A COMPETENCE-BASED METHOD FOR PROVIDING WORKER FEEDBACK TO CPS SUPERVISORS

While Child Protective Services (CPS) supervisors routinely, and forma lly, evaluate workers, this process is generally of a one-way nature, with little informal and no formal feedback coming front workers to su pervisors. This article describes a new instrument designed to allow C PS supervisors to receive feedback fi om the workers in their units. T he instrument is intended to give supervisors feedback on specific com petencies rather that to rate their performance in global areas. The i nstrument is based on a series of foals groups, in which both CPS work ers and cps supervisors gave their views on those factors which are mo st critical to a supervisor's ability to perform well The results from these focus groups at are presented the instrument is described: and the authors' experiences in implementing the instrument in St, Louis C ounty Missouri, are discussed.