Understanding Social Worker Attitudes and Perceptions Regarding Staying in Child Welfare Practice: A qualitative Exploration of Intent

Purpose: Retention of child welfare social workers directly influences both the quality of services provided and the stability of the workforce. This research sought to explore social workers intent to stay in their roles in public child welfare. Methods: This qualitative research investigated elements that affect social workers' intentions to stay in public child welfare through semi-structured interviews with frontline practitioners. Using responses from in-depth interviews with front line social workers, thematic analysis was used to explore the intent for social workers to stay or leave their roles. Results: Findings identified three central themes: leadership, workload and burnout, and workplace culture, recognition and flexibility. Leadership played a vital role in employee retention through supervisory support which served as a crucial element; practitioners with supportive supervisors experienced higher job satisfaction but those with inconsistent supervisory support felt isolated and stressed. Participants felt frustrated because upper management failed to engage sufficiently and did not communicate adequately which resulted in increased disconnect and discontent. The main factors driving burnout consisted of uneven caseload distribution and intense demands which made workers consider quitting their roles. The workplace culture displayed a lack of recognition and inconsistent flexibility policies which forced reliance on peer support instead of strong supervisory and management systems. The analysis demonstrates that strengthening social worker retention and enhancing results for children and families requires structured supervisory training and proactive management engagement combined with fair workload distribution and comprehensive recognition programs alongside standardized flexibility policies and strategic wellness initiatives.