Professionalization in public child welfare: Historical context and workplace outcomes for social workers and non-social workers

This article recaps the historic role of the U.S. Children's Bureau in the development and professionalization of public child welfare services. A review of the empirical literature explores relationships between professional preparation and outcomes in service delivery, job performance and preparedness, social work values, and retention of staff. This review informs the evaluation study, which draws from a longitudinal appraisal of almost 10,000 child welfare workers in Texas, about one third with degrees in social work The study found significant differences between the experiences and perceptions of those with social work degrees and those with degrees in other fields. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.