Workforce, Training and Development

About the Program

Category: Personnel Management, Employment and Training (Best in Category)

Year: 2021

Child Welfare Service workers have one of the most important jobs in our community, protecting children. The nature of the job can sometimes lead to secondary trauma in social workers investigating abuse and neglect and can result in a high turnover. The high turnover creates more stress on workers and unfortunately can affect timely service to children. To address this issue among its staff, Child Welfare Services implemented the Workforce Training and Development Units in June 2020. The units, created a supportive transition for newly hired social workers after completing their initial 10-week training program. The units were implemented across six regional offices, as well as in the specialized Adoptions program. New staff are assigned a graduated caseload over a 16-week period. During the COVID-19 pandemic, this protected learning environment has greatly improved staff retention at an estimated savings of approximately $2.3 million for the County of San Diego. At the six-month implementation point, 103 social workers had been trained through the WTD Units and 90 remain, which is an 87% retention rate.