Enhancing Caseworker Readiness for Change: The Role of Empowerment and Leadership in Child Welfare

Background: In the dynamic field of child welfare, organizations continually face high turnover rates and extensive regulatory changes, impacting the effectiveness of services provided to vulnerable populations. This study addresses the critical need to understand how empowerment and leadership within child welfare organizations can enhance caseworkers' readiness for change. By focusing on the dimensions of empowerment and leadership qualities, the research aims to identify strategic levers that can foster an adaptable and resilient workforce, essential for improving service delivery and outcomes in child welfare settings.

Methods: This research utilized a robust exploratory structural equation modeling (SEM) approach to analyze the relationships between empowerment, leadership, and caseworker readiness for change. Data were collected from 2,832 employees across 13 child welfare agencies in a northeastern U.S. state. The agencies involved are diverse, encompassing urban, suburban, and rural settings, providing a comprehensive view of the sector's challenges and dynamics. The study employed the National Child Welfare Workforce Institute’s Comprehensive Organizational Health Assessment, which included validated scales measuring various aspects of organizational climate and individual perceptions. Empowerment was modeled as a second-order latent variable with dimensions including trust, self-determination, meaning, and self-efficacy, derived from detailed survey responses. Leadership was assessed through responses to leadership quality and effectiveness within the agencies. SEM was conducted using the SEMinR package in R, providing a rigorous statistical analysis framework to assess direct and indirect relationships among the study variables, ensuring the accuracy and reliability of the findings.

Results: The findings revealed that empowerment, particularly the dimensions of trust and self-determination, significantly predicts caseworkers' readiness for change. Leadership quality also emerged as a crucial mediator, enhancing the effects of empowerment on readiness for change. Specifically, higher levels of perceived trust and self-determination among caseworkers were associated with a greater acceptance of and adaptation to organizational changes, mediated by the quality of leadership within the organization.

Conclusions and Implications: The study highlights the pivotal role of empowerment and leadership in fostering an organizational environment conducive to change. Trust and self-determination are key factors that child welfare organizations can focus on to enhance their workforce's readiness for change. Furthermore, the quality of leadership is instrumental in translating empowerment into effective change management practices. These insights are vital for child welfare administrators and policymakers aiming to improve organizational resilience and effectiveness, suggesting that targeted interventions focusing on enhancing empowerment and leadership qualities can lead to significant improvements in service delivery and caseworker retention. Implementing these findings could lead to more stable and effective child welfare services, ultimately benefiting the children and families they serve.