Empirical Studies of Child Welfare Training Effectiveness: Methods and Outcomes

Although public child welfare agencies, as well as contracted private providers, conduct extensive amounts of training, the evaluation evidence for effectiveness of training interventions is sparse. This article provides a critical review of published reports of the child welfare training evaluation literature. When we conducted a search of the literature published since 1990, 14 articles met the criteria for inclusion. These articles are reviewed according to: training audience, training duration, research design, sample size, outcome measures, and reported results. Our conclusions identify strengths and weaknesses in evaluation approaches to date and suggest strategies for enhancing the evidence base of this core intervention in child welfare.