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The Reality of Working in The Child Welfare Workforce With The

Increasing Turnover Rates

Consequences of Turnover Rates in The Child Welfare Workforce

By: Arianna Green

Figure 1: Turnover Rate Icon, Wysocky, K. 2018

Turnover rates have been affecting businesses for years, but how negatively can they affect one

in particular? The Child Welfare Workforce turnover rates have been increasing significantly

since 2014, and only continue to increase each year (FOX43, 2017). These increasing turnover

rates cause many of the employee’s mental health to decline quickly, which also then effects the

children and families these workers are working with daily. With the loss of employees in this

workplace, this also creates am almost drowning workload for those who are still working in

Child Welfare; in a study done by Ellet et al., they concluded that one of the many reasons for

these turnover rates is the workload, because they are doing up to 70 hours a week on case work,
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not to add on paperwork for these cases as

well (Ellet, et al., 2007). While people

might not think turnover rates affect Child

Welfare, the major consequences of it are

falling on those who are still working in

this workforce. Those who work in child

welfare are experiencing an extreme drop

in mental health/wellness, the insufficient

Figure 2: Child Welfare Work Context, Ellett, A. 2000
compensation within the workforce leaves

them with not high enough salary, and the families and children that are assigned caseworkers

are losing connection with them which can then put those children at a higher risk for abuse.

Affecting The Caseworkers Minds and Their Job

While some might think that being a case worker in this field is not too overwhelming,

these workers deal with a lot more than paperwork. Most caseworkers go from house to house

dealing with abusive and neglectful homes for children, and most caseworkers do not have and

outside outlet for what they see in those homes (Pennsylvania Partnerships For Children, 2021).

Along with what caseworkers see in these houses, they also must decide whether the house is a

safe and sturdy home for the development of the child. Depending on the decision which the

caseworker then makes, it could potentially mean life or death for some of these children

(Pennsylvania Partnership For Children, 2021). While the outcome is not fully to blame on that

caseworker themselves, it is seen to them and by media that is their fault and that they did not

make the right decision. Another major impact on these caseworkers’ mental health caused by
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this turnover rate is the increase in workload on cases. Since there is significantly less

caseworkers now, those who are still working are expected to take on the other families, and not

to mention the paperwork along with it. Ellet et al. conducted a study to find a reasoning behind

this turnover rate in this specific workforce; they found that these caseworkers are working

between 50 to even 70 hours a week based on the paperwork and families that week (Ellet, et al.,

2007). With working that many hours, one would have little to no time to themselves to

decompress and relax from work. With also taking on the extra workload, it also leads to less

quality time with the assigned families, which can lead to heavier problems.

Making Time for Their Protection

Aforementioned, the immense workload put onto the caseworkers in this field cause great

stress and little time, which leads to less time spent with assigned families. The Pennsylvania

Partnership For Children states, “Caseworkers enter the field of child welfare and social work

practice for the primary purpose of positively impacting the lives of children and families and

working directly with them,” (Pennsylvania Partnership For Children, 2021). Based on this given

information, it is very unlikely that most caseworkers can spend the amount of time with these

families that they would like to positively impact them and help them through their hardships. In

the study mentioned previously by Ellet, et al, they reported that “…employees are legally

mandated to protect children who often are in families affected by substance abuse, mental

illness, mental retardation, violence, adolescent parenthood, incarceration, homelessness, and

poverty,” (Ellet, et al., 2007). When the workload is too highly demanding, child welfare

workers can become unable to meet these needs of the families assigned, which can potentially

put the child or children at higher risk.

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Not Enough Compensation

Another repercussion of these turnover rates is the insufficient compensation of child

welfare companies to keep their staff. The Pennsylvania Partnership for Children reported that in

Pennsylvania, the child welfare system is set by county, meaning the salary rate at which those

caseworkers are set by the county commissioners (Pennsylvania Partnership For Children).

Although most caseworkers will have the most experience they can get while in this field, their

salary does not match their encounter of the field. Within the child welfare system as well, there

is little to no chance with competitive pay, or even a chance to move higher within the system

because of these turnover rates. The low rate of pay, along with little compensation leads to easy

burnout within most employees and little hope to move up in certain aspects of the business in

child welfare. “It is hard to know you are doing the right thing by working in this field but

feeling burnt out by the middle of the day, and still having to keep a positive outlook on each

situation,” (C. Green, personal communication, January 23, 2021). Amid the low compensation

rates, it is yet another reason those who work in child welfare’s mental health is declining, and

turnover rates are only increasing.

Conclusion

Turnover rates affect every business differently, but over time it can really start to

deteriorate certain businesses, which can potentially tear apart a person. Aforementioned, the

mental health of any human being is important and being in the child welfare department it is

something that most forget to keep in check. Those caseworkers experience a different type of

abusive environment for children to ensure that soon they will be in a safe and loving home.

Depending on the choices that that caseworker makes could impact their mental health whether

they would know it in the moment or not. Also mentioned is the workload, which is known that
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there is not enough time in the day to complete everything, but for child welfare workers,

sometimes there is not enough time in the week especially when understaffed. With the

increasing turnover rates affecting the workload of the employees, it affects the quality time

spent with the families assigned, which can also be dangerous for the children or children’s in

the family based on their at home situation.

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References

Ellett, A. J., Ellis, J. I., Westbrook, T. M., & Dews, D. (2006, September 22). A qualitative study

of 369 child welfare professionals' perspectives about factors contributing to employee

retention and turnover. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2006.07.005

Newsroom, F. O. X. (2017, March 2). Report: York County Children and Youth Services had

high staff turnover, owes $578,400 to State. FOX43.

https://www.fox43.com/article/news/local/contests/report-york-county-children-and-youth-

services-had-high-staff-turnover-owes-578400-to-state/521-69342f07-d095-4fc3-9610-

17adc4ae0489

Pennsylvania Partnerships For Children. (2021, April). Unacknowledged protectors:

Consequences and costs of Turnover in the Child Welfare Workforce,

https://www.papartnerships.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Child-Welfare-Workforce-

Development.pdf

Wysocky, K. (2018, January). Stop The Revolving Door of Employee Turnover,

https://www.mswmag.com/editorial/2018/01/stop-the-revolving-door-of-employee-

turnover
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Reflection on Draft:

Overall, I think that this draft is a bit on the rough side, but I am willing to take all criticism to

work through it and make it the best I can. In my opinion, I think I kept my professional yet

informal tone near the middle, which was planned, and I am hoping that I did so correctly. I

would like feedback on how I have set up the article/paper and if I should rearrange any topics to

make it flow easier. I also would like to hear back if I should try to add any more multimodal

elements to make the article more eye catching and appealing to read as well. Before the

feedback hits, I believe I need to improve on the format of this paper and should try to rearrange

the topics a little better, so it flows more for the reader. Some questions I have are: What was the

most interesting part and is there anything I could work on to make it more interesting if there

was not one thing that stood out? What changes can I make to the paper to make it more

appealing or eye catching?