Child Welfare Supervision: A Practical Guide for Supervisors, Managers, and Administrators

Supervisors have a pivotal position in the child welfare workforce: they recruit and retainthe best employees, move agencies to best practice frameworks, and create a sustaining positive organizational climate. Child welfare supervisors must lead a stressed workforce operating in a bureaucratic environment, and always with the knowledge that children's lives are at stake. They need and deserve a book oriented to the reality of their work. Child Welfare Supervision connects theory and practice to provide an overview of the most relevant and sound approaches to supervision.

In thirteen illuminating chapters, Child Welfare Supervision translates generic principles of supervision and management and organizational theory to the specifics and reality of the child welfare practice environment. The result is a comprehensive, integrated resource for child welfare supervisors that gives them the tools and information to succeed in the fast-paced and intense world of child welfare.

- Covers a wide range of must-have skills for supervisors including leadership, developing worker performance, managing the Child Welfare unit, working beyond the agency, managing performance, providing clinical supervision, and respecting diversity

- Features case studies and scenarios that illustrate key points and competencies

- Brings together the latest research and literature review with a pragmatic approach to child welfare supervision and case studies illustrate key concepts.

-Each chapter concludes with reflection questions that can be assigned for a class or used in an agency to generate thoughtful discussion.

Cathryn C. Potter, MSW, PhD, is Executive Director, Erna and Brad Butler Institute for Families, University of Denver.
Charmaine R. Brittain, MSW, PhD, is Program Manager, Erna and Brad Butler Institute for Families, University of Denver.