National Child Welfare Workforce Institute - Learning, Leading Changing
 National eUpdate 
     Timely, Targeted News & Information from NCWWI  |  December 2015  |  Issue 18
 
A Statement of Support and Appreciation
As we collectively reflect on 2015, its triumphs and its tragedies, we want to pause and acknowledge the struggles and sacrifices that our child welfare professionals make every day as they do the difficult, meaningful work of engaging with families and protecting children. 

We share a deep appreciation for the courage and tenacity required to keep children safe and strengthen families. It is our hope that in this new year, we will use our collective strength to bolster efforts to advance worker safety and the range of resources needed to effectively support the child welfare workforce. 

In Voices from the Field on Worker Safety, hundreds of child welfare staff, leaders and partners from states, counties and tribes around the country and Canada offer their support and appreciation for the critical work child welfare professionals undertake every day to ensure children and families are safe and strong, and their future is bright.                            
Competency-based Workforce Development: A Synthesis of Current Approaches
The child welfare field constantly strives to improve practices that will result in better outcomes for children and families. Finding, selecting, preparing, and retaining the right people for the workforce historically has been a challenge and often an impediment to consistent and positive outcomes. The use of competency models to guide recruitment, selection, preparation, and retention offers one strategy in a comprehensive approach to enhance the child welfare workforce. 

This paper, Competency-based Workforce Development: A Synthesis of Current Approaches, is designed for child welfare agency staff and their human resource management departments to provide an overview of competencies and the role that they can play in a comprehensive workforce development system.

Examples of Competency Models are also available in the MyNCWWI workforce development portal as a special collection. 
Learning and Living Leadership: A Tool Kit

NCWWI's  leadership tool kit is now available in a web-based format!
  • This tool kit provides over 85 hands-on and concrete activities for developing leadership at all levels, from the worker to the executive.
  • Activities are designed to transfer, reinforce, and practice competencies from the NCWWI Leadership Competency Framework.
  • Activities range from brief activities to intensive, long-term efforts and cross multiple competencies.
  • Many activities provide supporting worksheets to help you and your staff plan and track progress.
  • Users can design their leadership development plan based upon their own leadership competency assessment.
Updated Reference Lists

We have updated the reference lists for each of the 17 topical areas on MyNCWWI. Here is a list of the newly added references, as well as links to the full lists below:
  1. Change Implementation Reference List
  2. Community Context Reference List
  3. Cultural Responsiveness Disproportionality Reference List
  4. Data-Driven Decision Making and Continuous Quality Improvement Reference List
  5. Education/Professional Preparation and University-Agency Partnerships Reference List
  6. Evidence Based and Trauma-Informed Practice Reference List
  7.  Incentives and Work Conditions Reference List
  8. Job Analysis and Position Requirements Reference List
  9. Leadership and Management Reference List
  10. Mentoring and Coaching Reference List
  11. Organizational Environment Reference List
  12. Professional Development and Training Reference List
  13. Recruitment, Screening and Selection Reference List
  14. Retention Reference List
  15. Supervision and Performance Management Reference List
  16. Vision, Mission and Values Reference List
  17. Workforce Development Planning Process Reference List

 

Look for more resources and information coming your way in February. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact smunson@ssw.rutgers.edu

 

We look forward to continuing to support your workforce development efforts.  


 

Warmly,

The NCWWI Team

Transforming Child Welfare Decision-making through Modern Technology & Data Analytics
 
The fifth webinar in our Mind the Gap series was held in November. You can access the Webinar and Learning Exchange Recordings plus supporting materials on our website: http://bit.ly/MTG5Archive 

                                      

MyNCWWI Overview

Click the above image to access an overview of MyNCWWI, your comprehensive workforce development portal.

Here are the items we have added to our MyNCWWI Resource Library since August.
                                  
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