An exploratory study of factors influencing retention of public child welfare staff

• Main Author: Parrish, Donna
• Format: Others
• Published: DigitalCommons@Robert W. Woodruff Library, Atlanta University Center 2007
• Subjects: Social Work
• Online Access: http://digitalcommons.auctr.edu/dissertations/2795; http://digitalcommons.auctr.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4234&context=dissertations

This exploratory study seeks to inform the social work profession about contributing factors influencing retention of public child welfare staff, and relates the research to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Need. The dependent variable, retention of child welfare staff, will be correlated to the independent variable, employee turnover rate. This study examines whether or not salary and caseload plays a significant role in a high turnover rate of social service staff who are an important part of the agency. This study did not seek to examine public child welfare staff who are employed in other states. This study was conducted with Georgia public child welfare staff. The setting for data collection was any public child welfare agency that was willing to participate in the research. The participants were self-selected. The identified site is selected due to the large number and variety of public child welfare staff. In addition, several surveys will be given out during case staffing, consultations and team meetings. These sites were selected by the willingness of the participants. The data collection took place November 1-30, 2006.