Strengths Orientation in Child Welfare: The Role of Organizational Conditions in Change over Time

Background. Child welfare caseworkers are trained to engage in “strengths-based” practice (Saleebey, 1997). That is, they are trained to identify family strengths and help families capitalize on their strengths. At the same time, the difficult conditions of child welfare work are well documented (Drake & Yadama, 1996; Jayarante & Chess, 1984). Child welfare staff work in stressful, demanding environments with rigid, routinized organizational cultures. A social-exchange framework suggests that stressful work conditions will hinder staff efforts to identify client strengths and engage in strengths-based practice. This study aims to (1) assess how the strengths orientation of child welfare workers changes over time, and (2) assess the role of organizational conditions in any changes.

Method. The study involves a survey of child welfare workers conducted at two time points. Child welfare workers attending trainings on substance abuse and adolescent services over a one-year period were invited to participate in the study. Of 214 participants in 13 trainings, 192 completed a survey, resulting in a response rate of 90 percent at Time 1. Five months later, participants were sent a follow-up survey through the mail. The Time 2 response rate is 68 percent. Strengths-orientation was measured with a 6-item scale developed for this study. A sample item includes: “Not much can be done to help many of the families our agency works with.” The surveys also included measures of organizational culture and climate (UTCMHSC, 2000) and supervisory support (Yarnall, 1998). Paired t-tests and repeated measures ANOVA were used to assess changes in strengths orientation over time and the relationship of organizational conditions to change in strengths orientation.

Results. The strengths orientation of child welfare staff declined significantly over the five-month observation window. Staff experiencing more stressful organizational climates --that is, those experiencing higher levels of role overload, role conflict and emotional exhaustion -- had lower levels of strengths orientation at both time periods. In addition, staff experiencing more stressful organizational climates showed greater declines in strengths orientation than did staff experiencing less stressful climates. Staff experiencing more rigid, routinized, and formal organizational cultures also had lower strengths orientation, but these effects were similar at both time periods. Organizational effects were maintained when controlling for supervisory support; supervisory support was not significantly associated with strengths orientation at either time period. Respondents with a master's degree had greater strengths orientation at both time periods, but they also experienced a decline over time.

Implications. Study findings suggest that child welfare workers become less strengths oriented over time and that such declines are greater when they experience more stressful organizational conditions. Findings are consistent with previous research suggesting that positive work climates better enable staff to practice as they intend (Glisson, Dukes, & Green, 2006), and that organizational environments have an important influence on service quality (Glisson & Hemmelgarn, 1998). Findings contrast with previous research finding supervisory support to be a protective factor in difficult organizational conditions (Yoo, 2002). Social workers should further investigate the influence of organizational conditions on child welfare practice and outcomes.