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The organizational structure of child welfare: Staff are working hard, but it is hardly working

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  • Blome, Wendy Whiting
  • Steib, Sue D.

Abstract

Child welfare has been overseen, litigated, reviewed, and chastised by those internal to the system and those who have never faced a traumatized child or an abusive parent. The work of child welfare occurs within organizations, generally large, public sector agencies. Literature has paid little attention to the organizational structure or staffing patterns of the agencies mandated to serve vulnerable children and families. This article explores the challenges facing child welfare and ponders the notion that the structure of public child welfare agencies has developed in response to internal and external factors. The resulting organizational structure may not be the best to support the myriad of mandates that child welfare must achieve.

Suggested Citation

  • Blome, Wendy Whiting & Steib, Sue D., 2014. "The organizational structure of child welfare: Staff are working hard, but it is hardly working," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 181-188.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:44:y:2014:i:c:p:181-188
    DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2014.06.018
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    3. Miller, J. Jay & Donohue-Dioh, Jessica & Niu, Chunling & Shalash, Nada, 2018. "Exploring the self-care practices of child welfare workers: A research brief," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 137-142.
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    5. Miller, J. Jay & Donohue-Dioh, Jessica & Niu, Chunling & Grise-Owens, Erlene & Poklembova, Zuzana, 2019. "Examining the self-care practices of child welfare workers: A national perspective," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 240-245.
    6. Garcia, Antonio R. & Kim, Minseop & DeNard, Christina, 2016. "Context matters: The state of racial disparities in mental health services among youth reported to child welfare in 1999 and 2009," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 101-108.
    7. Miller, J. Jay & Niu, Chunling & Moody, Shannon, 2020. "Child welfare workers and peritraumatic distress: The impact of COVID-19," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    8. Thibodeau, Pari Shah & Park, In Young & Dunbar, Annie Zean & He, Amy, 2023. "What makes a good learning culture? The role of professional development among child welfare workers," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    9. Chambers, Ruth M. & Brocato, Jo & Fatemi, Maryam & Rodriguez, Angel Y., 2016. "An innovative child welfare pilot initiative: Results and outcomes," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 143-151.
    10. Chambers, Ruth M. & Crutchfield, Rashida M. & Goddu Harper, Stephanie G. & Fatemi, Maryam & Rodriguez, Angel Y., 2018. "Family reunification in child welfare practice: A pilot study of parent and staff experiences," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 221-231.
    11. Salloum, Alison & Choi, Mi Jin & Stover, Carla Smith, 2018. "Development of a trauma-informed self-care measure with child welfare workers," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 108-116.
    12. Cooley, Morgan E. & Thompson, Heather M. & Wojciak, Armeda Stevenson, 2017. "Risk, resilience, and complexity: Experiences of foster parents," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 35-41.
    13. Jill R. McTavish & Christine McKee & Masako Tanaka & Harriet L. MacMillan, 2022. "Child Welfare Reform: A Scoping Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-24, October.
    14. Stahlschmidt, Mary Jo & Jonson-Reid, Melissa & Pons, Laura & Constantino, John & Kohl, Patricia L. & Drake, Brett & Auslander, Wendy, 2018. "Trying to bridge the worlds of home visitation and child welfare: Lessons learned from a formative evaluation," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 133-140.
    15. Perez Jolles, Monica & McBeath, Bowen & Collins-Camargo, Crystal & Chuang, Emmeline, 2022. "Organizational complexity within private child welfare agencies in the United States and impact on agency performance outlook," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    16. Gibson, Katherine & Samuels, Gina & Pryce, Julia, 2018. "Authors of accountability: Paperwork and social work in contemporary child welfare practice," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 43-52.
    17. Griffiths, Austin & Royse, David & Culver, Kalee & Piescher, Kristine & Zhang, Yanchen, 2017. "Who stays, who goes, who knows? A state-wide survey of child welfare workers," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 110-117.

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