Social Work Research



Social Work Research

Brief Description of the Setting

At the Administration for Children's Services, we investigate reports of allegations of abuse and neglect of children from the ages of 0 to 17 years of age. In addition, we provide the family with services to ensure the safety and well being of children.

I work at the Administration for Children's Services as a Child Protective Specialist in the Family Service Unit. The Family Service Unit was previously Court Order Supervision but is currently in the process of being restructured. The Family Service Unit works with families that are ordered by the court to follow through with court orders. I work with families who are problematic and refuse to comply with services, which will help to strengthen the family functioning. I work with parents whose child may have been removed due to their non-compliance with services. I work with the families on ensuring that they comply with the orders from Family Court and to ensure the safety and well-being of the children. I am responsible for gathering needed information and assisting families in accessing services. I also make recommendations to the Family Court based on clients' progress. I work together with the family to create and follow through on a service plan that meets the families' needs. The caseload that a worker carries in the Family service Unit is 25-40.

Statement of the Problem

The problem is that there is a high turnover in the Family Service Unit because the workers lack motivation. The workers lack motivation because of the high case load and not understanding the job. The workers are placed in a unit where they have gone from a caseload of 10 cases to 30 cases. The workers do not know how to handle all the cases and are not able to work the number of visits, which is twice a month, because they do not know how to manage the case load. Workers lack of motivation because they do not want to be placed in the Family Service Unit. Workers are being placed in a unit they do not want to be in. There are new workers coming straight from the training unit and they are placed into the Family Service Unit without knowing how to do the work in the Family Service Unit. The workers feel that they will not be able to service all of the families due to having a high caseload.

Program

The Family Service Unit needs to provide the workers time management training and also training on the Family Service Unit. The workers will thus be able to manage their caseload and understand what they need to do.

Literature Review

The child welfare labor force has long experienced elevated turnover rates ([American Public Human Services Association, 2001] and [General Accounting Office, 2003]). In the public sector, one recent study found that on average 20% of the front line child welfare workers and 11.8% of first line supervisors turn over annually (APHSA, 2001). Even more concerning, a 2005 study of the ...