Considerations Around Hybrid Work for Child Welfare Professionals

A recent article out of the U.K. echoes the post-pandemic child welfare workforce experiences that have been voiced in the U.S. in recent years: remote work can be a valuable experience for those who have been with the agency for a while, and it can be challenging for new hires. A 2023 webinar hosted by Quality Improvement Center for Workforce Development (QIC-WD) asked participants about their current work situation and most reported working in hybrid work environment. Although this was an informal poll, the participants (who were primarily in supervisory roles in child welfare agencies) felt that remote work helped with retention and employee morale. They also overwhelmingly reported that a hybrid work environment improved their own work-life balance. These comments held true in a QIC-WD survey of workers which also found that less-tenured workers struggled with adapting to the agency and building connections. Similarly, a 2023 Gallup Poll found that, across industries, younger workers were less engaged in their jobs and attributed some of that to hybrid work environments. Some of the suggestions generated through the Gallup report were about improving supervision in a virtual workspace, a topic that the QIC-WD also addressed in response to emerging workforce trends that the team observed in its site work. While more experienced (and oftentimes older) workers value the opportunity to work from home, younger workers may be missing out on the connections developed in an office setting.

Child welfare leaders face the on-going challenge of needing to compete for workers in a tight labor market. Offering a hybrid work environment can be a draw, but it necessitates the need to train managers to onboard and supervise staff who may be new to the workforce or enter an environment where more experienced workers aren’t available to them regularly. Tips on virtual supervision and building an understanding of strategies to improve the experience of new workers can help leaders manage supports for younger caseworkers who may be drawn to the job because of work-from-home opportunities, but may also find that they struggle with the lack of supports that organically emerge when all employees are in an office setting. Balancing the value of a hybrid workforce as a recruitment tool for new workers and a retention incentive for more tenured employees is a challenge. Furthermore, developing agency policies and tools to support younger workers engaging in a hybrid workplace will continue to be a topic for child welfare leaders to grapple within the coming years.