“This text is a unique and important resource for anyone working in the child welfare field. The training manual is excellent for professional development workshops and programs.”

- Fred R. McKenzie, Aurora University

SECONDARY TRAUMATIC STRESS AND THE CHILD WELFARE PROFESSIONAL

Josephine G. Pryce, University of Alabama
Kimberly K. Shackelford, University of Mississippi
David H. Pryce

Becoming a child welfare professional should come with a warning: “beware – this may change you forever and can be dangerous.” The change, however, may be good if you can learn to cope with the stress of the work and grow from the experience. Secondary Traumatic Stress and the Child Welfare Professional, a first-of-its kind book, presents the tools to help child welfare practitioners and agency managers identify and provide practical and appropriate interventions. This book is based on the authors’ ten-year study of over 600 child welfare practitioners’ experience with traumatic stress and child welfare.

Provides

• Theory explaining the causes and effects of STS
• Practical measures to prevent and cope with STS
• Explanations of burnout and STS, and their differences
• Intervention plans for all levels of agency
• Chapters by both scholars and practitioners

Contents

Chapter 1:	Traumatic Stress in Child Welfare Silencing the Study of Trauma A Brief History of Traumatology The Emergence of Compassion Fatigue and Secondary Traumatic Stress Burnout Traumatology and Child Welfare Professionals Applying Trauma Theory to Child Welfare Work Constructivist Self-Development Theory Empirical Evidence of STS among Helping Professionals Child Protective Services: The Impact on Professionals Empirical Evidence of STS in Child Welfare Work Conclusion and Implications for Child Welfare
Chapter 2:	Who Are Child Welfare Workers, and What Is the Cost of Losing Them? Who Becomes a Child Welfare Worker? A Loss of Innocence? The Biggest Cost of Losing Child Welfare Workers: The Cost to Children and Families Attachment in Foster Care Issues Other Costs of Losing Child Welfare Workers Economic Costs of Training New Child Welfare Workers Child Welfare Worker Turnover: Why Do They Leave? Disbelief and Dismissal Trauma Hostile Work Environment and Administrative Bullying Child Welfare Worker Retention: Why Do They Stay?
Chapter 3:	Educating Child Welfare Workers about Secondary Traumatic Stress A Psychoeducational Model for Secondary Traumatic Stress Education Staying Cognitive during STS Education: Thinking about Feeling Gender Issues Differentiating STS from Burnout How Human Beings Respond to Trauma Understanding How Trauma Changes the Psychological Frame of Reference or Worldview Dumping Your Bucket Personal Trauma History Coping with Secondary Traumatic Stress and Using Social Support Self-Assessment Physical Self-Care Social Self-Care Spirituality Emotional Self-Care Managing Disbelief and Dismissal Trauma Professional Coping Factors The Use of Humor as a Coping Skill Professional Development Anticipatory Coping
Chapter 4:	Traumatic Stress and Supervision in Child Welfare Traumatic Stress and Supervision The Critical Role of the Supervisor in Child Welfare Characteristics of Social Work Supervision Unique Characteristics of Child Welfare Supervision The Need for Effective Child Welfare Supervision Methods Supervision in the Context of Trauma Supervisors’ Traumatic-Stress Issues and Self-Care Boundary Maintenance Enmeshment as a Boundary Violation Checking for Boundary Violations Successful Supervision in Child Welfare The University of Kentucky Southern Quality Improvement Center for Child Protection
Chapter 5:	Traumatic Stress and Child Welfare Administration Leadership The Absence of Leadership Secondary Traumatic Stress and the Organization Problems in Normalizing STS Administration and Traumatic Stress Selective Hiring Practices Professional Development and Education about STS Administrators’ Support for Supervisors Critical Incident Stress Debriefing Employment Assistance Programs Professional Support Groups Socialization and Mentoring Physical and Psychological Safety Security Innovations in Spite of Constraints Socialization to Child Welfare: Administrative Responsibility Advancement and Compensation Management for Workplace Excellence
Chapter 6:	Child Welfare Work and Traumatic Stress: An Occupational Hazard Protecting Children in America: The Early Years Child Protection Today: The Casework Method Danger and the Potential for Injury in Child Welfare Work Workers’ Compensation as Relief: Background Workers’ Compensation: General Policy and Practice Workers’ Compensation: Fraud Employers’ Duty to Care Workers’ Compensation: Defining Injury Workers’ Compensation and PTSD: A Psychiatrist’s Perspective Workers’ Compensation: Stress Claims and States’ Reactions “Occupational Disease”: The Case of Fairfax County v. Mottram Child Welfare, PTSD, and Workers’ Compensation: Elements of a Claim
Chapter 7:	Traumatic Stress, Social Work Education, Child Welfare, and Research Lessons Learned from Teaching Traumatic Stress Inclusion of Traumatic Stress in the Social Work Curriculum The Importance of Traumatic Stress to Child Welfare Education How to Integrate Traumatic Stress into the Curriculum Research Issues: How We Can Be Changed by What We Study A Research Agenda: What We Need to Know Personal Characteristics and STS Organizational Factors and STS

Epilogue
Appendix A. Empirical Evidence of Secondary Traumatic Stress in Child Welfare Workers
Appendix B. Syllabus of Primary and Secondary Traumatic Stress in Social Work: Practice, Supervision, and Organizations
Appendix C. Glossary
References
Index
Tables

1. Terms Generated by Workshop Participants to Describe Trauma/Traumatic Stress
2. Terms Generated by Workshop Participants to Describe Burnout
3. Terms Generated by Workshop Participants to Describe Responses to Trauma
4. Comparisons of States on Characteristics, STS, Burnout, and Compassion Satisfaction
5. Comparisons of States on Compassion Satisfaction Potential and STS and Burnout Risk Categories
6. Effects of STS on Child Welfare Practitioners by State

Manual

Presented in a train-the-trainer approach, the manual guides the leader in an interactive program for educating child welfare professionals about traumatic stress, individual coping mechanisms, and social support strategies.

Preview sample material from manual

About the Authors

Josephine G. Pryce (PhD, University of California, Berkeley; MSW, Our Lady of the Lake University) is associate professor of social work at the University of Alabama.  She teaches a variety of courses in social work practice, research, and traumatic stress.  Professor Pryce is the recipient of several awards for teaching excellence. The focus of her scholarship and writing is military families, veterans, lesbians, and gay men, and secondary traumatic stress and self-care for helping professionals.

Kimberly K. Shackelford (PhD, University of Mississippi, Oxford; MSW, University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg) is associate professor of social work at the University of Mississippi. She was previously the director of training for the Mississippi Department of Human Services—Division of Family and Children's Services and before that was a front-line child protection social worker and child protection supervisor. She continues to work with the Mississippi child welfare agency staff and other community service agencies for the continued improvement of services delivered to the children and families of Mississippi.

2007, Paper, 200 Pages, ISBN 978-1-993478-05-0, Price $34.95