2021-2022
The National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW) is a nationally representative, longitudinal survey of children and families who have been the subjects of investigation by Child Protective Services. NSCAW examines child and family well-being outcomes in detail and seeks to relate those outcomes to experience with the child welfare system and to family characteristics, community environment, and other factors. NSCAW includes first-hand reports from children, parents, and other caregivers, as well as reports from caseworkers/child welfare staff, and teachers.
The child welfare workforce is essential to the delivery of needed intervention services to children and families at risk of or experiencing maltreatment. The child welfare system seeks to hire and maintain staff who demonstrates the skill and competencies necessary to address the needs of the children and families with whom they interact. It also seeks to build a stable and committed workforce to help children and families thrive.
The NSCAW III Child Welfare Workforce Study is a sub-study of the larger NSCAW III project, and explores characteristics and activities of the child welfare workforce from 2021 to 2022, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The sample included agency directors, supervisors, and caseworkers from within 61 nationally representative agencies that participated in NSCAW III. The instruments that were developed for the workforce study covered the four main research question categories, including:
- workforce characteristics and competencies;
- recruitment, hiring, and onboarding;
- training and professional development; and
- organizational factors such as workforce policies and agency structure.
The Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, in collaboration with the Children’s Bureau, provides oversight for NSCAW III and the child welfare workforce study. The NSCAW project team is led by RTI International and partners include HR Directions (LLC), Miami Environmental and Energy Solutions (LLC), Rutgers University, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Points of contact: Laura Hoard and Christine Fortunato
Information on NSCAW can be found here.
Information collections related to this project have been reviewed and approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs under OMB #0970-0202. Related materials are available on at the NSCAW III Information collection page on RegInfo.gov .
The most currently approved document are accessible by clicking on the ICR Ref. No. with the most recent conclusion date. To access the information collections (e.g. interviews, surveys, protocols), click on View Information Collection (IC) List. Click on View Supporting Statement and Other Documents to access other supplementary documents.
Data from NSCAW I and NSCAW II are archived at the National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect [NDACAN ] Data from NSCAW III and the child welfare workforce study will also be archived at NDACAN.