car and a cell phone or beeper to assist you on home visits.

Q. Is safety an issue?

When you work with people who are in difficult and emotional situations, they may act in ways that are scary or threatening. Your agency will have policies and procedures to support safe practice, and you will receive training in ways to recognize, prevent, and intervene with threatening situations. Sometimes you may have a law enforcement escort to protect your safety.

Q. Are physical and sexual abuse the primary issues?

Far more children suffer from neglect than are victims of physical or sexual abuse. Neglect is as serious as abuse, and, in fact, more children die each year from neglect than abuse.

Q. How will I know when I’ve made a good decision about a child or family?

Decision-making in child welfare is not done in isolation. You will learn to involve the family in the decision-making process. You will also review your work with your supervisor and others on your team.

Q. Do I need a license or certification to do this work? Is there an educational program for learning how to do child welfare work?

You do not need a social work license to work in child welfare in North Carolina. The state requires that you have Pre-Service Training before you have direct responsibility for clients. The county will provide you with that training once you are employed, at no cost to you, as well as continuing education on topics relevant to your work.

Q. What kinds of services and resources can I offer families?

There are services available to clients to help them improve their parenting, meet medical and mental health needs, provide for basic needs, and obtain child care and employment. Part of working with families also means helping them to connect with their own natural support systems, such as extended family, friends, and faith community.

Q. How do families improve?

Families improve by having access to the resources they need and the willingness to use those resources. Your skills and supportive relationship with a family will help this occur.

The RJP is designed to be used in one of three different ways, depending on an agency’s individual needs and implementation strategy:

Before completing an application for a child welfare position, applicants can be required to view the RJP, affording them a better understanding of the profession and an opportunity to self-select into or out of the application process at an early stage.
As a candidate who has been chosen to interview for a position prepares for the interview, the agency may require the applicant to view the RJP. The applicant may then choose to withdraw from the selection process or proceed with the interview. Those who proceed can then ask informed questions based on the video. The interview panel can also refer to the RJP for questions and discussion points.
As an applicant who has been selected for a child welfare position is considering the job offer, the agency may require the candidate to view the RJP. The rationale for this approach is that, at this late point in the hiring process, an applicant will pay close attention to information that is designed to guide his or her decision-making process.

Factors that influence how an agency might use the RJP include the number and characteristics of applicants, the agency’s interview and hiring processes, and the turnover and vacancy rates, among others.

How was this Realistic Job Preview developed?

The Jordan Institute for Families conducted focus groups with child welfare workers, supervisors, and other experts throughout North Carolina, asking them to identify critical issues that child welfare workers deal with on their jobs—both positive and negative. We also asked, “What do you wish you had known about the job before becoming a child welfare worker?” The goal was to balance the challenges with the fulfilling aspects of the job. Once the results were compiled, interview questions were developed that covered subjects raised by the focus groups. Actual child welfare workers in two NC DSS agencies and other professionals were filmed answering the interview questions.