Measuring organizational effectiveness to develop strategies to promote retention in public child welfare

Public child welfare agencies are under pressure to improve organizational, practice and client outcomes. Related to all of these outcomes is the retention of staff. Employee intent to remain employed may be used as a proxy for actual retention. In this study public child welfare staff in one Midwestern state were surveyed using the Survey of Organizational Excellence (Lauderdale, 1999) and the Intent to Remain Employed (Ellett, Ellett, & Rugutt, 2003) scales to assess the extent to which constructs such as perceptions of organizational culture, communication and other areas of organizational effectiveness were associated with intent to remain employed. A number of statistically significant relationships were identified which were presented to the public agency for use in the development of strategies for organizational improvement. Data were also analyzed regionally and based on urban/suburban/rural status to enable development of targeted approaches. This case study presents an example of how ongoing measurement of organizational effectiveness can be used as a strategy for organizational improvement over time in the child welfare system.     

Child welfare agency climate influence on worker commitment

This research focuses on understanding the relationship of organizational climate to commitment for child welfare workers in private, non-governmental organizations. Commitment is measured as a latent construct of agency investment derived from Landsman's study (2001). Agency investment includes measures of workers' time, cost, and emotional difficulty for changing their line of work. Organizational climate is embedded in Parker et al. (2003) modification of James and colleagues' theory of primary domains of work environment perceptions. Parker's Psychological Climate survey measured organizational climate. Four hundred forty-one workers in three not-for-profit agencies under contract with the public child welfare system were sampled. Autonomy, Challenge and Innovation were significantly associated with agency investment. This indicates that worker perceptions of having job autonomy, the job being challenging, and the organization as innovative predict greater job commitment.     

Organizational factors and the implementation of family to family: contextual elements of systems reform

In efforts to reform the child welfare system, agency leaders must involve staff at all levels; yet, little research has been done to determine which organizational factors encourage or inhibit staff engagement. Employees from an urban child welfare agency were invited to complete a survey regarding organizational effectiveness and its influence on reform efforts. The results show how these findings can be used by managers to improve practice, specifically through increased information sharing with stakeholders.     

The retention of public child welfare workers: The roles of professional organizational culture and coping strategies

The purpose of the current study was to investigate how professional organizational culture and coping strategies (control coping and avoidance coping) related to workers' intentions to remain employed in child welfare. With a sample of 234 frontline workers employed in Department of Human Services-Division of Family and Children Services (DHS-DFCS) offices in a state in the Southeastern region of the U.S., the current study tested a model in which coping strategies mediate the relationship between professional organizational culture and workers' intentions to remain employed in child welfare. Structural equation modeling was used to test the proposed model. Results revealed that professional organizational culture and control coping were significantly and positively related to workers' intentions to remain employed in child welfare. In addition, control coping mediated the relationship between professional organizational culture and worker retention. On the other hand, a significant relationship between avoidance coping and workers' intentions to remain employed in child welfare was not found. Implications of the findings for practice and recommendations for future research are discussed.     

Reducing turnover is not enough: The need for proficient organizational cultures to support positive youth outcomes in child welfare

Objective

High caseworker turnover has been identified as a factor in the poor outcomes of child welfare services. However, almost no empirical research has examined the relationship between caseworker turnover and youth outcomes in child welfare systems and there is an important knowledge gap regarding whether, and how, caseworker turnover relates to outcomes for youth. We hypothesized that the effects of caseworker turnover are moderated by organizational culture such that reduced caseworker turnover is only associated with improved youth outcomes in organizations with proficient cultures.

Methods

The study applied hierarchical linear models (HLM) analysis to the second National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-being (NSCAW II) with a U.S. nationwide sample of 2346 youth aged 1.5- to 18-years-old and 1544 caseworkers in 73 child welfare agencies. Proficient organizational culture was measured by caseworkers' responses to the Organizational Social Context (OSC) measure; staff turnover was reported by the agencies' directors; and youth outcomes were measured as total problems in psychosocial functioning with the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) completed by the youths' caregivers at intake and at 18-month follow-up.

Results

The association between caseworker turnover and youth outcomes was moderated by organizational culture. Youth outcomes were improved with lower staff turnover in proficient organizational cultures and the best outcomes occurred in organizations with low turnover and high proficiency.

Conclusions

To be successful, efforts to improve child welfare services by lowering staff turnover must also create proficient cultures that expect caseworkers to be competent and responsive to the needs of the youth and families they serve.     

