New York
Sponsoring Agency: New York State Office of Children and Family Services (DCF)
Summary of Project: This three and one quarter year project will build a system of supports for child welfare supervisors at the line, operational and administrative levels in order to increase the
stability and effectiveness of the workforce, improve casework practice and statewide
level of achievement of safety, permanency and well-being for children and families. The
goal is to develop, implement and maintain:
• A model of child welfare supervision that is outcome-focused, family-centered, solution-focused, data-informed and supportive of an organizational climate that fosters resilience in both staff and families.
• A system of supports for supervisory practice that can be used according to the needs and capabilities of the 58 local departments of social services (LDSS), including:
- Relevant, accessible manager and supervisory training programs and delivery
systems aligned with NYS’ case and supervisory practice model.
- A system for coaching and mentoring supervisors in implementing these practice
models in alignment with the CFSR PIP strategies.
- Supports for local districts that complement their efforts to develop new staff
- Creation of peer networks for line and administrative supervisors.
- Quality assurance and self-assessment tools to support the implementation of the
supervisory practice model.
- Methods for building staff resiliency skills in order to protect new and current staff
from secondary trauma and burnout.
This project will be conducted in collaboration with NYS’s 58 Local Departments of
Social Services (LDSS), including NYC Children’s Services and OCFS’ training partner
network. In order to maintain a scope of work appropriate for this project, full and parallel
development and implementation for the contracted service provider sector is not
included. We do plan on their inclusion in the Advisory Group and expect that many of
the components of a supervisory support system, including the model of supervision, will be adaptable to the contracted agency sector.
