Alternative Work Arrangements

During the needs assessment  process, theories of change were developed for the three primary areas of need identified in partnership with the Washington State Department of Children, Youth and Families. Through a series of steps and causal links, a theory of change provides a roadmap to address the root causes of an identified workforce problem and describes how and why changes are expected to lead to the desired outcomes.

The Implementation Team

Implementation Team

The QIC-WD evaluation was conducted with the support of the Virginia Department of Social Services to determine if a Case-Supportive Technology intervention was effective in improving workforce and child welfare outcomes. 

Research Questions

The site-level evaluation for Virginia was designed to understand implementation of and outcomes related to two technology innovations: (1) transcription and (2) a mobility application. See the Intervention Overview for more information. 

The QIC-WD evaluation was conducted with the support of the Washington State Department of Children, Youth & Families (DCYF) to determine if a telework program was effective in improving workforce and child welfare outcomes. The evaluation, as outlined in the Logic Model, was approved by the Washington State Institutional Review Board (IRB).

The Washington Department of Children, Youth & Families (DCYF) Child Welfare Field Operations (CWYO) telework program was developed by reviewing policies, practices, experiences and research distilled from materials produced by numerous federal and state agencies (for example, www.telework.gov).

The Virginia Department of Social Services (VDSS) and the QIC-WD designed a multi-phase case-supportive technology intervention to help child welfare caseworkers complete their case notes and other administrative tasks required as part of their job. The decision by VDSS to implement technological supports for caseworkers was informed by two data collection efforts:

1. Listening sessions, held by VDSS staff in each region of the state, and

The Virginia Department of Social Services (VDSS) is a state-supervised and locally- administered social services system. There are 120 local departments of social services (LDSS) composed of approximately 2,000 employees who are responsible for providing child welfare services.