Private child and family serving agencies: Implications of national survey results for policy and managerial practice

The national studies represented in this symposium provide the field with greater understanding of the nature of the private sector's role in child welfare and the complex interrelationships among organizational characteristics, inter-organizational dynamics, and external influences. Research findings from symposium papers are examined through the lens of a private agency manager and implications are derived for managerial practice and policy practice both within the private agency and in relation to public/private child welfare partnerships. Key managerial competencies that may be required to move agencies and the sector towards enhanced organizational performance and child welfare outcomes are discussed.     

Organizational change: The role of climate and job satisfaction in child welfare workers' perception of readiness for change

BackgroundWhen organizations embark on deliberate efforts to increase effectiveness through organizational-level changes, those that demonstrate greater readiness for change tend to have better outcomes. In contrast, when the organization is not ready, a change effort may result in resistance, conflict and, eventually, failure. However, studies addressing how agency climate and job satisfaction influence workers' perception of the organization's readiness for change in child welfare or human service organizations are scarce.MethodsData for this study was obtained from a sample of 356 direct care and clinical child welfare workers employed at eight not-for-profit child welfare agencies under contract to provide a variety of services in a large northeastern state. Workers were surveyed on their agency's readiness for change, organizational climate, and job satisfaction. The Spector Job Satisfaction Survey measured nine subscales and Parker Organizational Climate survey measured four primary domains: role, job, supervision, and organizational dimensions. A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted on nine questions derived from the Organizational Readiness for Change survey that measured workers' perceptions of organizational readiness for change. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was utilized to determine climate and satisfaction influences on voluntary child welfare workers' readiness for change.ResultsThe results of SEM confirmed that the exogenous independent indicators of role ambiguity, supervisor goal emphasis, organizational innovation, satisfaction with communication, and the number of years in current position were predictive of workers' perception of readiness for change with significant positive coefficients.ImplicationsThis study highlights the importance of certain organizational climate and job satisfaction factors that child welfare workers' identify for the success of agency change efforts. Workers perceive that organizations may have a higher level of readiness to implement successful change initiatives when: (1) workers feel their role is clear, supervisors articulate change goals, and job performance is held to a high standard and is measurable; (2) agency leaders establish organizational communication that is explicate, and they encourage workers to develop ideas and try new ways of doing the job; and (3) the greater the number of years workers are in their current position, the more likely change initiatives are perceived to be successful. Most importantly, this study suggests that not all organizational climate or job satisfaction factors are recognized by workers as supporting change equally.     

The context of program implementation and evaluation: A pilot study of interorganizational differences to improve child welfare reform efforts

This article contributes to the growing literature on evaluation and implementation science by examining the interaction between staff perceptions of organizational strength with perceptions and indicators of program fidelity. As part of a pilot project related to the evaluation of the Family to Family initiative, a survey was distributed to employees within two urban child welfare agencies with a total of 410 respondents across both sites, for a combined response rate of 72.2%. Survey results were analyzed both in terms or respondents' perception of their agency as well as in relation to measures of program performance and workload. Multivariate models show that organizational indicators are the most significant and positive predictors of perceived program implementation. Specifically, staff who positively perceived the availability of information within their agency also believed that the programs were well implemented in their agency. These findings suggest that as the value of program changes are articulated within an organization, the implementation of the initiative is perceived to improve.     

The mediating role of inclusion: A longitudinal study of the effects of leader–member exchange and diversity climate on job satisfaction and intention to leave among child welfare workers

Due to increasing diversity among clients and workers in the public child welfare] sector, it is essential to understand how workforce diversity can be channeled into positive organizational outcomes. Using theories of symbolic interaction, reference groups, and social identity, we tested a conceptual model of the relationships between diversity characteristics, leader–member exchange, diversity climate, perception of inclusion, and job satisfaction and intention to leave among public child welfare workers. The current study used two waves of data from 363 employees of a large urban public child welfare agency in the western United States. Path analysis results indicate that leader–member exchange and diversity climate have a positive effect on job satisfaction through inclusion, and that a positive organizational diversity climate can lower intention to leave through both inclusion and job satisfaction. Findings illustrate how organizational climates of diversity and inclusion affect both job satisfaction and intention to leave, providing insight into organizational factors that can be targeted for workplace interventions.     

