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Screening and Staff Selection

Resources in this section explore new ways of identifying qualified candidates for child welfare work through screening, employment interviews, including realistic job previews, the use of hiring pools, and other strategies to enhance staff selection.

Toward the Development of a Research-Based Employee Selection Protocol: Implications for Child Welfare Supervision, Administration, and Professional Development Ellett, Ellett, Westbrook, & Lerner Professional Development: The International Journal of Continuing Social Work Education, 9(2), 2006 View Abstract Describes components and procedures for the development of a new research-based child welfare Employee Selection Protocol (ESP). It presents a model that child welfare agencies can use to better select employees with the requisite entry-level knowledge, skills, abilities, and values that are considered minimally essential for effective job performance.

A Competency Model for Licensing Staff and Out-of-Home Abuse Investigators (PDF - 56 KB)
Bernotavicz & Floyd (1997)
Provides an outline of a holistic competency model for child welfare licensing and out-of-home investigation staff. The model is based on a thorough review of knowledge and skills necessary for the job tasks, characteristics of exemplary workers, skills needed for a specific organizational environment, and application for self-assessment and reflective practice.

Finding and Keeping Good Staff: A Never-Ending Challenge
Business Publishers (2002)
View Abstract
Includes articles on child welfare agency staffing issues that have appeared in the publication "Child Protection Report" over the last 3 years. Ideas include web-based recruiting, screening tools to help improve retention rates, credentialing, funding for reducing caseloads, recruitment of community college graduates, and recruitment of workers in their 40s and 50s.

Tomorrow's Vacancies, Today's Priority: Michigan Family Independence Agency's Centrally Coordinated Hiring Pool, Summary Report (PDF - 486 KB)
CPS Human Resource Services & Cornerstones for Kids, Human Services Workforce Initiative (2006)
Reports on innovative recruitment methods employed by Michigan's Family Independence Agency (FIA). Employing a centrally coordinated hiring pool and other methods allowed FIA to fill positions more rapidly, decrease vacancies rates, and, by some measures, improve the quality of staff hired.

Realistic Job Preview: A Review of the Literature and Recommendations for Michigan Family Independence Agency (PDF - 519 KB)
CPS Human Resource Services & Cornerstones for Kids, Human Services Workforce Initiative (2006)
Describes how "realistic job previews" can help agencies and applicants avoid misunderstanding and screen out candidates whose interests and preferences lie elsewhere.

Updated on March 1, 2010