Predictors of Early Departure among Recently Hired Child Welfare Workers

Abstract

Child welfare workforce turnover has been well studied, although there is limited understanding of factors related to the timing of departure. This study examines predictors of early job departure among newly hired child welfare workers. Data come from the first two waves of a longitudinal study. The sample for this analysis included 1,257 respondents. Hierarchical logistical regression was used to investigate worker characteristics and organizational influences on early departure. Early leavers, or those who left within the first six months, were 14.8 percent (n = 186) of the sample. Regression results indicated that two worker characteristics—years of previous work experience and major of college degree—predicted early departure. Two measures of organizational influences during the transition from training to casework were significant predictors of early departure: (1) caseload size the first week after training and (2) role ambiguity. These findings suggest that organizational attention to the orientation and socialization of newly hired child welfare professionals are likely to be instrumental to preventing early turnover.

Factors affecting child welfare and protection workers' intention to quit: a cross-sectional study from Norway

“…20% of the participants stated that they had too much to do to a large or very large extent. These findings are consistent with findings from the SKO study [ 46 , 72 ] and several other studies of workload in child protection services [ 16 , 19 , 25 , 73 ]. Yet, workload sizes have been found to be smaller for child welfare workers than for mental health professionals and for family service agencies but are still deemed unmanageable due to the complexities involved in each case [ 19 ].…”

“…Typically, it takes about 2 years for a new child welfare employee to learn what needs to be done in their jobs and to develop the knowledge, skills, abilities, and dispositions to work independently [ 23 , 24 ]. Previous research shows that intention to quit is higher among the newly employed and decreases as tenure increases [ 16 , 25 ]. This is to be expected, since workers with a low intention to quit are more likely to remain in their position as time goes by.…”

How do we prepare students for the challenges of social work? Examples from six countries around the world

“…In the US research focusing on the experiences of recently hired child welfare workers has identified the stress of organisational factors (e.g. onset of large caseload, role ambiguity, administrative requirements, unsupportive colleagues) as negatively influencing their tenure (Schelbe et al, 2017;Wilke et al, 2019). In sum, these results further underline the importance of providing social work students an education that ensures that they are fully prepared to enter highly complex practice fields early in their career.…”

The Importance of Job Demands and Supports: Promoting Retention Among Child Welfare Workers

“…While much evidence attests to the importance of supervisory and organizational support for retention, findings 1 3 on the importance of co-worker support for retention are mixed with some studies finding co-worker support decreases intent to leave and increases retention (Chenot et al, 2009;Dickinson & Perry, 2002;Ellett & Millar, 2004;Nissly et al, 2005;Scannapieco & Connell-Carrick, 2007) while others find no influence (Jacquet et al, 2008;Wilke et al, 2019). In a sample of rural and urban workers in California, those with peer support had a higher likelihood of intention to stay in the field than those with less peer support.…”

“…However, an examination of nurses, other human service professionals similar in many ways to child welfare workers, found that those with less support from family and friends experienced higher turnover rates (Tai & Robinson, 1998). In terms of coping among child welfare workers, evidence is inconclusive with studies indicating that healthier coping skills were associated with decreased intent to leave (Lee et al, 2011), but not with actual turnover (Wilke et al, 2019). Therefore, while many studies exclude personal resources, theory and limited empirical work suggest the importance of its inclusion.…”