National Child Welfare Workforce Institute (NCWWI)

Project Overview

Project Overview

The National Child Welfare Workforce Institute’s purpose is to build the capacity of the nation’s child welfare workforce and support the development of skilled child welfare leaders.

Project Timeframe/Years: October 1, 2008 – September 30, 2013

Project Summary:

The purpose of the National Child Welfare Workforce Institute (NCWWI) is to build the capacity of the nation’s child welfare workforce and improve outcomes for children, youth and families. NCWWI activities support the development of skills for child welfare leaders in public, tribal and contracted private agencies providing case management services that are traditionally provided by the public child welfare system. The goals of the NCWWI are to derive promising practices in workforce development, deliver child welfare leadership training for middle managers and supervisors, facilitate BSW and MSW traineeships, engage national peer networks, support strategic dissemination of effective and promising leadership and workforce practices, and advance knowledge through collaboration and evaluation.

NCWWI’s workforce development activities promote:

Learning: Fostering continuous learning that is interactive, reflective, and relevant
Leading: Cultivating diverse leadership of multiple levels within child welfare systems
Changing: Supporting change through workforce development and organizational capacity building.

The Butler Institute for Families is lead for two project components, the Knowledge Assessment and Management (KAM) and the overall project evaluation.

Knowledge Assessment and Management – The Knowledge Assessment and Management (KAM) component of the NCWWI derives from existing resources best and promising practices regarding leadership and workforce development, with a focus on both shared and role-specific competencies for leaders, middle managers, and supervisors. This KAM process is a systematic, iterative approach to finding, understanding, using and managing knowledge to achieve NCWWI objectives

Evaluation - The Butler Institute for Families in partnership with the University of Iowa and the University of Michigan, is leading the evaluation of the NCWWI. The plan includes comprehensive evaluation of all NCWWI program elements, using mixed method design elements such as qualitative case studies, group and individual interviews and observations, quantitative paper/pencil and web-based surveys, and longitudinal designs to examine learning and skill utilization over time.

Partners:

University at Albany (Project Lead), University of Denver, University of Iowa, University of Maryland, University of Michigan, University of Southern Maine, Fordham University, Michigan State University, Portland State University, and the National Indian Child Welfare Association

Project website: www.ncwwi.org

Funded/Sponsored by:

NCWWI is funded through a cooperative agreement with the Children’s Bureau, Administration for Children & Families, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Grant Number 90CT0145

Contact Information: Nancy.McDaniel@du.edu or 303.871.4659

Research & Evaluation