IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/cysrev/v33y2011i1p102-109.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The retention of public child welfare workers: The roles of professional organizational culture and coping strategies

Author

Listed:
  • Lee, Joohee
  • Forster, Michael
  • Rehner, Tim

Abstract

The purpose of the current study was to investigate how professional organizational culture and coping strategies (control coping and avoidance coping) related to workers' intentions to remain employed in child welfare. With a sample of 234 frontline workers employed in Department of Human Services-Division of Family and Children Services (DHS-DFCS) offices in a state in the Southeastern region of the U.S., the current study tested a model in which coping strategies mediate the relationship between professional organizational culture and workers' intentions to remain employed in child welfare. Structural equation modeling was used to test the proposed model. Results revealed that professional organizational culture and control coping were significantly and positively related to workers' intentions to remain employed in child welfare. In addition, control coping mediated the relationship between professional organizational culture and worker retention. On the other hand, a significant relationship between avoidance coping and workers' intentions to remain employed in child welfare was not found. Implications of the findings for practice and recommendations for future research are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Lee, Joohee & Forster, Michael & Rehner, Tim, 2011. "The retention of public child welfare workers: The roles of professional organizational culture and coping strategies," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 102-109, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:33:y:2011:i:1:p:102-109
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0190-7409(10)00259-8
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Curry, Dale & McCarragher, Timothy & Dellmann-Jenkins, Mary, 2005. "Training, transfer, and turnover: Exploring the relationship among transfer of learning factors and staff retention in child welfare," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(8), pages 931-948, August.
    2. Strand, Virginia C. & Spath, Robin & Bosco-Ruggiero, Stephanie, 2010. "So you have a stable child welfare workforce -- What's next?," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 338-345, March.
    3. DePanfilis, Diane & Zlotnik, Joan Levy, 2008. "Retention of front-line staff in child welfare: A systematic review of research," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(9), pages 995-1008, September.
    4. Chen, Szu-Yu & Scannapieco, Maria, 2010. "The influence of job satisfaction on child welfare worker's desire to stay: An examination of the interaction effect of self-efficacy and supportive supervision," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 482-486, April.
    5. Ellett, Alberta J. & Ellis, Jacquelyn I. & Westbrook, Tonya M. & Dews, Denise', 2007. "A qualitative study of 369 child welfare professionals' perspectives about factors contributing to employee retention and turnover," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 264-281, February.
    6. Boyas, Javier & Wind, Leslie H., 2010. "Employment-based social capital, job stress, and employee burnout: A public child welfare employee structural model," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 380-388, March.
    7. Regehr, Cheryl & Hemsworth, David & Leslie, Bruce & Howe, Phillip & Chau, Shirley, 2004. "Predictors of post-traumatic distress in child welfare workers: a linear structural equation model," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 26(4), pages 331-346, April.
    8. Smith, Brenda D., 2005. "Job retention in child welfare: Effects of perceived organizational support, supervisor support, and intrinsic job value," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 153-169, February.
    9. Ellett, Alberta J., 2009. "Intentions to remain employed in child welfare: The role of human caring, self-efficacy beliefs, and professional organizational culture," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 78-88, January.
    10. Strand, Virginia C. & Dore, Martha Morrison, 2009. "Job satisfaction in a stable state child welfare workforce: Implications for staff retention," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 391-397, March.
    11. Allan P. O. Williams, 2006. "Leadership in Change," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: The Rise of Cass Business School, chapter 15, pages 200-220, Palgrave Macmillan.
    12. Shim, Miseung, 2010. "Factors influencing child welfare employee's turnover: Focusing on organizational culture and climate," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(6), pages 847-856, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Potter, Cathryn C. & Leake, Robin & Longworth-Reed, Laricia & Altschul, Inna & Rienks, Shauna, 2016. "Measuring organizational health in child welfare agencies," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 31-39.
    2. Burns, Kenneth & Christie, Alastair, 2013. "Employment mobility or turnover? An analysis of child welfare and protection employee retention," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 340-346.
    3. Miller, J. Jay & Donohue-Dioh, Jessica & Niu, Chunling & Shalash, Nada, 2018. "Exploring the self-care practices of child welfare workers: A research brief," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 137-142.
    4. Hwang, Jeongha & Hopkins, Karen M., 2015. "A structural equation model of the effects of diversity characteristics and inclusion on organizational outcomes in the child welfare workforce," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 44-52.
    5. Schelbe, Lisa & Radey, Melissa & Panisch, Lisa S., 2017. "Satisfactions and stressors experienced by recently-hired frontline child welfare workers," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 56-63.
