Resources Database

This report discusses the findings of a study that explored factors that influence retention in social work in Ireland, particularly in the area of child protection and welfare. The study provides important insights into the levels of stress and burnout experienced by social workers and also the psychological coping factors which social workers use to deal with their workplace challenges.

This paper presents findings from a study commissioned by the Inter Agency Task Team on Children affected by HIV and AIDS. The study identifies practical ways in which child protection and HIV sectors can combine their comparative expertise, to strengthen child protection systems that meet the needs of all children at risk of abuse, violence, exploitation and neglect, whilst also meeting the unique needs of HIV-affected and infected children, and those at increased risk of HIV infection and protection abuses.

As part of the UNAIDS Best Practice Collection, this document looks at strategies to lessen the risk of carer burnout. It briefly reviews the approach developed and used by one faith-based organization to care for its staff and volunteers who work as carers in the community and also with the families of those living with HIV.

This study assessed health worker motivation as part of the baseline assessment for a health system strengthening intervention in three rural districts in Zambia by examining underlying issues grouped around relevant outcome constructs such as job satisfaction, general motivation, burnout, organization commitment, conscientiousness and timeliness that collectively measure overall levels of motivation.

This paper has a two-fold objective: i) to give the reader an overview of the magnitude of unequal health workforce distribution in developing countries, provide a summary of the evidence to date on the factors that contribute to these imbalances, and present a systematic set of policy interventions that are being implemented around the world to address the problem of recruitment and retention of health workers in rural and remote regions of the developing countries; and ii) to introduce the reader to the potential application of the DCE to elicit health workers’ preferences and determine t

This comparative analysis report presents learning from a participatory research process with children and adults representing community-based child protection mechanisms (CBCPMs), child groups, civil society organizations, government departments and Plan offices. This analysis aims to inform further actions to sustain standing mechanisms at the community level that will contribute towards the strengthening of comprehensive national child protection systems. This analysis also helps managers recognize and scale up emerging good practices, ideally for replication in other communities.

The purpose of this training series of workbooks is to increase child and family service agencies' effectiveness in developing and retaining their staff by applying information from research and best retention practices to their work.

Recognizing that greater clarity on the evidence for improving CHW performance could enhance LMIC government and partner policy making and programming, as well as identify important gaps in the global knowledge base, the U.S. Government, under the leadership of USAID, organized a year‐long evidence review process (April 2011‐May 2012). This process culminated in a two‐day “Evidence Summit” event (May 31‐June 1, 2012). This document highlights the main findings from that event.

The report from the Investing in Those Who Care for Children: Social Welfare Workforce Strengthening Conference includes the agenda, highlights from the conference, session summaries and other information related to the conference.  The conference was held in Cape Town in November 2010 and served as a catalyst for many subsequent country-level and global workforce strengthening initiatives.

This document outlines a set of objectives to meet aspirations for social justice and social development. It was developed by the leadership of the three international organizations, including the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW), the International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW) and the International Council on Social Welfare (ICSW) with input from thousands of social work practitioners, educators and development workers.

This policy briefing provides background and rationale for the recommendations that governments, donors, and international institutions should include costs and strategies for the remuneration of caregivers in budgets, program plans, and technical guidance related to their role in the response to HIV. It also recommends that compensation for primary caregivers should take the form of social protection and remuneration for secondary caregivers should take the form of salaries.

This document lays out a short-term human resource development plan to ensure adequate, appropriate, well-trained Human Resources at all levels of the health and social welfare system.

This report presents research that ascertains the nature of scarce and critical social work skills in South Africa. The report quantifies the shortage of social workers, presents information on qualitative issues that impact this shortage and makes recommendations regarding the training, recruitment and retention of social workers.

This document is a combined Human Resources Development Plan and Human Resources Strategic Plan for the health and social welfare sector of Lesotho.

This manual developed by Save the Children in Bulgaria provides lessons learned from a project to help children and families avoid separation and institutionalization by receiving community-based services and support from social workers experienced in practical work. The manual is intended for Child Protection Department social workers, the staff of institutions and their managers and can be applied to all aspects of child welfare work.

This document presents a study conducted by CRS to better understand the profile of the most committed and effective volunteers, the motivation of volunteers, the importance of incentives, and the relationship of volunteers to the church.

CapacityPlus conducted a situational analysis of a para-social worker training program in three country contexts. This analysis validated that the twinning model is adaptable and should be employed to build a cadre of para-social workers at the local level. The analysis also provides the needed data for promoting and funding twinning practices and creating para-social worker cadres as an emergency human resources response to serving children made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS.

Published by the Basic Support for Institutionalizing Child Survival Project (BASICS II) for the United States Agency for International Development, this paper examines the experience with using various incentives to motivate and retain community health workers (CHWs) serving primarily as volunteers in child health and nutrition programs in developing countries. It makes recommendations for more systematic use of multiple incentives based on an understanding of the functions of different kinds of incentives and emphasizes the importance of the relationship between a CHW and community.

This technical brief from CapacityPlus outlines aspects of health worker motivation, job satisfaction, incentives, retention and performance.

An Inter-Agency Working Paper to consolidate current thinking, examples and lessons learned about child protection system strengthening in sub-Saharan Africa and suggest a way forward.