Project Overview

The HCWEC Project has been developed as a workforce recruitment and training program to (1) help fill position vacancies within the State of Hawaiʻi Department of Human Services (DHS) Child Welfare Services Branch (CWS) statewide, and (2) establish a future workforce of experienced child welfare workers. Each year, DHS provides funding for several stipends that help support Master of Social Work students attending the University of Hawaiʻi Thompson School of Social Work & Public Health. The Department of Social Work provides a specialized curriculum and field placement at CWS during the students’ specialization year. Upon graduation, these students work at CWS for a minimum of 2 years. 

ADDRESSING A CRITICAL NEED

Since 2009, the State of Hawaiʻi Department of Human Services (DHS) Child Welfare Services Branch (CWS) has experienced ongoing staffing challenges due to budget cuts, attrition, and age demographics.

  • By nature, child welfare services experience attrition of its valuable workforce due to the intense and difficult circumstances under which child welfare services employees work.
  • In February 2023, the Hawaiʻi CWS experienced its highest vacancy rate in over a decade.
    • The overall statewide vacancy rate at CWS was 32%. Of their 402 funded positions,129 were vacant. 
    • The caseworker vacancy rate was 40%. Of 177 authorized caseworker positions statewide, 107 were filled and 70 were vacant.
    • Moreover, 51% of CWS staff were between ages 50 and 79.
  • As a backdrop to the above statistics, it is important to recognize that 21% of the department’s child welfare services positions were eliminated during the 2009-2010 reduction in force.

To fill current vacancies, CWS primarily turns to WikiWiki Hire (a fast-track hiring process initiated in 2018) and the HCWEC program. To date, 110+ HCWEC new alumni have completed a post-graduation work commitment with CWS. Of these, over a third chose to work with CWS beyond their minimum 2-year HCWEC commitment. 

HCWEC alumni contributions go beyond just filling vacancies, however. They help to strengthen the CWS workforce.

  • HCWEC alumni onboard as experienced, master’s level social workers who interned at CWS throughout their specialization year.
  • They share lived experience. One of CWS’s priorities is to partner with people with lived expertise in child welfare to incorporate their perspectives and knowledge into systems change.
  • They assume leadership roles within the branch, helping to provide the support and structure needed to advance CWS’s goal of actively nurturing a robust, healthy workforce.

HISTORY

The first HCWEC cohort was admitted in 1998 with the aim of directly providing the Hawaiʻi Department of Human Services with experienced child welfare workers. Since then, more than 150 students have graduated from the program. 

Starting as an in-person program at the University of Hawaiʻi Mānoa campus on Oahu, the program quickly established itself and thrived. In 2008, HCWEC was able to expand its reach through the School of Social Work’s distance education option, making it possible for students living on all of the Hawaiʻian islands to participate. Each year, full-time and part-time students entered the program and received a specialized child welfare services curriculum, field integration seminars, and practicum placement in child welfare settings. The HCWEC program provided a continuous stream of qualified social workers to fill vacant child welfare positions until 2011.

In 2011, funding was stopped for five years due to statewide budget cuts. Fortunately, funding was reestablished in 2016 and the program was successfully revitalized. It then ran continuously until the COVID-19 pandemic prompted a pause in 2020, during which time the program continued with partial cohorts of students. In 2023, a full new cohort was welcomed and the program was once again revitalized. In June 2024, seven HCWEC students are scheduled to graduate and enter the CWS workforce as experienced, master’s level caseworkers.