Child Welfare Workforce
Retention Research in New
York State
New York State Social Work
Education Consortium
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CSWE Child Welfare Symposium-2003
Study Team Members
Social Work Education Consortium
NYS Office of Children and Family Services
NYS Deans Association
Commissioners
University
Faculty and Students
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CSWE Child Welfare Symposium-2003
Project History
OCFS Turnover Survey
 Commissioners in counties with turnover
over 25% meet
 Commissioners request a study
 Consortium agrees to lead the study

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CSWE Child Welfare Symposium-2003
Study Objectives

Use a participatory approach to create
knowledge to strengthen the child welfare
workforce

Help managers develop effective
approaches to recruit and retain workers
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CSWE Child Welfare Symposium-2003
County Characteristics
Population: 31,582 - 1,419,369
 FY 2000 Child Abuse Reports: 400 8,569
 Indicated Reports: 78 - 2,820
 Workforce size: 18 - 279
 Beginning Salary: $23,446 - $35,805
 Average salary: $25,595 - $43,639

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CSWE Child Welfare Symposium-2003
Participatory (Action) Research
11 schools of participatory research
 Each is grounded in

– Different traditions
– Different philosophical and psychological
assumptions
– Different political goals
(Reason and Bradbury, 2001)

In all the research process is participative,
grounded in experience, action oriented
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CSWE Child Welfare Symposium-2003
Study Approach
Value the expertise and contributions of
faculty, county commissioners, state policy
and program staff, and students
 Respect, trust, and communicate

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CSWE Child Welfare Symposium-2003
Process
Research team meetings
 Ongoing and regular feed back from all
partners
 Consensus building

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CSWE Child Welfare Symposium-2003
Process
Travel to counties to present the survey in
person
 Travel to counties to present and discuss
initial findings
 Meetings with commissioners to plan next
steps of the study

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CSWE Child Welfare Symposium-2003
Benefits of the process
Commissioners feel ownership of the study
findings
 Commissioners are committed to future
steps

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CSWE Child Welfare Symposium-2003
Challenges of the process
Time
 Truly incorporating participants views
resulted in scientific compromises
 Uncertain implications of team-member
turnover

