Louisiana Department of Children & Family Services (DCFS) Strategic Recruitment, Retention, & Public Outreach Campaign Project

In order to strengthen Louisiana’s child welfare system, Franklin facilitated project planning, outreach, and message development for DCFS through three communication and marketing campaigns: Child Welfare Staff Retention; Foster Caregiver Recruitment and Retention; and Promotion of Child Abuse/Neglect Prevention Strategies, Programs, and Services.

Child Welfare Staff Retention

Franklin collaborated with DCFS to understand current strategies for and issues surrounding staff retention. Utilizing interviews and focus groups with new and existing DCFS staff, as well as reviewing exit data, Franklin acquired feedback to inform message development.  Franklin created a retention communications campaign, including (1) completion of a communications assessment to determine efficacy of current retention strategies and communications tactics, (2) development of strategies and tactics based on that assessment, including metrics for measuring results, and (3) development of materials (messaging, graphics, etc.) to be deployed statewide.

The campaign focused on the following:

• Opportunity to make a difference
• Long-term relationships resulting from supportive work culture
• Benefits Package
• Opportunity to optimize educational background

Foster Caregiver Recruitment and Retention

The Franklin Team collaborated with DCFS to evaluate and understand current strategies for and issues surrounding recruitment and retention of foster caregivers to improve recruitment and retention efforts. Through research, caregiver interviews, and focus groups, Franklin acquired feedback to develop new recruitment and retention messaging and deployment strategies. Franklin’s media campaign includes digital, print, and earned media campaigns for recruitment and retention of caregivers, including digital and social media ads, video, and billboards. Franklin also developed direct outreach plans to allow the agency to focus further on faith-based organizations and other appropriate groups with targeted recruitment strategies.

The campaign focused on the following:

• Expand understanding of the objective/purpose of fostering
• Potential to positively impact a child’s future
• Potential role a caregiver plays in a family’s story
• Opportunity for those with experience and desire to care for children

Promotion of Child Abuse/Neglect Prevention Strategies, Programs, and Services

Franklin collaborated with DCFS to understand and analyze current messaging issues regarding child abuse and neglect reporting to provide insightful improvement recommendations. Through research and message testing, Franklin developed modified messaging strategies that are inclusive of all audiences. Franklin worked closely with the agency to review and revise key reporting mechanisms to streamline them and facilitate more effective handling processes for incoming reports of child abuse and/or neglect. The Franklin team also assisted with refinement of mandatory reporting training materials and processes to better support these stakeholders.

Campaign Materials

Across these three campaigns, Franklin developed recruitment and retention materials  in multiple mediums, including (but not limited to): Focus group outputs, media campaign materials (digital and hardcopy mockups), and multiple recruitment strategies including messaging, a database for faith-based and non-profit organizations for future needs, monthly reports of interactions with targeted audiences, media buy, media buy reports monthly as completed, and campaign analytics reports.

In the midst of these deliverables, one key highlight in 2023 Franklin facilitated the development of emergency placement protocols to prevent adolescents from temporarily being housed at the DCFS offices because a lack of short-term emergency foster homes/caregiver capacity, which meant the children had nowhere else to go.