Collaborating to Conduct a Workforce Needs Assessment

Want to learn to conduct a needs assessment that will identify the root causes of your child welfare workforce challenges? The QIC-WD adapted a process to conduct a thorough workforce needs assessment and determine what type of intervention is most likely to help public child welfare agencies improve worker retention. This video is a recording of a presentation the QIC-WD delivered at the 2018 Child Welfare Virtual Expo hosted by the Children’s Bureau. Presenters include experts from the QIC-WD and state implementing partners. In this 43-minute presentation you will get a general overview of the QIC-WD’s workforce needs assessment process and be introduced the presenters (first five minutes). Next, the presenters spend about 10 minutes discussing the teams they put together to gather and assess their workforce data and how they partnered with their Human Resources (HR) departments. About 15 minutes into the presentation, the panel talks about the different sources of information they reviewed as part of their needs assessment and what data they used (and needed) to help get a clear picture of their most pressing workforce needs. The last half of the presentation is a discussion of what the sites believe are the root causes of their workforce challenges, how they developed a theory of change to clarify how an intervention can address the root causes of their workforce issues, and ultimately what intervention(s) they are considering to address those challenges. A variety of hand outs and additional materials are also available.