Size Matters: Achieving Optimal Caseloads for Child Welfare Workers Pamela Day, Director CWLA Office of Child Welfare Standards

CWLA’s Best Practice Standards First volume published in volumes, including Governance and Management Purpose: to ensure that children and families everywhere have the benefit of good services.

· CWLA Best Practice Standards Describe: Definition and goals of child welfare services and each discrete service Best professional and administrative practice, i.e., how staff and board must perform in carrying out the program Basic assumptions that underlie each service (the values, principles, and knowledge on which it is based)

 The Standards also describe: Core elements or components of the service How the service should be connected with other services Key worker tasks and activities The resources, staffing, and organizational supports that must be in place to ensure service quality.

Caseload Standards= The recommended # of cases (children or families) assigned to an individual worker

Why caseload standards are important: n They make a difference for children and families Child welfare is a labor-intensive, hands-on service Workers must be able to spend time with children and families in order to achieve positive outcomes The importance of engaging families and children and worker contact with children in care (CFSR findings) Relationship=Change

They make a difference for workers Valerie Williams, NASW Illinois chapter: “Until we as a profession can begin to talk the bottom-line language of the world we live in, I’m afraid the caseloads will continue to topple some of the best in our profession.”

Stephen Karp, NASW Connecticut chapter: “For the workers who hang in there, they always feel the pressure of not being able to get out and see the families as much as they want to on the level they want to. There’s always a worry that something will happen on their shift, even if it isn’t their fault. It’s definitely an emotional strain, and it does create burnout.”

How caseload standards are developed Time studies Consensus processes

How Caseload Standards Are Used n Agency administrators, planners, and managers use the standards in: Planning, organizing, and administering services Developing and revising agency policies Orienting staff and board members Interpreting services to citizens, clients, legislators, and organizations, and in Advocating for appropriate staffing and funding levels and to shape policy discussions and initiatives.

County, state, and local public officials, legislators, budget officers, and service planning entities in allocating funds for services Advocates in their efforts to improve caseloads and services Attorneys, court monitors, judges, and agency administrators in litigation Unions representing workers in contract negotiations

How can we institutionalize caseload and practice standards? n Legislation n Accreditation n Litigation n Negotiation

Legislation Arizona—Protective Services Caseload Standards Advisory Committee California—Assembly Bill 364 (2002) Work group to recommend minimum caseload standards Delaware—State law requires CWLA caseload ratios +2. Funding tied to increases in caseloads greater than 10 %. Florida—Legislation prohibits caseloads from exceeding CWLA standards by more than 2 cases Indiana—Statewide caseload standards established through legislation. Maryland—Maryland-specific caseload ratios based on CWLA consultation. Washington—Caseload Forecast Council

Accreditation States and counties that have been accredited by the Council on Accreditation of Services for Families and Children (COA) are required to meet, or come close to meeting, COA’s caseload standards, which are similar to CWLA’s. Accredited states include Illinois, Kentucky, and Oklahoma.

Litigation Alabama-Ruling in federal lawsuit in 1998 required DHS to comply with standards established in a 1991 consent decree. Connecticut—Court Order Regulating Caseloads (1999) (Negotiated through AFSCME). Colorado—Settlement Agreement with Colorado Lawyers’ Committee (1994). Kansas—Settlement agreement ( ).

Negotiation Unions representing child welfare workers have played an important role in negotiating caseload ratios that meet, or come close to meeting CWLA standards. Often, unions advocate for ratios that are already in place through legislation, consent decrees, or court settlements, but are not being implemented due to funding limitations or competing priorities.

For Further Information: Contact: Pamela Day Or, visit: