(Converted as ePoster, See Poster Gallery) The Impact of Preparation for Work and Professional Development on Learning Culture in Child Welfare

Background and Purpose: Research shows that a positive organizational culture, particularly a strong learning culture, serves to support child welfare (CW) workers’ professional growth (He et al., 2018; Mor Barak et al., 2009). Learning culture refers to how workers perceive their ability to foster creativity and reflexivity in their work environment (Julien-Chinn et al., 2019). When learning is encouraged, workers can express their thoughts, work more effectively and efficiently, and feel supported when they encounter work related obstacles (Sedivy et al., 2020). However, there is limited research elucidating how to foster a strong learning culture within CW organizations. Drawing from tenets of Bandura's social learning theory, this paper focused on examining the impact of cognitive elements of CW caseworkers' preparation for work and professional development on the environmental element of learning culture within CW organizations. Preparation for work speaks to the initial training when entering the profession, while professional development speaks to ongoing training that a worker receives.

Methods: Secondary data come from two state and two county public CW agencies. This study used a subsample of caseworkers (N=1,790) from an organizational health assessment completed by 4,117 CW staff. Most participants were women (88%), with 60% identifying as Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC); 30% had a social work degree. Learning culture was measured by asking participants’ engagement in organizational activities related to shared values and culture (Potter et al., 2016). The preparation for work and professional development measures captured perceptions of preparedness for work and perceptions of ongoing training, respectively (Butler Institute for Families, 2009). Linear regression models were conducted for the analyses.

Results: The regression model was statistically significant (F(11, 1718) =155.12, p<.001) and explained 49.8% of the variance in learning culture. Both preparation for work (B=0.12, p<.001) and professional development (B=0.35, p<.001) were positively associated with learning culture. Caseworkers who were female (B=-0.07, p<.05), younger (B=-0.01, p<.05), and had masters and beyond degrees (B =-0.06, p<.01) reported lower learning culture. Participants working in state level agencies (B=0.17, p<.001) reported higher learning culture compared to those working in county level agencies.

Conclusion and Implications: Study innovation includes the application of social learning theory to help illuminate how learning may be impacted at each stage of caseworker development. Moreover, both preparation for work and professional development are uniquely significant for fostering a positive learning culture within CW agencies. This highlights the importance of providing consistent and developmentally appropriate training to caseworkers in each stage of their professional development. Providing up-to-date trainings (e.g. trauma-informed, critical CW best practices, racial equity and inclusion) is also essential to supporting a healthy learning culture in CW agencies. Finally, the data are representative of a diverse CW workforce from various state and local offices, which increase the generalizability of study findings to CW agencies across the country.