Dataset Details
The National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being III (NSCAW III) Child Welfare Workforce Study
Dataset Number: 288
Investigator(s)
RTI International
Abstract
The Child Welfare Workforce Study was conducted as part of the third cohort of the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW III). The study explores characteristics and activities of the child welfare workforce from 2021-2022, during the COVID-19 pandemic, participating in NSCAW III. This study sought to better understand four topic areas relevant to the child welfare system (CWS) context: workforce characteristics and competencies; recruitment, hiring, and onboarding; training and professional development; and organizational factors.
The study collected information from 48 agency directors, 126 supervisors, and 183 caseworkers during the follow-up wave of NSCAW III from January 2021 to June 2022. The study sample is intended to be representative of public child welfare agencies that were able to participate in NSCAW III. Due to state confidentiality statues and agency refusals the sample is representative of about 74% of child welfare agencies/agency directors, 77% of child welfare supervisors, and 82% of caseworkers in the United States. Unique but complementary surveys were created for agency directors, supervisors, and caseworkers. Surveys included a mix of project developed items and standardized scales.
Documentation for the agency director, supervisor, and caseworker datasets include:
(1) a codebook for each dataset that includes a listing of the variables in the dataset, brief descriptions of the variables, variable names, variable labels, response categories, value ranges for continuous variables, and frequency distributions for categorical variables.
(2) this users’ guide that will explain the background, purpose, and design of the study; the data de-identification procedures; the data limitations (e.g., missing data and tracking children who have moved to different states); derived variables; and analytical considerations.
Bibliographic Citation
Dolan, M., Biemer, P., Ringeisen, H., Testa, M., Smith, K., Keeney, J., Day, O., and Kluckman, M. (2024). National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being II (NSCAW III): Child Welfare Workforce Study. National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect. https://doi.org/10.34681/FW3J-9722