Financial Education As an Intervention to Change Social Workers' Practice Behaviors in Financial Capability Practice
Social workers are not adequately trained to provide effective assessment, referral and coaching services to clients struggling with complex financial problems. While social workers regularly report working with clients struggling from financial problems, there has been almost no research on practice-based training to increase social workers’ knowledge, self-efficacy, and practice skills to help individuals and families recover from acute and chronic financial problems, and work toward improving future financial stability and overall quality of life. Two studies were conducted to assess outcomes among social work providers over time after completing a full-day continuing professional education training on financial capability for clients.
Methods:
Both studies utilized a one-group longitudinal design with convenience samples of social workers, and some non-social work human services professionals (N = 37 and 32, respectively), to assess financial knowledge, self-efficacy to work with clients on financial problems, and use of financial skills in practice over time. Slightly different pretest, posttest and follow-up surveys were administered and repeated measures ANOVA was used to assess changes over time. In both studies, the one-day training was almost identical, and was composed of the same core teaching components and referral resources.
Results:
In the first study of 37 social workers, results suggested that within their client populations, social workers reported financial problems as the primary or secondary problem clients presented within various human service settings. At the 5-month follow-up, social workers reported improved personal financial knowledge and behaviors, but there were no statistically significant changes in their practice behaviors. Social workers listed organizational barriers, such as lack of time and lack of access to staff at work with financial knowledge, as preventing them from providing financial services to clients.
In the second study of 32 social workers, results from the 9-month follow-up survey included reported improvements in the use of financial practice behaviors with clients such as addressing clients’ value systems and beliefs around money and finances, engaging in more discussion with clients about financial choices, working with clients to set short-term and long-term goals, and discussing financial behavior change with their clients. Participants also reported improved self-efficacy to work with clients on financial problems, with an emphasis on feeling more confident in how to assess and refer clients for additional community-based services.
Conclusions and Implications:
Results from the two studies demonstrate that social work training through continuing education has the potential to improve knowledge, self-efficacy, and practice skills among social workers in the community. Results have been used to revise the training and expand learning to develop a permanent MSW practice elective now being offered through the School of Social Work. Results are also being used to inform a new study with BSW students on financial empowerment. The need for financial education for social workers is critical, and the link between personal financial capability and self-efficacy to work with clients and increased use of practice skills is deserving of future research.