Advancing Public Child Welfare Practice and Educating Title IV-E MSW Students through Simulation Training

Overview: Simulation training is an effective method of instilling competence in various social work settings. This paper: 1) describes a developmental strategy and approach to simulation training that teaches essential public child welfare skills, and 2) shows the efficacy of employing simulation training with students in a Title IV-E program.Proposal text: Public child welfare (PCW) settings require committed, skillful, and competent workers who are equipped to care and advocate for children and families. To help provide such workers, the Title IV-E stipend program was created under Title IV-E of the Social Security Act. The program provides specialized training and financial support to PCW students. In return for stipend support, these students upon graduation are required to work in PCW agencies for two years (CalSWEC, 2022). To educate Title IV-E Master of Social Work (MSW) students to become competent PCW workers, our School has developed and implemented simulation training based on a combination of the Integration of Theory and Practice Loop Model⎯which uses the notion of kinesthetic learning through doing (Bogo & Vayda,1998)⎯ and experiential learning theory, in which learning occurs through concrete experience, reflective observation, and active experimentation (Kolb, 1984).

Over the last decade, simulation scenarios that replicate real social worker (SW)–client encounters have been documented as an effective method of instilling competence in trainee SWs, and its use is increasing (Chiu et al., 2021). Studies have focused on SWs in the field, SW students, SW field instructors, and interprofessional teams. Little research has focused on guidelines or best practices for using simulation training within Title IV-E education. To address this gap, and focusing on Title IV-E MSW students, this paper: 1) describes a developmental strategy and approach to simulation training that teaches essential PCW skills, and 2) shows the efficacy of employing simulation training in the final semester of a Title IV-E program.

In 2019 and 2020, we offered fifteen hours of simulation training, divided into five three-hour sessions, to final-year MSW Title IV-E students. The sessions comprised an introduction to the simulation, simulation training using three scenarios, and final reflections. The scenarios were drawn from real life and developed through a process of consultation with PCW experts, educators, and law enforcement. Students were briefed before and during each case scenario. Debriefing, group discussion, and feedback from faculty followed each one.

A one-group pre-post study design was used to enable the evaluation of the simulations’ effectiveness. The data were collected from participants in 2019 (n=19) and 2020 (n=21). As there were no statistical differences between the group for 2019 and the group for 2020 regarding demographic and contextual characteristics (e.g., age, ethnicity, previous social work experience), we combined the groups for data analysis. A series of paired t-tests with 40 final year MSW Title IV-E students showed significant improvements in students’ overall PCW competencies (t = -3.41, p < .005). Further analysis revealed that students significantly improved their PCW skills on 21 items at p < 0.05 level. Also, 89.5% of participants “agreed” or “strongly agreed” that simulation training would make them more effective PCW practitioners.

The study’s findings show that simulation training can form a valuable part of Title IV-E education. It enables students to develop and practice skills in a safe, supportive environment and to learn, reflect upon, and apply those skills to the PCW workplace.