Critical Domains

North Carolina ranks 33rd in the nation for child and family well-being which encompasses health, education, economic security, and other measures of family stability. The child welfare sector is crucial to protecting children from harm and neglect. This sector of social work faces some of the most demanding responsibilities in the field, putting the child welfare workforce at risk of secondary trauma and burnout, increased employee turnover and workload, lack of psychological safety, limited resources to serve families especially in rural areas, and other pressing issues. And yet, North Carolinians dedicated to improving the lives of children and families in North Carolina continue to persist in the face of these challenges. Addressing these issues is a crucial step for forming a sustainable and resilient workforce as well as improving outcomes for children and families.

The demand for social workers in the mental and behavioral health field continues to put a strain on its existing workforce. Within any 30-day period, about 27% of North Carolina’s children experience health or mental health conditions significant enough to keep them from engaging in regular daily activities. Supporting practitioners in effective ways, such as providing proper training and expanding financial opportunities, will give those seeking support access to high-quality social workers and care.

North Carolina has the 9th highest population of older adults in the nation, which produces the need for long term care and assisted living. By 2026, it is expected that every state will report a shortage of healthcare workers, and this past year 43 states experienced permanent closures of home care providers. Despite these trends, there are opportunities to bolster the caregiving workforce through partnerships with organizations that serve aging populations to promote organization, recruitment, education, and student placements.

More than 200,000 individuals in North Carolina live with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD). Our state does not have enough direct service workers to support individuals who have I/DD. The opportunities to better support the I/DD social work workforce in North Carolina include creating new partnerships with I/DD network organizations and initiatives to provide workforce training and support and evaluate best practices.

Only 37% of formerly incarcerated adults can find employment after their release. With a system that includes an overrepresentation of people of color in prisons and jails, it is important to provide treatment opportunities and interventions that help those in the system reenter their communities with a sense of dignity and care. Amid the challenges facing the justice-involved field of social work, there are opportunities to improve the people, systems, and interventions that impact those that are a part of the juvenile justice and criminal legal system. Particularly, using research to better inform workforce development in the field could lead to major support for those that are a part of, or are exiting, these systems.