Resiliency In Child Welfare Workers
Location
SU 217
Department
Social Work
Abstract
The child welfare worker profession continues to be affected by a high burnout rate. This phenomenon is affecting public and private agencies, as the workers are staying on the job for two years or less. Researchers have long looked at characteristics that have lead to the high burnout rates among child welfare workers and have made suggestions for improvement. Most research out there looks at reasons why most child welfare workers abandon the profession. There is however lack of research that has investigated the reasons that have led the child welfare workers to stay on the job for longer than two years. The research that I plan to present will utilize strength’s based perspective to explore the reasons behind the job satisfaction of child welfare workers. It will aim to look at the reason why they continue to stay rather than leave. I am currently exploring what has led the workers to stay in the field for longer than two years. My research is a proactive approach that can help agencies and administrators with retaining their child welfare workers. I am currently conducting a qualitative study as I have interviewed sixteen child welfare workers. The sample included three supervisors, one area administrator and twelve child protective investigators and the questions will question the reasons that influenced their stay with the agency. The interview platform includes seventeen questions that discuss demographics, level of education, years in the position, compensation, supervisor’s support and more. Researcher sat down with each child welfare worker and interviewed them separately. The interviews lasted roughly from thirty minutes to one hour. Researcher predicts that pay, love of the social work profession and supervisor support will be the main reasons behind the two-year longevity among child welfare workers.
Resiliency In Child Welfare Workers
SU 217
The child welfare worker profession continues to be affected by a high burnout rate. This phenomenon is affecting public and private agencies, as the workers are staying on the job for two years or less. Researchers have long looked at characteristics that have lead to the high burnout rates among child welfare workers and have made suggestions for improvement. Most research out there looks at reasons why most child welfare workers abandon the profession. There is however lack of research that has investigated the reasons that have led the child welfare workers to stay on the job for longer than two years. The research that I plan to present will utilize strength’s based perspective to explore the reasons behind the job satisfaction of child welfare workers. It will aim to look at the reason why they continue to stay rather than leave. I am currently exploring what has led the workers to stay in the field for longer than two years. My research is a proactive approach that can help agencies and administrators with retaining their child welfare workers. I am currently conducting a qualitative study as I have interviewed sixteen child welfare workers. The sample included three supervisors, one area administrator and twelve child protective investigators and the questions will question the reasons that influenced their stay with the agency. The interview platform includes seventeen questions that discuss demographics, level of education, years in the position, compensation, supervisor’s support and more. Researcher sat down with each child welfare worker and interviewed them separately. The interviews lasted roughly from thirty minutes to one hour. Researcher predicts that pay, love of the social work profession and supervisor support will be the main reasons behind the two-year longevity among child welfare workers.
Comments
Patricia Aguado is the faculty sponsor for this project.