A mixed-methods study of the impact of organizational culture on workforce retention in child welfare

The recruitment and retention of a stable, qualified workforce has been an on-going challenge for the child welfare system. Prior research has identified both individual and organizational factors influencing retention and turnover in child welfare. The current study uses mixed methods to examine the impact of perceived organizational culture on workers' intention to remain employed. Thematic analysis of the qualitative data revealed that perceived organizational culture, as understood as being comprised of both relationships and values, could be related to worker retention. Based on the qualitative findings, the researchers selected quantitative measures to operationalize the various aspects of organizational culture. Results from the logistic regression indicated that intention to remain employed was significantly related to organizational culture. Implications for practice are discussed.     

A qualitative study of 369 child welfare professionals' perspectives about factors contributing to employee retention and turnover

A statewide qualitative study of personal and organizational factors contributing to employees' decisions to either remain or leave employment in child welfare is described. Of particular interest was identifying factors related to employee retention. Professional staff (n = 369) in a state public child welfare agency, representing all levels of the agency and regions of the state, participated in 58 focus group interviews comprising some 1200 person hours of data collection. Core findings of the results are presented and discussed in view of information from other recent child welfare workforce studies. Recommendations and implications of the results for policy and practice are described.     

Organizational tenure among child welfare workers,burnout, stress,and intent to leave: Does employment-based social capital make a difference?

Research has shown that child welfare organizations have a prominent role in safeguarding their workers from experiencing high levels of job stress and burnout, which can ultimately lead to increased thoughts of leaving. However, it is not clear whether these relationships are shaped by their length of organizational tenure. A cross-sectional research design that included a statewide purposive sample of 209 child welfare workers was used to test a theoretical model of employment-based social capital to examine how paths to job stress, burnout, and intent to leave differ between workers who have worked in a child welfare organization for less than 3 years compared to those with 3 years or more of employment in one organization. Path analysis results indicate that when a mixture of dimensions of employment-based social capital are present, they act as significant direct protective factors in decreasing job stress and indirectly shape burnout and intent to leave differently based on organizational tenure. Thus, organizations may have to institute unique intervention efforts for both sets of workers that provide immediate and long-term structures of support, resources, and organizational practices given that their group-specific needs may change over time.     

Hurdling the Artificial Fence Between Child Welfare and the Community: Engaging Community Partners to Address Disproportionality

As with many national and state social service systems, child welfare agencies have traditionally functioned in isolation. A multitude of federal and state laws and policies direct the functions and practices of child welfare systems, setting up an artificial fence around the agency that has created a culture lacking in interprofessional collaborations. However, recent reform efforts have emphasized the importance of engaging the community in discussions and decisions regarding child welfare practice. Child welfare agencies are now expected to work with community leaders, key stakeholders, affiliated service providers, and families to address issues impacting children and families. A major obstacle is determining where to begin, how to proceed, and what is needed to develop those partnerships. This article reports the efforts of one state agency in hurdling that artificial fence to address the overrepresentation of minority children in the system. Through focus group interviews with community members, child welfare staff, and legal professionals, barriers to community engagement are identified, and recommendations are provided for facilitating meaningful relationships and partnerships between child welfare agencies and the communities they serve.     

California’s Title IV-E Partnership: A Statewide University–Agency Collaboration—Characteristics and Implications for Replication

University–agency partnerships funded by Title IV-E encourage students to enter the child welfare field by providing student stipends, thus supporting child welfare agency workforce development. This article examines the literature and historical roots of Title IV-E and other partnerships, identifies common structures and outcomes, and discusses the extent to which a structured development and change process supports the California partnership’s core mission to integrate the education and practice communities in child welfare. The partnership is teleological in nature, using a social exchange approach to advance mutuality and a full spectrum of benefits for universities and agencies. Models and best practice elements are presented as examples of how university–agency partnerships may enhance child welfare service delivery.     

Supervisor and policy roles in social media use as a new technology in child welfare

This analysis examines the role of agency policy and supervision in the decision-making of child welfare workers about their work-related social media use. Data were collected using a mixed-methods internet-based survey of 171 child welfare workers and interns about their social media use related to their direct-practice work with child welfare clients. The study finds that supervisor approval and agency policy is correlated with worker's social media use, and that workers find utility in social media use, but have poor clarity about how they should use social media in the child welfare work setting. These results suggest a need for agency policy and practice guidelines. Implications for child welfare agencies include an opportunity to consider the types of policy development necessary to ensure that multiple stakeholders are represented in policy and practice decisions, and that they reflect the possible benefits and risks of social media use.     

