Session: Strengthening the Child Welfare Workforce: Title IV-E Stipends, Policy Reform, and Child Welfare Outcomes (Society for Social Work and Research 30th Annual Conference Anniversary)

The child welfare system has faced high turnover rates among its workforce for decades. Challenges to doing child welfare work are often related to the complex needs of children and families, policy changes, and limited financial compensation. Many children and families in contact with the child welfare system struggle with poverty, relationship conflicts, mental health, and behavioral health problems. State reforms, such as privatization, often require workers to adjust to different management systems and organizational culture. Major federal reforms, like the Family First Prevention Services Act, are further reshaping how services are delivered, and require workers to be prepared for prevention-focused, evidence-based, cross-system work. This symposium brings together four papers that examine child welfare workforce development strategies, with a particular focus on Title IV-E stipend programs, and their potential to strengthen frontline practice, enhance worker-well-being, and improve outcomes for children and families.

Together, these papers offer a comprehensive look at child welfare workforce development through multiple lenses, including Title IV-E stipend programs, frontline experiences with policy navigation, interprofessional collaboration, and child-level outcomes. The first paper synthesizes a decade of research on Title IV-E programs, identifying consistent benefits to the workforce but a limited understanding of child and family outcomes. The second paper presents qualitative findings from Title IV-E alumni navigating real-world policy shifts, highlighting gaps between reform efforts and day-to-day practice. The third paper links state-level investment in Title IV-E programs to greater placement stability for children in foster care, offering one of the first national-level studies to connect these programs to child outcomes. The fourth paper draws on national data to examine how access to community resources and collaboration across systems can support workers’ well-being.

This symposium is timely and necessary. As child welfare systems continue to adapt to policy change and workforce challenges, Title IV-E programs can play a vital role in preparing and sustaining the workforce. The papers in this session offer valuable insights for researchers, educators, agency leaders, and policymakers who are invested in building more responsive, effective, and equitable systems of care.