A Study of the Causes of Turnover among Erie County’s Child Protective Services Caseworkers: Vicarious Trauma, Supervisory Style, Bureaucratic Structure, and Safety Sharon L. Rochelle (MPA project) Dr. Laurie Buonanno – Project Advisor Introduction & Purpose Methodology The literature review provided credence as to the VT/ST experienced by people employed in the helping professions. Turnover rates and staff retention were also prominent themes in the literature. Retention of workers was related to organization factors such as reasonable workloads, supervisory support and better salaries. Personal factors were also cited as an aspect of worker retention. These included professional commitment to children and families, previous work experience, education, job satisfaction, role overload/conflict stress, and burnout. It was found that the Professional Quality of Life (ProQOL) instrument was used in several research studies to assess whether individuals in helping professions are experiencing compassion fatigue, VT, or burnout. (See Figure 1.) Scoring results (see scale, below) can be understood as an “early warning system” for work-related problems. Creswell, J. (2014). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. Sage. Bell, H., Kulkarni, S., & Dalton, L. (2003). Organizational prevention of vicarious trauma. Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Social Services, 84(4), References Conclusions, Recommendations, Future Research Literature Review Sample & Data Collection Phase 1- ProQOL, Qualtrics administered survey to all 70 CPS caseworkers, response rate of 97.1% (n=68) along with standard demographic and employment questions. Phase 2 – Focus groups were convened after analyzing the ProQOL results. Ten focus groups with 5-7 CPS workers met and considered the same set of 10 questions, each of which had been used in a previous study (Bell, Kulkarni and Dalton, 2003). Design Explanatory mixed methods (see Creswell, 2014, pp 224-5) – the intent of this design is to conduct a qualitative phase to help explain in more detail the initial quantitative results. Hypothesis Data Analysis Hypothesis 1 A: Erie County Child Protective caseworkers exhibit the symptoms of VT/ST Stress. Hypothesis 1 0: Erie County Child Protective caseworkers do not exhibit the symptoms of VT/ST Stress. Hypothesis 1 A will be accepted if the average score from the ProQOL survey is in the High range for the Burnout Scale and Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale as defined by ProQOL protocol. If the average score falls in the Low or Average Range of this protocol, Hypothesis 1 0 will be accepted. Between , Erie County’s Department of Social Services - Child Protective Services (CPS) fell under scrutiny after 3 child fatalities. High turnover of CPS caseworkers has plagued the County - there was concern that CPS caseworkers were experiencing considerable stress due to the media’s scrutiny, real or perceived legal threats arising from the child fatalities, and the vicarious/secondary trauma (VT/ST) to which they are exposed through their contact with the children and families they serve. High turnover of CPS caseworkers is undesirable because: 1) the County expends $50,000 to train a new CPS worker, 2) places an additional burden on experience caseworkers who are needed to mentor new caseworkers, and 3) places a larger number of inexperienced caseworkers in the field. The purpose of this study is to identify the concerns of Erie County CPS caseworkers. Are there high/unmanageable ST/VT levels among CPS caseworkers? Are there other factors that might be contributing to high turnover? Figure 1 The ProQOL is an index-based measure with a population mean of 50 and standard deviation of 10. Scoring is: low (22 or less); average 23-41; and high, 42 or more. High scores are desirable for compassion satisfaction and signal a problem for burnout and ST. However, a low score on compassion satisfaction and high scores on ST and burnout merely suggest a problem – further investigation is needed. This limitation of the survey instrument was factored into this study’s research design. (See Methodology.) ProQOL Survey Results: The appropriate test is a Single Sample t-test because it compares the mean of a single sample to a known population mean. It is useful for determining if the current set of data have changed from a long-term value. Compassion Satisfaction: A single sample t-test that compared the mean score of the sample (Erie County CPS caseworkers) to a population score of 50 was conducted. A significant difference was found (t(59) = , p <.001.) The sample mean of (sd= ) was significantly less than the population mean. Given that “Compassion satisfaction” is about the pleasure one derives from being able to do one’s work well, higher scores on this scale represent a greater satisfaction related to one’s ability to be an effective caregiver in one’s job. These low scores indicate some concern and merit further investigation into the causes of this dissatisfaction. Burnout: A single sample t-test that compared the mean score of the sample (Erie County CPS caseworkers) to a population score of 50 was conducted. A significant difference was found (t(59) = , p <.001.) The sample mean of (sd= ) was significantly less than the population mean. We can conclude that Erie County CPS workers are not exhibiting signs of burnout. Secondary Trauma: A single sample t-test that compared the mean score of the sample (Erie County CPS caseworkers) to a population score of 50 was conducted. A significant difference was found (t(56) = , p <.001.) The sample mean of (sd= ) was significantly less than the population mean. We can conclude that Erie County CPS workers are not exhibiting signs of ST Stress In fact, CPS workers are experiencing ST Stress at a much lower rate that exhibited by the referent population, where 25% score below 43, as compared to 19 for CPS; and 25% fall above 57 (no CPS caseworkers scored above 33). Therefore, we accept the null hypothesis. We conclude that Erie County Child Protective caseworkers do not exhibit the symptoms of VT/ST Stress. Focus Groups Why did Erie County CPS caseworkers have a statistically-significantly lower mean on compassion satisfaction than the referent population (for people in the caring professions who have taken the ProQOL)? The focus group phase revealed that caseworkers had little say in agency decision- making, concerns for their safety and well-being, complained of poor supervision, and the shuffling of work teams without an accompanying rationale. Conclusions: The job dissatisfaction cited among Erie County CPS caseworkers is understood primarily to be based in organizational and supervisory factors rather than the nature of the work (which would be manifested in vicarious/secondary traumas). It can be argued that the focus groups revealed a classic public administration dilemma in Erie County’s Department of Social Services – one that exists in many public bureaucracies. Bureaucracy characteristics are one of a hierarchical structure, task division, and formal rules and regulations. There is little communication between line workers and supervisors in this top- down management style. The decision-making is repetitive and centralized and there is a reluctance to consider and initiate innovations. Recommendations: Cultural changes need to occur in order to improve employee job satisfaction. These changes need to occur with input from the front-line staff. Future Research: It would be interesting to understand if there is a difference in ProQOL scores with respect to the years as caseworker, years employed by Erie County, age (generational difference), and gender.