Child Welfare: Historical Trends, Professionalization, and Workforce Issues

Abstract

Child welfare has a long and rich history within the profession of social work. This connection has been marked by a number of events that first established a unique association between a field and a profession, followed by the gradual and significant de-professionalization of child welfare, and recent efforts to re-professionalize child welfare through collaborative partnerships between schools of social work and public child welfare agencies. This chapter will engage the reader in a discussion of historical trends, current issues, and future projections in child welfare as these relate to the development and continued professionalization of child welfare within the larger social work profession. The focus and scope begins with historical trends in child welfare and their interface with social work education and practice. Included is a review and critique of factors that historically contributed to the de-professionalizational of public child welfare services in the United States. A discussion of the current professional status of child welfare is denoted with a focus on the contributions of Title IV-E university/agency partnerships, the documented need for quality supervision and administration, and trends in social work research highlighting the need for evidence-based practice. Finally, future projections and recommendations about the continued professionalization of child welfare are offered.

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