Blythe English’s Mission to Revitalize Child Welfare in Moffat County

When Blythe English, the Child Welfare and Adult Protection Services (APS) Manager, arrived in Moffat County in 2024, she found only one temporary crisis worker on the team, so focused on building and retaining a permanent team from the ground up. With nearly 25 years in the field, Blythe leveraged her extensive experience to tackle the challenges of recruitment, retention, and community trust in the rural county.

Faced with the challenge of recruiting staff in a rural area, English successfully hired four caseworkers. She utilized education waivers to hire smart, motivated staff who were still working on their bachelor’s degrees and pulled from other departments, including an administrative assistant and the eligibility unit.

“Probably the thing I loved best is while it was extremely stressful not having staff I was able to pick our staff, hire on our staff and train our staff. I have been able to build the team and teach them to run the department effectively,” said Blythe.

A significant positive change Bylthe implemented was restructuring the program away from a generalist model, which previously led to staff burnout. New staff no longer expected to handle all aspects at once, such as assessments, ongoing cases, and APS. Instead, the team now operates with specialized positions for assessment and ongoing work, and Blythe currently trains  a lead worker to take on the future foster care coordinator role. This restructuring has been vital for staff retention.

“I’m not going to ask my staff to do anything that I’m not willing to do. While I have some very fresh new workers, if they need me to go in the field with them, I staff with them. I do not ever want my staff to feel like I’m not available for their questions in the field. I don’t want them to feel unsupported,” said Blythe, who shares lessons learned from her own 25 years in the field. She uses her experience in serious incidents, like fatality reviews, to emphasize the critical importance of thorough documentation and asking crucial questions.

Blythe made rebuilding law enforcement and community partnerships a key priority. Blythe established frequent meetings with both the Sheriff’s department and the Craig Police Department and streamlined communication efforts in support of immediate responses. This increased availability and responsiveness helped restore trust, benefiting the safety of families and children. Blythe also strengthened relationships with community partners like the school system, Northwest Colorado Health, and the local child advocacy center as well as virtual mental health and substance abuse services.

«I think the positive change is we’re doing the work and we’re doing good work. I’ve heard from community members, a judge and former foster parents that this is the most efficient they’ve seen the child welfare work run in years,» Blythe recalled.

Furthermore, the agency implemented more prevention work. They utilize the part-time availability of the APS worker to reach out to families for resource provision. The agency also uses core dollars to cover prevention services like therapy or substance abuse treatment. The major goal for the current year is to fully establish the Moffat County foster care program. The program was slow and not a priority in the past, the new focus is on recruiting and certifying more traditional foster homes to assist not only Moffat County but also neighboring counties. 

«I think what has been most motivating is seeing the families grow when we have had to intervene… when you’ve started a case and it was clear there was a lot of substance use and you’re seeing them a year later and they’re sober and they have their children, that’s huge,» Blythe added.