Illuminating Pathways

Where does your workforce come from?

Illuminating Pathways is a practical, user-friendly tool designed to help child welfare leaders and HR professionals better understand the data sources that illuminatethe path that staff take to their child welfare career. The tool breaks down complex workforce analytics concepts into accessible segments, many supported by short podcast-style audio clips that highlight key insights and real-world relevance.It is also enhanced with a short video and series of Frequently Asked Questions.

Users can read it from start to finish for a comprehensive understanding or jump directly to the sections most relevant to their current challenges. Sections address education, internships experience, training, and even microcredentials to help agency leadership understand staff qualifications and career pathways. At its core, the tool addresses a common gap in child welfare: knowing what workforce data to collect, how to measureit consistently, and when to capture it across the employee lifecycle to inform investments in recruiting, training, and retaining workers.

Data is often gathered and stored in different systems at different points in a candidate’s and employee’s career. By providing clear guidance on measuring critical employee information, Illuminating Pathways equips agencies to move beyond anecdotal decision-making toward more strategic, data-informed workforce planning. The result is a stronger foundation for improving hiring outcomes, targeting workforce development investments, and ultimately building a more stable and effective child welfare workforce.

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