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DSW Showcase Student Presentation

Tricia Minnick

LMSW, Doctoral Candidate

Helping Our Helpers: Ethical Imperatives for Ensuring Child Welfare Worker Well-Being Through Organizational Policies

Concentration -

  • Wednesday, April 30, 2025 -
  • 9:00 am
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Abstract

This capstone examines the critical issue of child welfare worker well-being and its implications for children and families. The presenter explores how social work leaders and organizations can better support their workforce and improve outcomes for children. The discussion focuses on three key work products. The first product, a systematic literature review, centers on the role of organizations in promoting child welfare worker well-being. It highlights how the inherently challenging nature of this work contributes to secondary traumatic stress, burnout, and turnover. While research emphasizes the protective role of organizational culture and policies, it often neglects the ethical responsibilities of organizations to prioritize worker wellness. The second product, a conceptual paper, proposes a new theoretical framework for ethical policy-making. By integrating Organizational Support Theory, Systems Theory, and Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, the framework asserts that organizations are ethically bound to prioritize worker well-being. The U.S. Surgeon General’s Framework for Workplace Mental Health and Well-Being (2024) and the NASW Standards for Social Work Practice in Child Welfare (2021) guide the discussion, advocating for consistent policies to address well-being disparities. The third product, an application paper, introduces the Helping Our Helpers Organizational Wellness Policy Framework, a theory-driven tool for developing organizational policies. This framework aims to enhance worker well-being, reduce turnover, and improve outcomes for children and families.

Biography

Tricia Minnick is a Licensed Master Social Worker currently residing in Italy. She is a Doctoral Candidate with a concentration in Administrative Leadership at the University of Kentucky. Ms. Minnick earned her MSW from the University of Kentucky and her BASW from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, where she was the Marion Frances Boswell Memorial Award recipient, selected for her scholarship, character, and contributions to her university and Alaska.
Serving as a Senior Associate in an Anchorage-based consulting agency, Ms. Minnick has dedicated much of her professional life to the issue of child welfare worker wellness and retention. She brings a strengths-based approach and a systems-focused lens to her team. Her love of problem-solving and passion for social justice is seen throughout her work. As a Doctoral Candidate, Ms. Minnick is committed to “helping our helpers.” She is dedicated to empowering social workers by prioritizing their well-being. She believes those who devote their lives to helping others deserve the support needed to navigate the inherent challenges of their roles. Her capstone project explores the ethical obligations of organizations to support child welfare workers' well-being through policy standards. By advocating for balance and sustainability for these professionals, she aims to ensure they can continue making a meaningful difference in the lives of vulnerable populations without depleting their inner resources.
In line with her passion for “helping our helpers,” Ms. Minnick proudly serves as the DSW student representative on the University of Kentucky CoSW Dean’s Student Advisory Council and the Doctoral Programs Committee.