Purpose of this Roundtable is to generate an open discussion about empirical findings and diverse perspectives of child welfare (CW) and labor scholars about professionalization and/or unionization as a means to address the current CW workforce crisis.

The Content of the Roundtable includes documented issues emanating from the CW workforce crisis nationwide (Barton Child Law and Policy Clinic, 2001, Cyphers, 2001; GAO, 2003). The crisis includes low wages, high employee turnover (40% annually in some states), poor work morale, lack of social work degrees, (see Barton Child Law and Policy Clinic, 2001; Cyphers, 2001; Ellett, Ellett & Rugutt, 2003; Ellis, 2004; GAO, 2003) and no continuous career paths, and little attention given to recruitment, selection, and retention. This crisis will be addressed from two perspectives: (a) professionalization of CW; and (b) unionization of CW. These perspectives are typically at odds on workforce issues, e.g., the professionalization perspective gives priority to the importance of education and credentialing as a means to improve the workforce. Labor unions give priority to collective bargaining, labor contracts, and compensation as important to the improvement of the workforce.

From the unionization perspective, many of the current workforce issues in CW are union organizing issues. Thus, an important question is: Is unionization a viable means of stabilizing and professionalizing the CW workforce? Alternatively, from the professionalization perspective, collective bargaining, work standardization, and union negotiation minimize the importance of SW education and credentialing which undermines the professional status of CW. Thus, an important question is: Will unionization of CW be detrimental to continued professionalization? This Roundtable will contrast these two important perspectives in view of the current workforce crisis in CW and the rather limited research findings.

Although no controlled outcome studies of the impact of unions in CW exist, two types of data will be discussed: correlation data and outcome studies of union impacts from other occupations (e.g., teachers) Correlation studies suggest that unionization of CW workers in some states, (e.g. Illinois, New York) is associated with higher wages, lower staff turnover, more caseworkers with MSW degrees, stronger regard for worker safety, and lower caseloads (AFSCME, 2001; McDonald, 2004). Other states (e.g. Indiana, Washington) report unions to be impediments to the professionalization of CW, e.g., unions have been rather intransigent on issues of equal work for equal pay, and fight credentialing (e.g., SW degree requirements).

Each presenter will take 5-10 minutes to support their perspectives on professionalization vs unionization in CW. After these presentations, the moderator will invite debate and discussion among the presenters and the attendees. > The mderator will provide historical workforce perspectives about unionization vs professionalization in other professions.