Safety in the Workplace

In the wake of the tragic death of Vermont child protection worker Lara Sobel, CASCW would like to take a moment to discuss workplace safety and the implications of secondary traumatic stress for workers and their supervisors in the field.

The field of social work can be challenging and can impact us emotionally and physically. There is no time better than now to have these important conversations around safety and personal well-being in an effort to support each other and strengthen our child welfare communities.

The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) has published a training tool titled Guidelines for Social Worker Safety in The Workplace. NASW hopes these guidelines will assist in the development of agency policies and practices that will enhance the safety of social work professionals. Social workers can also use these guidelines to improve both professional and personal well-being and keep the conversation going.

Read “Guidelines for Social Worker Safety in The Workplace”

In the field of child welfare, exposure to traumatic events is inevitable. Social work professionals and their supervisors have a high chance of experiencing Secondary Traumatic Stress (STS). Secondary Traumatic Stress can be described as the emotional stress that results when an individual hears about the firsthand trauma experiences of someone else. The symptoms of STS can be very similar to those of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

For more information and resources on Secondary Traumatic Stress you can visit the Child Welfare Gateway.

CASCW published the annual CW360º in Spring of 2012 titled Secondary Trauma & the Child Welfare Workforce. Articles in this publication include research on secondary traumatic stress and how outside influences can impact work, ways of preventing and intervening from an individual to organizational to policy level, and examples of cross-system collaborations and strategies for practice improvements.

Read more in CW360º: Secondary Trauma & the Child Welfare Workforce here:

The Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) also offers a new training for counties and tribes on Secondary Traumatic Stress. This course will help workers understand STS and how organizational characteristics and workloads create traumatic stress. Trainees will create improvement strategies that will help and heal. To schedule this training in your area please contact Andrea Bartels.

If you reside in a different state, check with your local child welfare-training unit for trainings on workplace safety and STS.