Institute for the Advancement of Social Work Research

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Institute for the Advancement of Social Work
Research

• A National Overview of Recruitment and Retention
  of
• Child Welfare Workers Lessons from Research
• Prepared for the
• NRC for Family-Centered Practice and Permanency
  Planning
• August 15, 2007 Teleconference
• Joan Levy Zlotnik
• Executive Director
• Institute for the Advancement of Social Work
  Research
• www.iaswresearch.org
• 202 336 8393 jlziaswr_at_naswdc.org

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Goals for the Session

• Put recruitment and retention concerns in a
  national context.
• Examine findings from research that can help
  identify solutions and strategies.
• Share ideas about what has and could work.
• Provide resources to take away.

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Making Workforce Improvement a Priority

• Growing recognition that there is a crisis
  related to child welfare workforce.
• Competence and qualifications impact outcomes.
• Turnover is costly (both child and family
  outcomes).
• Difficulty attracting the right workers.
• Paperwork, agency environment/support, caseload
  impact professionals interest in child welfare
  careers.
• Continual questioning Is social work the right
  degree for child welfare work?
• Workforce issues are related to service quality
  (CSFR/PIPs)
• Media attention highlights systemic problems
• Class action lawsuits address caseload, workload,
  qualifications and training

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Documenting the Problem

• GAO Study (2003, 2004)
• Annie E. Casey Foundation Report (2003)
• Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care Report
  (2004)
• NASW Report (2003)
• Child and Family Service Reviews
• APHSA (2001 2005)
• Cornerstones for Kids (2006)
• NASW study of licensed social workers (2006)
• National Child Welfare Workforce Policy Workgroup
• http//www.childrensdefense.org/site/PageServer?p
  agenameresearch_CWMH_Workforce_Improvements

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Assuring the Sufficiency of a Frontline- Workforce

• National study of licensed social workers
• Completed by the National Assn. of Social Workers
  Center for Workforce Studies
• Continue to attract professional social workers
  to work with children and families but retaining
  them is a problem!
• However, issues relate to
• Work environment
• Levels of compensation (earn less than social
  workers not serving a majority of children)
• Safety
• Vacancy rates
• Filling social work positions with non-social
  workers and outsourcing of social work functions.
• http//workforce.socialworkers.org/studies/child
  ren/NASW_06_Children.pdf

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Staff Turnover and Child Abuse

• Recently released study comparing California
  counties
• High functioning counties
• lowest turnover rates
• best paid staff
• compliance with recognized practice standards
• low rates of re-abuse.
• Lowest functioning counties
• Highest turnover
• Lowest staff pay
• Highest rates of re-abuse
• http//www.cornerstones4kids.org/images/nccd_relat
  ionships_306.pdf

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Status of Research on Addressing the Problem

• Annie E. Casey Foundation launches Human Services
  Workforce Initiative (2003) across child serving
• Contracts with Cornerstones for Kids
  (www.cornerstones4kids.org).
• IASWR committed to strengthening
  research-practice connections.
• IASWR involvement in child welfare and aging
  workforce issues.
• National leadership in promoting use of and
  documenting models of university/agency child
  welfare partnerships and use of Title IV-E funds
  for professional education
• Literature reviews, growing body of research and
  evaluation studies.
• No systematic approach to reviewing and assessing
  the research to understand the strength of the
  outcomes.

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Question

• What will it take to develop and retain
• a competent, committed workforce with
• the caseload size and knowledge and skills
• to get the work done?

