Florida Institute for Child Welfare: Leadership Transition
Dr. Jessica Pryce joined the FSU College of Social Work faculty and the Florida Institute for Child Welfare in 2017 and will step down from the role in December 2022. Under her leadership, the institute has expanded and grown in its mission and impact.
Through her leadership and expertise, Dr. Pryce has been integral to the success of the Florida Institute for Child Welfare,” said Dr. Craig Stanley, interim dean and teaching professor in the College of Social Work. “She has worked diligently to bring together resources that will strengthen Florida’s child welfare system and improve the lives of children and families throughout our state. Her leadership has promoted a focus on evidence-based practices that provide support for the child welfare workforce and improve outcomes for children.”
When established by the Florida Legislature in 2014, the institute’s primary focus was translating research into program and policy recommendations. Institute staff and partners have been committed to the creation and curation of robust research that informs policy and scales up effective child welfare-focused interventions statewide.
As the institute’s director, Dr. Pryce has worked alongside the legislature to build a clear and compelling vision for sustainable and positive change in the child welfare workforce. The institute's trajectory has expanded to include a focus on workforce education and training including how students are learning about child welfare, career-long professional advancement and support, and organizational enhancement through leadership development.
Dr. Pryce championed the continued funding of the Florida Study for Safe Families, a longitudinal study of Florida’s child welfare workforce (2015-2020). The study now provides strategic guidance for the Institute’s expanded mission that corresponds with 2020 legislation Chapter No. 2020-152 (Senate bill 1326).
“It was an honor to work on Senate Bill 1326. To have had the opportunity to advocate for the professionals who do this job every day, day in and day out – it was surreal,” Pryce said. “With the complexities of child welfare, there were no easy answers for addressing the persistent workforce challenges but expanding our mission to prioritize the workforce was vital.”
Throughout her time as Director, Dr. Pryce tethered her leadership to her front-line experience in Tallahassee’s child protection services system. She brought connection and compassion for the frontline professional, which made the translation of the Institute work to multiple audiences a paramount goal. The connections and partnerships Dr. Pryce also established have rendered valuable insights and relationships that have made all the difference in the Institute’s continued success.
“As a leader, I’ve always wanted to create a vision, set standards for the quality of work that is being done and take good care of the team,” she explained. “I wanted our team to have the trust and space to use their knowledge and skills and feel a part of the overall vision. Our team is adaptive, strong and committed.”
Even in this leadership transition, the vision remains to foster a thriving workforce with evidence of increased job and career satisfaction, effective interorganizational partnerships, and competent leadership, which positively impacts the outcomes for children and families.
Other contributions from Dr. Pryce include the creation and hosting of the Institute’s podcast series, now with five seasons, with the goal of creating an accessible resource for child welfare professionals as they diligently do their jobs. Podcast episodes have highlighted important topics such as intimate partner violence, workforce innovations, supporting youth and promoting racial equity.
In addition, Dr. Pryce was appointed to the board of the National Child Welfare Workforce Institute (NCWWI) which created a throughline of resources and a robust partnership between the Institute and national partners. NCWWI has been an active and research-based informant for the new, expanded work at the Institute.
As Dr. Pryce will remain on faculty with the College of Social Work and maintain a close connection to the institute’s ongoing work, leading the Alliance for Workforce Enhancement (AWE) initiative that is part of the Institute’s GROW Center.
With guidance from Dr. Pryce, the AWE initiative will strive to enhance workforce well-being through specialized leadership development and adaptive technical assistance at the organizational level. The initiative has been implemented at two sites in Florida, creating opportunities to promote internal capacity building for Florida’s child welfare professionals.
“Being the Director of the Institute for 6 years has been a dream, a privilege. We have achieved more than we set out to achieve and I believe there is much more impact on the horizon,” she remarked. “It’s been an exceptional experience to work on systemic change efforts at my alma mater and in my home state.”
A nationwide search for the new Director of the institute will be underway in the near future. Information is pending.