Building a Model and Framework for Child Welfare Supervision

Several activities are included to elaborate waysagencies might implement the recommendedcomponents, along with illustrative excerpts frominterviews with key informants, information fromthe literature, and examples of demonstrationprojects and other initiatives that provideencouragement and guidance for achievingeffective supervisory practice in child welfare.The greatest supports to me are my supervisorand staff. I use them as a gauge on policychanges. My supervisor provides encouragementand caseworkers provide feedback. And theworkgroups I've been on have beenempowering—I work with people at the statelevel and can see some change. – SupervisorComponent IAn organizational culture that values and demonstratessupport for the vital role supervisors play in ensuring positiveoutcomes for children, youth and families.When a supervisor’s pivotal role is not highly valued and activelysupported within the organizational culture, the supervisor’sauthority, effectiveness, and morale will be undermined. Inaddition, when the organization fails to clearly acknowledge thecentrality of the role of supervisors to the achievement of desiredservice outcomes, it will most likely also fail to make meetingsupervisors’ needs a priority, which may further contribute to itssupervisors’ ineffectiveness.The connection betweensupervision and workerpractice, as well as clientoutcomes, has beenempirically documented. –Southern Regional QualityImprovement Center forChild Protection 2005: 6Assess Organizational Support for Supervisors. To build aculture that effectively supports supervisory practice, theorganization must first identify how it currently conceptualizes the child welfare supervisors’ role,functions, responsibilities, and expectations. Such an assessment should identify how the currentoperational definition of supervision supports the current and projected future needs of frontlinepractitioners, families served by the organization, supervisory staff, and organizational leaders andmanagers. Information should also be sought concerning resources (e.g., technology, includinginternal MIS such as SACWIS data and funding) that could support supervisors and others incarrying out their responsibilities. An assessment can help determine if the conceptualization of therole must change, and if so, how. For example, changes may be necessary because the currentconceptualization of the supervisory role and responsibilities is outdated and no longer fullyrelevant to organizational and practice needs, or because the conceptualization is too broad toeffectively carry out, or too narrow, excluding essential supervisory responsibilities.A general survey of all supervisors may help the agency focus on those areas which are creating themost stress for supervisors as priority areas to address. Agencies could place themselves somewherealong a continuum that rates organizational, office and team/unit culture from “very supportive” ofeffective supervisory practice to “not at all supportive” (see Figure 1). This would best beaccomplished through anonymous feedback from supervisors indicating how supported they feel.24