Child Welfare Caseworker Education and Caregiver Behavioral Service Use and Satisfaction With the Caseworker

Abstract

Social work has long been identified with child welfare, and research has generally found that child welfare caseworkers with a social work degree are better prepared than caseworkers with other degrees. Little knowledge exists though about the relationship between caseworker professional background and caregiver behavioral health service use or their satisfaction with the caseworker. Using data from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being, we found no significant relationships between having a social work degree and caregiver use of services or satisfaction with the caseworker. More research is needed to clarify how caseworker characteristics, including professional preparation, influence child welfare outcomes.

Keywords::

• child welfare workers
• behavioral health service utilization
• client-worker relationship
• workforce issues

Acknowledgments

This research was partially supported by a National Research Service Award Post-Doctoral Traineeship from the Agency for HealthCare Research and Quality sponsored by The Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Grant No. T32-HS000032 and NIMH 5K01MH076175.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Marlys Staudt

Marlys Staudt, PhD, is Associate Professor, College of Social Work, University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Mónica Pérez Jolles

Mónica Pérez Jolles received her doctoral degree in Health Policy and Management in 2014 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Pérez Jolles' research focuses on safety net agencies' implementation of service practices aimed at increasing patient engagement, such as patient activation and shared decision-making, and their impact on mental health care service use. Mónica has analyzed national datasets such as the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW) to explore mental health service use among families served by a child welfare agency. She has conducted mixed methods research and published on management research and facilitators of families' use of health services within safety net agencies including child protective service agencies.

Emmeline Chuang

Emmeline Chuang, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Fielding School of Public Health at the University of California Los Angeles in Los Angeles, CA.

Rebecca Wells

Rebecca Wells is a professor at the University of Texas's School of Public Health. Her Ph.D. in health care organizational studies is from the University of Michigan, where she also earned a masters degree in health care management. Dr. Wells's research examines how human service organizations improve health services access for marginalized populations. In particular, she tends to focus on inter-organizational and inter-disciplinary cooperation. Dr. Wells has published in Health Services Research, Medical Care, Medical Care Research & Review, and Social Science & Medicine, among other journals. Professional recognitions include the John D. Thompson Young Investigators Award and the American Sociological Association Mental Health Section's 2006 Best Paper Award. She currently serves as chair of the Health Care Management Division of the Academy of Management.