(PS10-97) Exploring the Relationship Between Case Difficulty and Motivational Interviewing Skills in Virginia’s Child Welfare Workforce

Abstract Text: Motivational Interviewing (MI) is a well-supported evidence-based approach to counseling that uses specific skills to lead clients through the stages of change, with proven efficacy in child welfare (Hall et al., 2020). Virginia’s Prevention Services plan, resulting from the Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA), implemented MI among child welfare caseworkers. Fostering an empathetic workforce and addressing skill gaps in MI implementation may benefit child welfare-involved Virginia families, a group that faces many structural and identity-based barriers to resources (Dettlaff & Boyd, 2021; Greeno et al., 2017).

As cohorts of workers underwent a ten week MI training, the Virginia Department of Social Services (VDSS) collaborated with the Center for Evidence-Based Partnerships (CEP-Va) to create a self-assessment tool to gauge worker perceptions of their own MI skills. Every six months, VDSS sends a 15-item survey for MI-trained caseworkers to reflect on a selected case, rate its difficulty, and provide a self-assessment of their MI skill levels when working said case. MI skill are rated across two subscales: MI Spirit (e.g., “Empathy: I made consistent efforts to empathize with the client and provide evidence that I understood the client’s perspectives and ideas”) and MI Process (e.g., “Evoking: I cultivated change talk throughout the conversation”).

To date, 106 workers completed the self-assessment across three cohorts. By Fall 2025, we expect about 400 completed surveys across six cohorts, with some workers completing multiple surveys in six month intervals. We will conduct a correlational analysis to explore whether there is a relationship between perceived case difficulty and the self-reported measures' scales of MI Spirit (e.g., empathy, respect for autonomy, partnership) and MI Process (e.g., engaging, evoking, affirmations, reflections, etc.). We hypothesize that as case difficulty increases, empathy ratings will increase as workers become more attuned to families’ needs. Additionally, we expect that lower difficulty cases will correlate with higher ratings of MI skills as clinicians have more leeway to use their skills in lower stake situations.

Investigating the relationship between self-reported MI skills and case difficulty ratings has the potential to improve worker competency and confidence, client outcomes, and strengthen Virginia’s child welfare system. Potential findings may prompt further exploration of ongoing MI training and support, as well as highlight areas of strength and growth in MI skills. Ultimately, improving MI delivery, regardless of case difficulty, could benefit families in need of child welfare services.