A safety culture that fosters the psychological safety of the child welfare workforce can improve practice and strengthen job satisfaction. Psychologically safe teams seek input from all members, promote a growth mindset in which learning (and making mistakes) is normalized and supported, and foster vulnerability, trust, and accountability.
Use this collection of resources independently and with your team to learn concepts, assess current practice, and identify concrete strategies to increase the sense of psychological safety on your team.
Step 1: Build a Shared Understanding of Psychological Safety
Start by using the “Fostering Psychological Safety on Child Welfare Teams” overview publication to explore terms, concepts, and foundational information about psychological safety. Engage in the activities with your team as you explore strengths and opportunities for growth in your work together.
Step 2: Assess Your Team’s Psychological Safety
Use the “Assessment Tool: Fostering Psychological Safety on Child Welfare Teams” to explore strengths and areas for growth identified by members of your team. As a team, make a plan for concrete actions you can take to foster the conditions of psychological safety.
Step 3: Explore Individual and Team Approaches to Nurture Psychological Safety
- Listen to “Personal Healing and Growth” podcast episode 1 and episode 2 to hear directly from child welfare professionals about the connections between psychological safety and personal healing and growth in child welfare.
- Listen to the “Honoring Differences” podcast episode to hear child welfare professionals discuss the connections between psychological safety and honoring differences on child welfare teams.
Step 4: Make a Plan for Managing Conflict on Your Team
Bring your team together to watch an animated video about navigating conflict on child welfare teams. Use the interactive prompts to facilitate discussions about how your team’s approach to conflict can foster a sense of psychological safety at work.