Human Services Workforce Initiative

1
Human Services Workforce Initiative

• Cornerstones For Kids
• September 8, 2005

2

• At the end of the day, well written policies,
  creative program designs and powerful research
  findings will add up to very little if the people
  actually working with children and families the
  frontline child welfare workers, juvenile justice
  staff, child care teachers, youth workers,
  employment service workers and others are
  inexperienced, poorly prepared, overworked, or
  discouraged.

3
Underlying Beliefs

• Human services matter.
• Delivered well, they can (and do) make a positive
  difference in the lives of children and families.
  
• There is a relationship between the quality of
  staff and the effectiveness of human services
  yet workforce issues receive scant attention.
• We cannot succeed at producing better outcomes
  for children without addressing the workforce.
• Improvements can and should be made, at both
  practice and policy levels.

4
What is the human services workforce?

• For HSWI, it is the front line staff in 5
  fields -
• Child welfare
• Juvenile justice
• Child care
• Youth development
• Employment services
• Each has the potential to change the lives of
• low income children and their families.

5
What do we mean by a quality workforce

• A quality workforce is stable, motivated,
• well prepared, subject to realistic
• expectations and well supported by
• supervisors and the organization.

6
A threatened workforce

• A workforce in crisis is characterized by
  excessive turnover, inadequate pre-professional
  and/or in-service training, burn-out, unrealistic
  expectations and antagonistic relationships
  between line staff and administration.

7
The challenge

• How can the human services recruit,
• develop and retain a quality workforce?
• How can system reform efforts assure
• that front line staff have the knowledge, skills
• and attitudes necessary to successfully work in
• new ways?
• What contribution can HSWI make?

8

• Studies show that young people entering
• the human services do so because they want
• to help they want to make a difference.
• But before we can expect large numbers of them
• to commit to a job, or an agency, or a field, or
  a
• career, some things have to be in place

9

• Compensation commensurate with education and
  importance.
• Benefits to support the worker and family.
• Satisfactory working conditions reasonable,
  regular hours freedom from undue stress safety
  clear expectations organizational backing and
  support good supervision.
• Its not just training.

10
The key to improving the quality of the
workforce is improving the quality of the jobs.

11
HSWI Strategies

• HSWI is operating on three overlapping
• strategic paths
• Data spurring greater awareness providing
  better information
• Best practices disseminating information on
  what works
• Policy - getting to the underlying systemic
  barriers to a quality workforce

12
The Matrix
13

• Each field is in a different stage in terms of
  understanding the condition of the workforce,
• the visibility of the issues, and consensus on
  strategies to improve those condition.
• While there are commonalities, solutions will
  most likely to be found field by field each is
  governed by separate laws and regulations, funded
  separately and administered by a different
  complex of organizations.

14
Questions of focus What to leave in, what to
leave out

• Gender
• Public attitudes
• Race
• Universities
• Nonprofit issues
• Unions
• Lessons from other fields
• Lessons from other countries

15
Turnover is a critical indicator

• We see turnover as a (the?) primary indicator of
  workforce problems
• Turnover in human services is like the drop-out
  rate in education the one indicator youd look
  at if you could only look at one
• It is poorly understood rarely measured often
  not disaggregated
• We want lowered turnover to be seen as an
  important, achievable an agency aspiration

16
Some context and thoughts

• The entire American workforce is more mobile than
  it used to be what are realistic turnover
  expectations today?
• People move within a field, naturally.
• Not all turnover is negative.
• Should we learn how to provide services that are
  not quite so dependent on the stand-alone skills
  of individuals greater use of protocols
  decision tools quality assurance supervision?

17
Why turnover is important

• Loss of experience gained
• Need to train and re-train
• Discontinuity of services
• Costs
• Turnover begets turnover caseload size while
  recruiting, disruption of services, broken
  relationships

18
A Plan for 2005-07

• Initial 3 year plan
• Prepared to be flexible and to hone in on
  opportunities and challenges
• Participatory, working in partnership

19
2005

• Transition to C4K.
• Stress problem awareness, emerging best practices
  web, papers, and presentations.
• Form alliances and partnerships, identify
  additional funders.
• Preliminary scan of policy options.

20
2006

• Dissemination at height.
• Major presentations and publications.
• Expanded allies group and funding base.
• Policy options identified and plans developed.

21
2007 and beyond

• Continued dissemination and coalition
• building.
• Policy focus now paramount.