10 March
NO 1275
Residential staff
Given that the role of residential child care personnel is demanding, it is hardly surprising that research has highlighted high turnover and burnout among such personnel in many countries. Fleischer (1985) found that turnover among Child and Youth Care workers was linked to workload, lack of clear performance feedback, and lack of supervisor support. In a pan-cultural analysis, Savicki (2002) demonstrated that cultural factors are related to burnout in Child and Youth Care workers, and identified the following important factors in preventing burnout: teamwork training and support; supportive supervision; planned workplace and manageable pace; flexible, enriching work; and coping strategy training. Breda and Verlinden (2002) also carried out empirical research in the special child and youth services in Flanders, Belgium on prevention of burnout. Further, Bednar (2003), reviewed the literature on staff turnover and impaired performance resulting from burnout and job dissatisfaction in child welfare workers.
Berridge (2002) notes that the extent of empirical research undertaken in relation to residential child care is limited, with little progress having been made in exploring highly complex issues. Good descriptive data exists, for example, in relation to services provided and the characteristics of, and problems presented by children and young people cared for. There is, however, a dearth of research on staff morale, job satisfaction and retention in the residential child care setting. Some studies have identified the importance of training as a contributory factor in levels of job satisfaction and staff morale (Ploeg & Scholte, 1998; Sinclair & Gibbs, 1998). Krueger (1996) has explored best practice in facilitating job satisfaction in group care and community programmes for at risk children and youth. While Murphy (1994), has noted the poor working conditions experienced by residential child care staff in Australia, which do not reflect the importance of their work.
Although little research appears to focus on the retention of residential child care personnel, literature is available on retention of staff in public child welfare in the US, and in child protection programmes in Australia (see, for example, Hodgkin, 2002; Dickinson & Perry, 2002; Jones, 2002; Ellett, 2001; Gibbs, 2001; Lewandowski, 1998; Markiewicz, 1996; Reagh, 1994; Rycraft, 1994; Samantrai, 1992).
A small number of research studies have focused on staff culture and dynamics within the home (Archer, 2002; Brown, 1998). Moreover, Arieli (1997) explored the occupational experience of residential Child and Youth Care workers in educational and welfare settings in Israel by means of ethnographic interviews.
MATTHEW COLTON
Colton, M. (2005). Modelling morale, job satisfaction, retention and training among residential child care personnel. International Journal of Child and Family Welfare, 8, 2-3. pp.59-60.
REFERENCES
Arieli, M. (1997), The occupational experience of residential Child and Youth Care workers: Caring and its discontents, Child and Youth Services, 18, 2, pp. xv-119.
Archer, L. (2002). What works in residential care: making it work, Scottish Journal of Residential Child Care, August/ September 2002, pp. 7-13.
Bednar, S. (2003). Elements of satisfying organisational climates in child welfare agencies, Families in Society, 84, 1, pp. 7-12.
Berridge, D. (2002). Residential Care. In McNeish, D., Newman, T. and Roberts, H. (2002). What works for children. Buckingham. Open University Press.
Breda, J. and Verlinden, E. (2002). Workload and prevention of burnout in special Child and Youth Care services: A system analysis. In Knorth, E.J., Van Den Bergh, P.M. and Verheij, F. (2002). Professionalization and Participation in Child and Youth Care, Aldershot. Ashgate.
Brown, E. (1998). Making residential care work: Structure and culture in children's homes. Aldershot. Ashgate.
Dickinson, R.S. and Perry. (2002). Factors influencing the retention of specially educated public child welfare workers, Journal of Health and Social Policy, 15, 3-4, pp. 89-103.
Ellett, A.J.S. (2001). Human caring, self-efficacy beliefs, and professional organizational culture correlates of employee retention in child welfare. Dissertation Abstracts International, A: The Humanities and Social Sciences, 61, 8.
Fleischer, B.M. (1985). Identification of strategies to reduce turnover among child care workers, Child Care Quarterly, 14, pp. 130-139.
Gibbs, J. (2001). Pre-service education and qualification – The impact on recruitment and retention in rural child protection. Rural Social Work, 6, 2, pp. 19-28.
Hodgkin, S. (2002). Competing demands, competing solutions, differing constructions of the problem of recruitment and retention of frontline rural child protection staff, Australian Social Work, 55, 3, pp. 193-203
Jones, L. (2002). A follow-up of a title IV-E program's graduates' retention rates in a public child welfare agency, Journal of Health and Social Policy, 15, 3-4, pp. 39-51.
Krueger, M.A. (1996). Job Satisfaction for Child and Youth Care Workers. Washington. Child Welfare League of America Press/Child and Family Press.
Lewandowski, C.A. (1998). Retention outcomes of a public child welfare long-term training program, Professional Development: The International Journal of Continuing Social Work Education, I, 2, pp. 38-46.
Markiewicz, A. (1996), Recruitment and retention of social work personnel within public child welfare: a case study of a Victorian department. Australian Social Work, 49, 4, pp. 11-17.
Murphy, J. (1994), Not just a job: a study of the needs of residential child care workers in Melbourne, Australia. Children Australia, 19, 1, pp. 27-32.
Ploeg, J. and Scholte, E. (1998), Job satisfaction in residential care, International Journal of Child and Family Welfare, 3, 3, pp. 228-241.
Reagh, R. (1994). Public child welfare professionals – those who stay, Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, 21, 3, pp. 69-78.
Rycraft, J.R. (1994). The party isn't over: The agency role in the retention of public child welfare caseworkers, Social Work, 39, 1, pp. 75-80.
Samantrai, K. (1992), Factors in the decision to leave: Retaining social workers with MSWs in public child welfare, Social Work, 37, 5, pp. 454-458.
Savicki, V. (2002). Cultural factors related to burnout in Child and Youth Care workers in thirteen cultures. In Knorth, E.J., Van Den Bergh, P.M. and Verheij, F. (2002). Professionalization and Participation in Child and Youth Care. Aldershot. Ashgate.
Sinclair, I. and Gibbs, I. (1998). Children's Homes: A Study in Diversity, Chichester. Wiley.