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Addressing the Problem

Casey Human Services Workforce
Initiative Enhance understanding of the problem
and identify and implement solutions

• IASWR
• Connecting
• research
• and practice
• Expertise,
• knowledge and
• access

Factors Influencing Retention of Child
Welfare Staff A Systematic Review of
Research

• Univ. of Maryland School
• of Social Work IHSP
• Center for Families
• Expertise
• Infrastructure
• Access to references

Campbell Collaboration/ Consultation Systematic
Review Method Structure
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Institute for the Advancement of Social Work
Research

• Factors Influencing Retention of Child Welfare
  Staff A Systematic Review of Research
• Zlotnik, DePanfilis, Daining Lane (2005)
• Available at www.iaswresearch.org
• Supported by a Grant from the Annie E. Casey
  Foundations Human Services Workforce Initiative

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Study Descriptions

• Retrospective record reviews of who exited
• Qualitative individual or group interviews/focus
  groups/narrative
• Surveys of current and/or former workers,
  supervisors and/or managers.
• Survey of state administrators
• Comparison of high and low turnover counties
• Study intent to remain/leave
• All but one study since 1990 and 65 since 1999
• Seven studies specifically examined Title IV-E
  education graduates and retention
• Few studies use standardized measures or
  instruments

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What Strategies and Conditions Influence the
Retention of Staff in Public Child Welfare?

• Personal Factors
• Professional commitment
• Previous work experience
•  Education
• Job Satisfaction
• Efficacy
• Personal characteristics
•  Age Bilingual
• Burnout
• Emotional Exhaustion
• Role overload/conflict/stress

Strategy Title IV-E Professional Education
Prog. BSW MSW Degree Ed for workers
Organizational Factors Better Salary
Reasonable Workload Supervisory support
Coworker Support Opportunities for
advancement Valuing Workers
IMPROVED RETENTION
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Retention Factors

• Personal Factors
• Commitment to child welfare
• Personal experience (age bi-lingual)
• Previous experience
• Wanting to work with children and families
  goodness of fit
• Education
• Social work more likely
• Social work specialized in child welfare most
  likely
• Less education and less relevant education less
  likely
• Huge variation in qualifications of staff
  nationally 10 masters to 60
• Attributes of supervisors skills in mentoring,
  high level of practice knowledge
• Self-efficacy
• Perceived competence and human caring

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Retention Factors

• Organizational factors
• Quality supervision
• Manageable workload
• Peer support
• Feeling valued
• Opportunities for advancement
• Safety and resource availability
• Salary and benefits people who leave make more
  

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Negative Factors

• Burn-out
• Emotional exhaustion
• Depersonalization
• Lack of personal accomplishment
• Negative organizational environment can lead to
  or reinforce personal factors
• Work and family life imbalance
• Lack of commitment no goodness of fit
• Those with the least relevant and/or least
  education most likely to leave.

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Issues to Think About

• How is retention defined?
• Staying at agency
• Staying in child welfare
• Continuing to serve population in another setting
• What is good enough retention?
• Two years?
• Five years?
• Some period of time post payback?

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Issues to Think About

• Intent to leave
• Precursor of leaving
• Burnout and withdrawal impacts performance and
  outcomes
• How and when should agencies intervene?
• APHSA Workforce Data Collection Field Guide -
  Cyphers, APHSA
• Organizational environment practices little
  cost big pay-off
• Exit interviews
• Staff involvement in decision-making
• Special awards
• Resources computers, pdas, cars, support staff
• Leadership Changes
• Longevity of administrators, changes in governor,
  etc.
• Commitment and job security - length of contracts
  and commitment to workers

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Strategies to Impact Retention

• Most common improved training, but does it work
  is anyone studying it?
• Most studied -- Title IV-E education for child
  welfare practice (different models)
• Better service outcomes
• Better attitude toward kids and families
• Self-efficacy
• Commitment to the agency
• Feeling valued
• Special job title/position

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Workload --- Caseload

• APHSA 2004 study top reasons for turnover
  related to caseload/workload.
• Focus on workload reflects differential
  patterns of staffing, structure and service
  delivery.
• Impacts safety, permanency and well-being and
  CFSR outcomes gaps identified related to
  insufficient visits/engagement/assessment.
• Workers leave because they are overwhelmed or
  they stay and just manage crises.
• HOWEVER, in looking at multivariate analysis of
  research on recruitment and retention other
  factors are more significant than caseload.

