Evaluating Job Redesign: Strategies and Preliminary Findings from Louisiana

Background and Purpose: Louisiana is testing job redesign in three parishes; contrasting workforce and practice outcomes to those of a comparison group. Needs assessment showed that high caseloads and administrative task responsibilities were barriers to caseworkers’ ability to support families, engage clients, determine root causes of maltreatment, and implement timely services. Surveys prior to implementation revealed that caseworkers perceived their jobs as highly complex; requiring a wide range of tasks, a variety of specialized skills, and a high degree of information processing. Job analysis and process mapping determined which tasks needed to be retained by child welfare workers and which could be assigned to a newly created professional position, Child Welfare Team Specialist (CWTS). Units were restructured to form Prevention teams, combining Child Protective Services (CPS) and Family Services (FS) programs; and Permanency teams with pairs of Foster Care workers sharing a caseload; one focused on the children and one focused on the parents. Both units are supported by a CWTS who works with the child welfare worker, assuming duties categorized as administrative. The first eight redesigned teams rolled out in June 2019. Subsequent groups rolled out in November and February 2020. The redesign tailors the array of tasks performed to each worker's role, making workloads more manageable, reducing stress, and improving retention. Improved retention is expected to enhance the quality of services to children and families, leading to better child and family outcomes.

Methods. Multiple methods are being used to assess impacts of the intervention including focus groups, surveys of caseworker perceptions of the job and organizational environment, case reviews, and administrative data. Time studies were conducted to assess model fidelity and track changes in the proportion of time spent on clinical versus administrative duties. Survey and focus group feedback, case reviews, and analyses of administrative management reports assess practice changes and differences in staff perceptions of key outcomes such as work stress.

Results: Discussion will cover what has been learned about the effects of the redesign on time spent on clinical versus administrative duties, perceptions of the work environment, worker stress, and changes in practice. Focus group participants have reported that the addition of the CWTS has helped them to be more available to families and timely in completing job tasks. Practice changes reported included families receiving service referrals more quickly, fewer removals, and fewer backlogged cases. Time studies showed decreases in time caseworkers in the experimental region spent on administrative tasks and increases in time spent on clinical work with children and families, and that these changes were maintained with the move to virtual work in response to Covid-19. Preliminary analyses of survey and administrative data have shown positive impacts on work related stress and lower rates of foster care admissions in experimental than comparison parishes.

Conclusions and Implications: Although in the early stages, this research suggests that job redesign may benefit caseworkers by decreasing stress and increasing opportunities for clinical work with families; and have implications for agencies concerned with efficient use of limited staff resources.