Promoting peer support and engagement in child welfare using communities of practice and virtual communities of practice
A review of the literature
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21747623 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Michael S Henson (0000-0001-7187-351X, James Bell Associates), Michael Henson (James Bell Associates (United States)), Amanda N Barczyk (0000-0003-2999-1752, James Bell Associates (United States), corresponding author), Tammy Richards (0000-0001-7969-7207, James Bell Associates (United States)), Heidi Melz (0000-0002-4229-8605, James Bell Associates (United States)) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Pages | 1-19 |
| Publication date | 2026-07-08 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Public Child Welfare (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1554-8732 • E-ISSN: 1554-8740 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/15548732.2026.2700704 |
| OpenAlex | W7167667943 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 46 |
Peer support and engagement play critical roles in reducing adverse outcomes in the child welfare workforce, such as burnout and secondary trauma. Reducing such outcomes may have broader impacts on the child welfare workforce. Communities of practice (CoP) and virtual communities of practice (VCoP) are two types of peer communities that help promote peer support, engagement, and needed information, but there is limited literature on their use in child welfare. This article reviews key literature on CoP and VCoP to explore what these communities are, their potential benefits to child welfare systems, and key considerations for successfully implementing them
Best practice · Burnout · Community engagement · Peer group · Peer mentoring · Peer support · Welfare · Child Abuse and Trauma · Mental Health and Patient Involvement · Social Work Education and Practice
Assessing the Organizational Social Context (OSC) of child welfare systems
The effects of the ARC organizational intervention on caseworker turnover, climate, and culture in children's service systems
“Together we are better”
The Importance of Job Demands and Supports
Meeting the training needs of a child-protection workforce
Implementation of Virtual Communities of Practice in Healthcare to Improve Capability and Capacity
Factors Associated with Caseworker Burnout in Child Welfare
Factors affecting turnover rates of public child welfare front line workers
Retention of child welfare workers
A Multi-Level Conceptual Model to Examine Child Welfare Worker Turnover and Retention Decisions
Correlates of Secondary Traumatic Stress in Child Protective Services Workers
Who's got my back?’
Worker Safety in High-risk Child Protection and Domestic Violence Cases
High-Risk Cases at the Intersection of Domestic/Family Violence and Child Protection
What else is there to say? Reflections of newly-hired child welfare workers by retention status
Hope and resilience as protective factors linked to lower burnout among child welfare workers
Addressing secondary traumatic stress, burnout, resilience and turnover in the child welfare workforce
Effective workload management in child welfare
I'm So Stressed!’
It’s So Complex!’
A community of practice approach for school-based developmental social work in South Africa
Supporting Child Welfare Traineeship Students through an Online Peer Network
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |