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

by Cathryn C. Potter, Charmaine R. Brittain, Oxford Staff

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195326765
Publisher:	Oxford University Press, USA
Publication date:	03/23/2009
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	400
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

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.

Table of Contents

1. Child Welfare Supervision: An Overview, Cathryn Potter
2. Models of Social Work Supervision, Charmaine R. Brittain
3. Supervisors as Leaders: A Critical Dimension for Organizational Success, Gary R. Anderson
4. Management Essentials for Child Welfare Supervisors, Jean East & Michele D. Hanna
5. The Child Welfare Unit, Michele D. Hanna
6. Maximizing the Middle Management Role in Child Welfare, Becky Antle, Anita Barbee, & Michiel Adriaan Van Zyl
7. The World Beyond the Unit, Katharine Cahn
8. Working in Changing Environments, Katharine Cahn & David Berns
9. Beyond the Question of Color: Diversity Issues in Child Welfare Supervision, Debora M. Ortega & Debra A. Mixon Mitchel
10. Getting and Keeping the Best People, Nancy Dickinson & Anne Comstock
11. Developing Worker Competence, Charmaine Brittain & Cathryn Potter
12. Clinical Supervision in Child Welfare, Sarah Ferguson
13. Managing Performance, Megan E. Paul, Michelle I. Graef, Erika J. Robinson, & Kristin I. Saathoff
Index

Editorial Reviews

"The field of children, youth, and families services has waited a long time for a text that provides such clear and informed guidance. This should be required reading for all child welfare professionals and scholars."—Gerald P. Mallon, DSW, Professor and Executive Director, National Resource Center for Family-Centered Practice and Permanency Planning, Hunter College School of Social Work

"This book is a welcome addition to currently available literature on supervision. It draws on a variety of models to present a practical guide, particularly for child welfare supervisors. In addition, the practice examples and skills-based activities will be of interest to trainers and practice educators. I would highly recommend this excellent book."—Reviewed by Gillian Calvin Thomas, Senior Lecturer, Practice Learning, Bournemouth University, in Child & Family Social Work

From the Publisher