By Mike Leach, The Imprint, Image: Unsplash via Crowdstack, February 17, 2025
When child welfare systems are scrutinized in the wake of lawsuits and investigations, the path to reform is often dictated by measurable outcomes such as caseload sizes, placement stability, health visits and timely permanency for children. These metrics are, without question, critical indicators of a system’s performance.
But the fixation on quantifiable results often neglects a crucial, intangible factor: the organizational health of the agencies tasked with protecting our most vulnerable children. We have to recognize that people — not machines — are at the heart of our work.
In the push for measurable results which we are all pushing hard for, it’s easy to forget that behind every system are people. And fostering a culture of safety, trust and continuous learning within the system is a must, and the first thing that needs to be discussed and measured. The state has to decide how you push down the required plans, action steps for meeting outcomes and how much time will be spent on building a better environment for staff, and it’s more than just a practice model. You can’t do one without the other for long-term success and I mean well after the lawsuit goes away.
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