TY - JOUR
T1 - Who stays, who goes, who knows? A state-wide survey of child welfare workers
AU - Griffiths, Austin
AU - Royse, David
AU - Culver, Kalee
AU - Piescher, Kristine
AU - Zhang, Yanchen
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2017/6/1
Y1 - 2017/6/1
N2 - Child welfare workforce turnover remains a significant problem with dire consequences. Designed to assist in its retention efforts, an agency supported state-wide survey was employed to capture worker feedback and insight into turnover. This article examines the quantitative feedback from a Southern state's frontline child welfare workforce (N = 511), examining worker intent to leave as those who intend to stay employed at the agency (Stayers), those who are undecided (Undecided), and those who intend to leave (Leavers). A series of One-Way ANOVAs revealed a stratified pattern of worker dissatisfaction, with stayers reporting highest satisfaction levels, followed by undecided workers, and then leavers in all areas (e.g., salary, workload, recognition, professional development, accomplishment, peer support, and supervision). A Multinomial Logistic Regression model revealed significant (and shared) predictors among leavers and undecided workers in comparison to stayers with respect to dissatisfaction with workload and professional development, and working in an urban area. Additionally, child welfare workers who intend to leave the agency in the next 12 months expressed significant dissatisfaction with supervision and accomplishment, and tended to be younger and professionals of color.
AB - Child welfare workforce turnover remains a significant problem with dire consequences. Designed to assist in its retention efforts, an agency supported state-wide survey was employed to capture worker feedback and insight into turnover. This article examines the quantitative feedback from a Southern state's frontline child welfare workforce (N = 511), examining worker intent to leave as those who intend to stay employed at the agency (Stayers), those who are undecided (Undecided), and those who intend to leave (Leavers). A series of One-Way ANOVAs revealed a stratified pattern of worker dissatisfaction, with stayers reporting highest satisfaction levels, followed by undecided workers, and then leavers in all areas (e.g., salary, workload, recognition, professional development, accomplishment, peer support, and supervision). A Multinomial Logistic Regression model revealed significant (and shared) predictors among leavers and undecided workers in comparison to stayers with respect to dissatisfaction with workload and professional development, and working in an urban area. Additionally, child welfare workers who intend to leave the agency in the next 12 months expressed significant dissatisfaction with supervision and accomplishment, and tended to be younger and professionals of color.
KW - Child welfare
KW - Job satisfaction
KW - Retention
KW - Rural
KW - Turnover
KW - Urban
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U2 - 10.1016/j.childyouth.2017.04.012
DO - 10.1016/j.childyouth.2017.04.012
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85018508711
SN - 0190-7409
VL - 77
SP - 110
EP - 117
JO - Children and Youth Services Review
JF - Children and Youth Services Review
ER -