The Cumberland County Department of Social Services is helping social workers across the state access a training program that better prepares them for the realities of their job.
Seven counties — including Onslow, Caldwell, Forsyth, and Lee — have requested more information about or to implement the University of Utah’s Virtual Social Work Trainer software after hearing about its successful implementation in Cumberland.
“We’re excited to see growing interest from other counties in the program the University of Utah has developed,” said Heike Hammer, performance management division director for Cumberland County DSS. “It is an innovative approach that can help bridge the gap between traditional training and hands-on fieldwork in meaningful ways.”
Introduced to Cumberland County social workers in February, the virtual program simulates welfare checks. The goal is to ensure social workers are practiced and confident, said Matt Davis, a research associate professor with the University of Utah’s Population Health Sciences Department and one of the original developers of the Virtual Social Work Trainer.
“What we’re trying to do is make it so that, if a social worker shows up at your door, the person receiving services is confident that that person is going to be an expert,” he said.
Users practice searching a home recreated through 360-degree panorama photography for signs of safety risks and good care, like children’s toys and books. At the end of a session, social workers receive a score based on what they found, and a report summarizing the total time spent investigating.
“These aren’t meant to be a one-and-done,” said Cole Benson, senior research analyst with the University of Utah’s Social Research Institute and the institution’s leader for North Carolina counties’ implementation of the software. “You’re going through multiple times, and that means, as a user, this is also tracking my performance outcomes so I can see how my skills are improving over time.”
The software also simulates the required documentation, family engagement and court involvement in welfare checks. Data from each session can be compared, helping managers assess a social worker’s progress.
Hammer said she brought the program to the county to address high turnover rates and long-standing vacancies in social work positions. Many social workers who have left said they felt unprepared for what they experienced in the field, she added.
Six months after the virtual program was put in place, anonymous survey results show that social workers feel more prepared thanks to the software, Hammer said.
“It was valuable to be able to visualize something that could actually happen in the field,” one social worker wrote in the survey.
“It forced me to go into homes looking for positives, rather than just focusing on the negatives,” another wrote.
It’s too early to say whether the software has had an impact on turnover rates. But Hammer noted that from February to July, the turnover rate for Children Services was cut almost in half. In that same time period, vacancies in Children Services decreased by 14 positions.
“It allows the social workers to practice in a safe environment,” Hammer said. “It helps them develop their skill level in addressing safety and risk, ensuring their own safety while in the field and to improve their interviewing skills with zero liability to the county and no harm to the families with whom we are working.”
The county received a 2025 Civic Award from the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners for the training software. The North Carolina Association of County Directors of Social Services also named Cumberland County a recipient of the Innovation Award for External and/or Non-Traditional Partnerships for its collaboration with the University of Utah.
The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services said it is interested in the Virtual Social Work Trainer, adding that it aligns with statewide efforts to redesign and modernize workforce training and supports for child welfare workers.
The training program was discussed last month at the Social Services Institute in Hickory. Representatives from Cumberland County DSS, Fayetteville State University and the University of Utah are working with counties that have expressed interest since that presentation.
Benson said Hammer and Cumberland County DSS Director Brenda Jackson have laid the groundwork for statewide implementation.
“They’ve become kind of a hub for North Carolina as a state,” Lewis Benson said. “They really champion it.”
Davis hopes to see North Carolina join the 30 other states, jurisdictions and universities using and improving the software.
“The idea is: North Carolina uses it, their workforce gets better. We get information to make the software and the approach better,” Davis said. “In addition, maybe North Carolina contributes some money to further develop the software. And then everybody wins.”
The University of Utah currently offers its Virtual Social Work Trainer for free. In exchange for the program, Cumberland County provides its social workers’ results to inform the university’s study into how well the software improves work performance.
However, as the software transitions to a web-based platform, the University of Utah will charge a subscription fee. Benson and Davis said they don’t yet know the total cost.
CityView Reporter Morgan Casey is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms. Morgan’s reporting focuses on health care issues in and around Cumberland County and can be supported through the News Foundation of Greater Fayetteville.
