Tightropes and Safety Nets - the Multi-Component Significance of Job Control and Support for Organizational Commitment within Child Welfare Workforces

[Background & Purpose] Beyond fiscal implications, burnout and turnover within child welfare also have negative consequences for children and families; for example, high agency levels of job dissatisfaction and termination intentions have been found to significantly impact service delivery (e.g., client engagement, satisfaction, trust in providers) as well as child outcomes. Furthermore, CWW turnover and subsequent hiring lags have been found to increase the length of foster care placements, as well as the risk of child maltreatment recurrence.

Effectively improving workforce retention requires an accurate understanding of how characteristics of child welfare jobs influence workers attitudes regarding their employment (i.e., organizational commitment). Therefore, Aim 1 of this study was to test the relationships between child welfare role characteristics (e.g., demands, control, predictability, support) and worker feelings of organizational commitment (e.g., affective, normative, continuance)

[Methods] This research project was designed as a cross-sectional state-level case study of the Ohio child welfare workforce. Ohio is one of nine states with a state-supervised county-administered child welfare system, wherein specific policies and practices may range widely between agencies. A multi-level mixed methods approach was therefore used, as solely quantitative data may have failed to accurately capture work-related psychosocial influences. Participant recruitment involved all employees working within a stratified random sampling of Ohio’s 88 county Child Protections Service Agencies (PCSAs). 245 staff from 20 PCSAs participated in the quantitative online study survey, 26 of whom agreed to participate in a subsequent study focus group.

[Results] Multivariate multiple regression analysis results suggest partial support for Aim 1 study hypotheses in terms of the significance and direction of relationships between child welfare role characteristics and employee organizational commitment. Overall, the four role characteristics (e.g., role demand manageability, job control, work predictability, job support) included in the MMR model as independent variables were significantly associated with the three types of organizational commitment (e.g., affective, normative, continuance) that comprised the model’s dependent variables (F < 0.01). However, role characteristic relationships differed in significance across organizational commitment types, as well as participants’ current job role.

Of the four role characteristics included in analyses, only job control had a significant positive relationship with all three components of organizational commitment (e.g., affective, normative, continuance). In addition to affective commitment levels, worker feelings of job support also had a significant positive relationship with their levels of continuance commitment. Contrary to study hypotheses however, perceived support was not related to workers' levels of normative commitment.

[Conclusions & Implications] Findings from this study and previous research indicate efforts to address turnover within social service systems should focus on workforce perceptions regarding their physical and psychosocial safety, as these can significantly impact employee levels of job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and turnover intentions. In particular, careful attention should be paid to current leadership practices and the role of supervisors, and the extent to which these reflect an organizational culture that values worker safety and well-being.