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CSWE Child Welfare Symposium-2003
Demographics
696
child welfare workers in all
participating counties
409
child welfare workers
participated in the study
59%
study
of workers participated in the
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CSWE Child Welfare Symposium-2003
Race of Participants
African American
3.0%
Hispanic
2.3 %
American Indian
0.3 %
2 or More Races
1.5 %
Pacific Islander
0.3%
Asian
0.5%
Caucasian
91.3%
Other
1.0%
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CSWE Child Welfare Symposium-2003
Gender of Participants
Male
18.1%
Female
81.9%
Female
Male
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CSWE Child Welfare Symposium-2003
Age of Participants
Average age of Participants is 39.8 years
Average age of Supervisors is 44.3 years
Average age of Workers is 38.2 years
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CSWE Child Welfare Symposium-2003
Age Brackets of Supervisors and Workers
35
30
25.9
25
Percent
32.1
29.7
30.9
26.5
22.9
19
20
15
10
7.4
3.7
5
0
22-29
30-39
Supervisors (n= 81)
40-49
50-59
2
60-69
Workers (n = 306)
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CSWE Child Welfare Symposium-2003
Years in Child Welfare
Mean number of years is 8.5
Half of the participants have worked less than 5.8
years; half have worked more than 5.8 years.
The median number of years worked by
participants is 5.8
Time in Child Welfare ranged from 1 month to
40 years
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CSWE Child Welfare Symposium-2003
Average Years in Child Welfare
Average Years
18
Number of Years
16
14
12
10
8
15.5
15.3
6
4
2
8.4
6.5
5.4
7.4
4.2
3.2
3.4
Supervisors
Workers
All
0
Child Welfare
Current job
Current agency
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CSWE Child Welfare Symposium-2003
Median Years in Child Welfare
Number of Years
Median Years
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
14.3
13.5
4.5
2.2
Supervisors
Child Welfare
2.0
3.4
5.8
2.0
Workers
Current job
4.7
All
Current agency
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CSWE Child Welfare Symposium-2003
Annual Salary Range
* 2 participants reported a salary of less than $20,000.
54.1
Annual Participant Salary*
60
Percent
28.3
11.5
6.6
0
+
-4
0
00
5,
0
00
5,
0
00
0,
0
00
5,
Non, Small or Med. SMSA
01
,0
45
01
,0
35
-3
-3
-2
All
01
,0
30
01
,0
25
01
,0
20
Salary
16.4
0
0
1.3
10
18.4
18.1
12.5
20
20.9
30
25.2
32.3
40
53.3
50
Large SMSA
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CSWE Child Welfare Symposium-2003
Satisfaction with Salary
and Benefits
Participant Satisfaction of Salary and Benefits
60
50
Percent
40
30
45.1
20
10
22.2
20
0
Satisfied with Salary
Satisfied with Benefits
Satisfied with Promotion
Opportunities
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CSWE Child Welfare Symposium-2003
Annual Household Income
15.4% of participants in all counties combined hold more than one job
Percent
Household Income - All Counties
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
27.2
24.2
27.2
17
4.4
01
,0
70
01
,0
50
01
,0
35
01
,0
25
01
,0
15
+
-7
-5
-3
-2
0
00
0,
0
00
0,
0
00
5,
0
00
5,
Income
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CSWE Child Welfare Symposium-2003
Child Caseload Size
Workers in all counties combined reported caseloads
ranging from 0 – 400.
Supervisors in all counties combined reported
caseloads ranging from 0-1700.
The average number of children in caseloads of
supervisors is 165.
The median number of children in caseloads of
supervisors is 50.
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CSWE Child Welfare Symposium-2003
Child Caseload Size of Workers
30
21.6
24
20
15.5
15
8.1
1.4
4.2
3.2
3.5
1.8
1.8
1.1
0.4
0.4
301-1700
4.9
2.1
201-300
5
151-200
6
126-150
10
101-125
91-100
81-90
71-80
61-70
51-60
41-50
31-40
21-30
11-20
1-10
0
0
percent of Respondents
25
All Counties
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CSWE Child Welfare Symposium-2003
Caseload Size
Number of Children in the Caseloads of Workers
# of Children
50
40
30
20
42.6
30
10
0
Average number
Median number
All
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CSWE Child Welfare Symposium-2003
Foster Families and Biological Parents
in Caseloads of all participants
Average number
40
37.9
20
0
7
# of Foster families
# of Biological Parents
All Counties
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CSWE Child Welfare Symposium-2003
Supervisor Task Breakdown
court
3.0%
other
2.3%
Direct Service
8.4%
paperwork
29.9%
Supervision
45.3%
Community Action
3.0%
Management
8.0%
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CSWE Child Welfare Symposium-2003
Worker Task Breakdown
court
7.4%
other
3.4%
Direct Service
30.3%
paperwork
44.1%
Community Action
3.2%
Supervision
7.4%
Management
4.1%
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CSWE Child Welfare Symposium-2003
Task Breakdown for Workers and
Supervisors in All Counties
court
6.6%
paperwork
40.6%
other
3.3%
Direct Service
25.8%
Supervision
15.6%
Community Action
3.1%
Management
5.0%
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CSWE Child Welfare Symposium-2003
Work Experience
Percent
Percentage of Respondents with any Experience
59
in Child Welfare Units
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
51
42
23
5
14
6
PS
v
*
er
er
es
th
O
Pr
ily e
m
ar
Fa
C
er
st
Fo on
i
pt
do ion
A
t
en
ev
Pr
rt
ou
C
C
n
io
at
*Other category includes: adult services, youth/PINS/JD, day care, income employment,
child support, emergency services, foster home finding, homeless services, intake, and out of state.
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CSWE Child Welfare Symposium-2003
Percent of Participants
Casework as a Choice
72
80
72
60
40
25
19
20
0
1st career
choice
1st
full-time step up from last
job
job
would make
same choice
All
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CSWE Child Welfare Symposium-2003
Organizational and
Supervisory Factors
Associated with Retention
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CSWE Child Welfare Symposium-2003
Organizational Factors
Clarity & Coherence of Practice
Life Work Fit
Goal Attainment, Job Satisfaction & Efficacy
Job Supports & Relationships
Technology, Training & Record Keeping
Salaries & Benefits
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CSWE Child Welfare Symposium-2003
Supervisory Factors
Supervisor Support
Supervisor Competence
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CSWE Child Welfare Symposium-2003
Logistic Regression Models
Workers Only –with statistical significance
Higher scores on all Organizational dimensions
except salary & benefits reduces the likelihood
of considering new job
Higher Score on supervisor support reduces the
likelihood of considering a new job.
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CSWE Child Welfare Symposium-2003
Analysis continued
A higher score on satisfaction with organizational
dimensions consistently reduces the likelihood of
considering a new job, even when controlling for salary,
caseload size and paperwork
A higher score on supervisor support reduces by 42% the
likelihood of considering a new job even when controlling for
salary, caseload size and paperwork
A higher score on supervisor knowledge is not related to
considering a new job (at a level of statistical significance)
when accounting for salary, caseload size and paperwork
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CSWE Child Welfare Symposium-2003
Recommendations
Organizational characteristics matter to worker’s
retention (even when accounting for salary,
caseload size and paperwork).
Supervisor Support is important. Strategies to
address this are unique to each county.
Interviews to get specific ideas from workers and
supervisors regarding specific improvements in
their county to improve retention.
Survey low turnover counties to see what the
differences and similarities are.
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CSWE Child Welfare Symposium-2003