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14 Components of an Effective CW Workforce
(CDF/CR Child Welfare Policy Workgroup)
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Questions to Ask

• People seeking child welfare employment should
  ask - Is it what I really want to do?
• Staff selecting applicants for child welfare
  positions should ask -- Does the candidate have
  the professional commitment and experience to
  take on this job and deal with the related
  stress?
• Child welfare supervisors should ask -- Do I have
  the knowledge and skills to provide support and
  case-focused supervision to my staff and do I
  have support from my superiors?
• Agency administrators should ask -- Does the
  agency provide the necessary supportssupervisory,
  career ladder, working environment that will
  attract workers and keep them at the agency?
• Universities, especially social work education
  programs, should ask -- Can we strengthen our
  partnership with state and local child welfare
  agencies to provide education and training to
  current and prospective staff and to develop and
  implement research and program evaluation efforts
  that can help to guide agency practices?

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Promising Practices

• Ready pool of new hires
• Legislate/regulate workload size require
  response
• Collaboration between child welfare and human
  resources
• Raise staffing standards
• Strengthen agency/university education/research
  partnership
• Embed pre-service in child welfare curricula in
  schools of social work
• Stakeholder design and implementation teams

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Implications for University/Agency Partnerships

• Recognize that recruitment and retention are
  influenced by the intersection of multiple
  factors and impact service and client outcomes.
• Schools of social work are uniquely positioned to
  support improved agency outcomes (research,
  analysis, evaluation, consultation, technical
  assistance).
• Title IV-E educational preparation and training
  are only part of what needs to be done.
• Implementation and sustainability are major
  issues how can the university help?
• Universities have multiple roles for greater
  engagement with agencies and service delivery
  improvements.
• Develop research-based briefs to address
  workforce policy improvements.

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Recommendations

• Develop a process to rigorously and regularly
  evaluate retention strategies being implemented
  (APHSA survey in-service training improvement
  most common).
• Encourage Title IV-E education for child welfare
  practice programs to use similar measures,
  methods and instruments in evaluation and
  research and follow IV-E graduates career
  trajectories.
• Develop multi-site, multi-year initiatives to
  test intervention strategies across agencies and
  settings.
• Create research efforts to develop, test and
  validate instruments and measures.
• Create a clearinghouse to regularly gather, track
  and analyze studies and provide information to
  impact workforce policies and decision-making.
• Support longitudinal evaluation efforts.

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R R Research Resources

• Factors Influencing Retention of Child Welfare
  Staff A Systematic Review of Research, Zlotnik,
  DePanfilis, Daining Lane (2005) -- Available at
  www.iaswresearch.org. Supported by a Grant from
  the Annie E. Casey Foundations Human Services
  Workforce Initiative
• IASWR Child Welfare Workforce Initiative
• www.iaswresearch.org
• IV-E Child Welfare University Agency Partnerships
• http//www.uky.edu/SocialWork/cswe/
• Child Welfare Workforce Policy Workgroup convened
  by CDF/CR and funded through Cornerstones for
  Kids http//www.childrensdefense.org/site/DocServe
  r/CW_Workforce_Report_2.pdf?docID3563 and
  http//www.childrensdefense.org/site/PageServer?pa
  genameresearch_CWMH_Workforce_Improvements
• Child Welfare Workforce and Training Resources
  http//www.childwelfare.gov/systemwide/workforce/

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Resources continued

• Report from the 2004 Child Welfare Workforce
  Survey State Agency Findings (February 2005)
  available from http//www.aphsa.org/Home/Doc/WFExe
  cutiveSummary.pdf
• NASW Center for Workforce Studies -
  http//workforce.socialworkers.org/
• Cornerstones for Kids (AECF Human Services
  Workforce Initiative) www.cornerstones4kids.org.
  

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About IASWR

• IASWR Listserv Announcements
• Website www.iaswresearch.org
• IASWResearchReportsResources
• Participation in social science coalitions
• Develop connections to research funders
• Communicate social work research contributions
• IASWR Child Welfare Workforce Initiative
• Social Work Reinvestment Initiative
  www.socialworkreinvestment.org