Child Welfare Workforce Retention: Intentions, Satisfaction, and Supervisor Relationships

Background and Purpose: There is a significant demand for child welfare workers; yet, caseworker retention remains a serious challenge. Studies on the retention of caseworkers in child welfare have been associated with multiple aspects of job satisfaction and higher levels of supervisor support (Benton, 2016; Lushin et al, 2023). Crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic, can increase workplace stress and workers’ intentions to leave. A recent study described the volatile child welfare workforce (Lushin et al., 2023). Lushin and colleagues’ (2023) findings indicated that less than a third of caseworkers had intentions to stay at the agency (27.4%) or in the field (29.5%) in the next 5 years. Despite the importance of relational resources, limited research has investigated key relationships among caseworker retention categories. This investigation aims to examine the relationship between retention categories and their respective impacts on separation ratings, and the role of relational resources including supervisor support.

Methods: Participants were caseworkers from the Oregon Department of Human Services (n = 1720). Caseworkers completed a caseworker engagement surveys, administered in 10 quarterly waves between 2018 to 2022. Retention groups were created using the combination of caseworkers’ responses to two items: job satisfaction (“I am currently satisfied with my position at DHS”) and intention to remain at DHS (“I intend to remain in my position at DHS”) (Kothari et al., 2021). Retention categories included: satisfied stayer (n = 645), ambivalent stayer (n = 253), unsatisfied stayer (n = 23), satisfied uncommitted (n = 67), satisfied leaver (n = 9), uncommitted (n = 454), unsatisfied uncommitted (n = 73), ambivalent leaver (n = 69), unsatisfied leaver (n = 134). These retention categories were examined alongside separation rates and supervisor support. The next steps include further testing over time.

Results: Findings indicate wide variability in separation rates from the agency across a 4-year period based on child welfare worker retention categories; 29% of satisfied stayers transferred out of the agency (lowest separation rate) while 64% of unsatisfied leavers transferred out of the agency (highest separation rate) during the study period. All stayer retention categories had below mean separation rates and all leaver categories were well above the mean separation rates. In addition, satisfied stayers reported having the highest supervisor rating.

Conclusions and Implications: Caseworkers’ intentions, job satisfaction, and supervisory support matters. Caseworkers who reported higher levels of job satisfaction and higher intentions to stay had lower separation rates. Satisfied stayers reported the lowest separation rates and highest supervisor ratings. To promote caseworker retention and increase workforce stability, agencies need to assess and address caseworkers’ intentions, job satisfaction, and relational resources including supervisor support. By attending to the specific needs of caseworkers across the different retention categories, organizations can create focused methods to improve conditions for workers and ultimately results for children and families involved in the Child Welfare system.