Recruiting talented people to work within public and tribal child welfare programs has always been a challenge and is now a crisis. Attracting employees to child welfare requires new approaches and strategies in the context of an ongoing pandemic and rapid societal change.
Effective workforce development consists of multiple components, from recruitment and selection to training, retention, and professional development. It involves attending to racial equity and inclusivity as well as organizational culture. Leaders must focus energy and resources on identifying and implementing new practice approaches at all levels – micro, mezzo, and macro. How an organization is structured and the policies it implements greatly impact worker practice, work climate, work satisfaction, and worker retention. While workforce challenges are many and diverse, this brief focuses on new ways to recruit a child welfare workforce who can best meet the needs of children and families.