Closer to home: parent mentors in child welfare

This article addresses the emerging use of parent mentors--parents who have successfully negotiated the child welfare system and provide support and advocacy to others. The theoretical justification, roles, and expected outcomes and benefits of parent mentors are explored. The organizational factors thought to be required for such programs are also described, drawing on the available literature and the practice experience of a recently implemented Parent Partners program in a county child welfare agency.     

Assessing safety culture in child welfare: Evidence from Tennessee

States continue to search for ways to prevent harm to children and families within the child welfare system. Recently, states and researchers alike have looked to other high hazard sectors that have experienced harm-free performance by creating and sustaining a strong safety culture – an organizational focus and priority on safety. Safety culture is enabled by leader actions to prioritize safety (safety climate) and make it safe for employees to take an interpersonal risk (psychological safety). Safety culture is enacted by behaviors for detecting and correcting errors and unexpected events (safety organizing) and recognizing how stress affects work performance (stress recognition). However, despite their conceptual relevance and practical promise for child welfare, these and other safety culture constructs have yet to be subjected to rigorous empirical analysis in child welfare. This study draws on 1719 employees in the state of Tennessee's child welfare system to examine whether safety culture can be reliably and validly measured, can characterize organizations across a state (i.e., employees have shared perceptions of the safety culture), and be linked to relevant outcomes (e.g., employee emotional exhaustion). Our results confirm that components of safety culture can be reliably and validly measured in child welfare, perceptions of culture are shared within each of the Tennessee child welfare system's twelve regions, and that safety culture is generally associated with lower levels of employee emotional exhaustion, but also indicate that there is considerable opportunity for improvement as the levels of safety culture are low relative to other sectors.     

Issues in European child protection research

This paper considers the issues which emerged from studies relating to child protection in Europe and looks at the value and utility of cross-national comparisons in this field of social welfare. In one study, social workers in eight systems of child welfare took part in a study of practice based on a case vignette. In another, parents in three countries described their experience of child welfare interventions. The paper looks at elements of the structuring and functioning of child welfare and child protection, based on a triangulation of the experience of users and the experience of practitioners. Drawing examples from the research, the author considers how a knowledge of structures, culture and ideology can throw light on the functioning of child welfare services.     

Child resilience in out-of-home care: Child welfare worker perspectives

The study of resilience and its associated factors is highly applicable to the child welfare population as children living in out-of-home care have often experienced much adversity and are particularly vulnerable to the development of problems in numerous domains of functioning. The use of qualitative research in this area is scarce, and the majority of such studies have been based on the U.K. or U.S. child welfare systems. Therefore, the goal of the current study was to gain child welfare workers' perspectives on resilience and to explore the factors that they believe might influence resilience. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 11 child welfare workers from Ontario (Canada) to accomplish this goal. The interview was developed using an ecological perspective that inquired about possible sources of resilience from within children themselves, their family, their community, and the child welfare worker and agency. The workers identified a number of factors associated with resilience (e.g., child intelligence, worker communication skills); however, the critical importance of a child's relationships and social support from others underpinned all factors discussed. The findings highlight the importance of including the perspectives of all those involved in the child welfare system in assessing the well-being of children in out-of-home care. In addition, the dynamic interrelationships between the various levels of the ecological model and how these can impact on how a child is doing in out-of-home care were highlighted.     

Child Welfare Workers’ Perspectives on Contributing Factors to Retention and Turnover: Recommendations for Improvement

Rates of turnover are high in child welfare settings, impacting the organization, remaining workers and the children and families under their care. A number of demographic, psychological, social and organizational features have been associated with increased staff turnover, although we have limited understanding about how and why these factors are important; differences in influence at varying levels of seniority and career duration; and workers’ perspectives on how to address workplace issues. This qualitative study assessed how factors impact employee retention and turnover in focus groups with 25 employees at different stages of employment: resigned case managers, case managers employed for less than one year and more than three years, and supervisors. Results suggested few differences in themes identified by groups. Two broad themes emerged for retention: supportive environment (including themes relating to children/parents, co-workers, and the organization) and opportunities within the agency (including new positions, experience and knowledge and job security). Two broad themes emerged for turnover: organizational issues (including themes about low compensation, challenging work demands, and system issues) and stress. Workers’ perspectives and recommendations on how to address workplace problems were reported. Results are consistent with the existing literature, although a number of unique issues were identified, including workers’ desire for clear communication flow through hierarchies, increased collaboration, and revisions to the way data is used/integrated. Workers expressed a strong desire to be heard by management, and this study reflects an important effort to provide feedback. These findings are relevant for informing organizational policy in child welfare agencies.