Encouraging or Challenging: The Dichotomy of Frontline Child Welfare Workers' Supervision Experiences

Background and Purpose: In part due to the intense demands of their jobs, an estimated 20 to 50% of frontline workers leave their positions within the first few years of hire, resulting in an average length of child welfare employment under two years. High turnover creates additional stress on remaining workers as they receive reassigned caseloads, and outcome expectations remain unchanged despite worker vacancies. Using a social exchange framework, this study posits that supervisory relationships influence the development of workers’ job expectations and appropriate responses to the work environment. Quality supervision positively relates to frontline worker job satisfaction; worker empowerment and self-efficacy; the quality of client outcomes; and the retention of child welfare workers. Despite the importance of supervisory experiences, few studies describe workers’ perceptions of their relationships and experiences with their supervisors. The purpose of this research was to understand newly-hired workers’ experiences of supervision as they adjusted to their child welfare positions. 

Methods: The [Study Name blinded] (Study Acronym) of recently-hired frontline child welfare workers (N = 1,501), is a longitudinal, cohort study of workers hired between September, 2015 and December, 2016 with an 86% response rate. We analyzed qualitative interview data from a randomly-selected subsample of (Study Acronym) respondents including workers from every state region (N = 38). Workers were on the job approximately six months, including approximately four months in their agencies with their supervisors. Interview content included questions to understand the transition from training to independent caseloads, including workers’ experiences with supervision. We employed thematic analysis to understand participants’ supervisory experiences.

Results:  Approximately one half of workers considered their supervisory experiences as “hands on” and encouraging while the remaining half described them as “empty” and challenging. Findings reflect interactions in four domains: supervisor availability and approachability, consistency of provided information, level of micromanagement, and level of support. Workers, regardless of their experiences, expressed similar supervisory expectations on each domain. They expected supervisors to be available, knowledgeable, micromanagers, and supportive. Almost universally, workers with encouraging experiences had their expectations met in each domain while those with challenging experiences struggled in each area. Workers with challenging experiences hesitated to ask questions and felt “alone” or “like a sitting duck” because of a lack of oversight and a lack of empathy or support.  

Conclusions and Implications: Findings suggest that supervision experiences of child welfare workers underscore their ability to perform job-related tasks and impact their overall job satisfaction.  Findings yield four main implications to improve supervisory relationships. First, workers’ common supervisory expectations indicate a need for “hands on” supervision during the workers’ first months such as periodically “checking-in” with workers. Second, some workers’ hesitancy to approach supervisors indicates the need to inform supervisors of the importance of micromanagement. Third, developing a systematic protocol for workers to reference may assist new workers in completing documentation requirements of their caseloads and gain autonomy and reassurance. Fourth, advocating for supervisors to promote a supportive atmosphere to engender worker growth may improve both worker and clients’ outcomes.