    6. Park, Taekyung & Pierce, Barbara, 2020. "Impacts of transformational leadership on turnover intention of child welfare workers," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    7. Salloum, Alison & Choi, Mi Jin & Stover, Carla Smith, 2018. "Development of a trauma-informed self-care measure with child welfare workers," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 108-116.
    8. Kim, Hyosu & Kao, Dennis, 2014. "A meta-analysis of turnover intention predictors among U.S. child welfare workers," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(P3), pages 214-223.
    9. Chung, Youngsoon & Choo, Hyekyung, 2019. "A structural path to job satisfaction, burnout, and intent to leave among child protection workers: A South Korean study," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 304-312.
    10. Osborne, Cynthia & Huffman, Jennifer & Caldera, Selena & Lipton Galbraith, Anna, 2020. "The influence of field-based training on caseworker turnover," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kruzich, Jean M. & Mienko, Joseph A. & Courtney, Mark E., 2014. "Individual and work group influences on turnover intention among public child welfare workers: The effects of work group psychological safety," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 20-27.
    2. Boyas, Javier F. & Wind, Leslie H. & Ruiz, Erika, 2015. "Exploring patterns of employee psychosocial outcomes among child welfare workers," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 174-183.
    3. Schelbe, Lisa & Radey, Melissa & Panisch, Lisa S., 2017. "Satisfactions and stressors experienced by recently-hired frontline child welfare workers," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 56-63.
    4. Strand, Virginia C. & Spath, Robin & Bosco-Ruggiero, Stephanie, 2010. "So you have a stable child welfare workforce -- What's next?," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 338-345, March.
    5. Clark, Sherrill J. & Smith, Richard J. & Uota, Kazumi, 2013. "Professional development opportunities as retention incentives in child welfare," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 35(10), pages 1687-1697.
    6. Radey, Melissa & Wilke, Dina J., 2023. "Extent, trajectory, and determinants of child welfare turnover and exit destinations," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    7. Lee, Eunju & Esaki, Nina & Kim, Jeehoon & Greene, Rose & Kirkland, Kristen & Mitchell-Herzfeld, Susan, 2013. "Organizational climate and burnout among home visitors: Testing mediating effects of empowerment," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 594-602.
    8. Zeitlin, Wendy & Chakravarty, Sreyashi & Lawrence, Catherine & DeCristofano, Angela, 2019. "Direct practice contact: Predicting frontline child welfare workers' time with clients," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 9-15.
    9. Chen, Yi-Yi & Park, Jisung & Park, Aely, 2012. "Existence, relatedness, or growth? Examining turnover intention of public child welfare caseworkers from a human needs approach," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 34(10), pages 2088-2093.
    10. Johnco, Carly & Salloum, Alison & Olson, Kayla R. & Edwards, LaTishia M., 2014. "Child Welfare Workers’ Perspectives on Contributing Factors to Retention and Turnover: Recommendations for Improvement," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(P3), pages 397-407.
    11. Potter, Cathryn C. & Leake, Robin & Longworth-Reed, Laricia & Altschul, Inna & Rienks, Shauna, 2016. "Measuring organizational health in child welfare agencies," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 31-39.
    12. Li, Yong & Huang, Hui & Chen, Yi-Yi, 2020. "Organizational climate, job satisfaction, and turnover in voluntary child welfare workers," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    13. Kim, Ahraemi & Mor Barak, Michàlle E., 2015. "The mediating roles of leader–member exchange and perceived organizational support in the role stress–turnover intention relationship among child welfare workers: A longitudinal analysis," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 135-143.
    14. Madden, Elissa E. & Scannapieco, Maria & Painter, Kirsten, 2014. "An examination of retention and length of employment among public child welfare workers," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 37-44.
    15. Claiborne, Nancy & Auerbach, Charles & Lawrence, Catherine & Schudrich, Wendy Zeitlin, 2013. "Organizational change: The role of climate and job satisfaction in child welfare workers' perception of readiness for change," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 35(12), pages 2013-2019.
    16. Augsberger, Astraea & Schudrich, Wendy & McGowan, Brenda G. & Auerbach, Charles, 2012. "Respect in the workplace: A mixed methods study of retention and turnover in the voluntary child welfare sector," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 34(7), pages 1222-1229.
    17. Park, Taekyung & Pierce, Barbara, 2020. "Impacts of transformational leadership on turnover intention of child welfare workers," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    18. Hopkins, Karen M. & Cohen-Callow, Amy & Kim, Hae Jung & Hwang, Jeongha, 2010. "Beyond intent to leave: Using multiple outcome measures for assessing turnover in child welfare," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(10), pages 1380-1387, October.
    19. Radey, Melissa & Stanley, Lauren, 2018. "“Hands on” versus “empty”: Supervision experiences of frontline child welfare workers," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 128-136.
    20. Auerbach, Charles & McGowan, Brenda G. & Ausberger, Astraea & Strolin-Goltzman, Jessica & Schudrich, Wendy, 2010. "Differential factors influencing public and voluntary child welfare workers' intention to leave," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(10), pages 1396-1402, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:33:y:2011:i:1:p:102-109. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/childyouth .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.