Employee Retention in Child Welfare

Low employee retention rates have been a persistent issue in a county department within a government agency located in the upstate of South Carolina. The State of South Carolina attempted to alleviate the turnover rate within the state’s social service offices by increasing case managers’ annual salaries. Although the increase in salary was an incentive, it failed to address the root of the low retention problem. The purpose of the study was to learn strategies that a child welfare office can utilize to retain child welfare staff. The issue-based strategic model was utilized as the conceptual framework which allows the identification of a problem and strategically develop a plan to mitigate the issue. Semi structured interviews among five senior staff members were conducted and assessed utilizing a qualitative theme approach. In addition, a qualitative survey of open-ended questions was administered via Microsoft Surveys to 40 currently employed case managers. Microsoft Surveys and Dedoose were used to organize data for thematic analysis. A presentation of the findings from the survey data and interview data was delivered to the leadership team. Helping children and families was one of the most important findings that almost all participants stated was their purpose for working with the agency. Another important finding was that case managers and members of leadership expressed their need for more support from their supervisors. The organization can use the findings to help create a strategic plan to improve employee retention. Positive social change is possible if human resources are valued, and organizations are equipped to achieve organizational goals and personal satisfaction.