Social Work Education and Public Child Welfare: A Review of the Peer-Reviewed Literature on Title IV-E Funded Programs

Collaboration between public child welfare agencies and social work education is not a new strategy. The relationship was kindled in the 1909 White House Conference and enshrined in Title IV-E support for social work education for public child welfare workers (Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980). Federal support for the preparation of social workers in the field of child welfare can be traced as far back as 1935 with the inception of the Child Welfare Provisions of the Social Security Act (Zlotnik, 2002). Although IV-E program evaluation research remains small, the contributions of existing studies have added to the field. This review highlights those contributions and accentuates the need to improve research efforts in terms of designs rigor, including sample size, power, effect size, instrumentation, analyses, and outcomes. In addition, it underscores the need to move forward in connecting outcomes to families and children by focusing on safety, permanence, and well-being.