{"id":32054,"date":"2023-08-29T18:29:22","date_gmt":"2023-08-29T18:29:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/caseyfamilyv2.wpengine.com\/turnover-costs-and-retention-strategies\/"},"modified":"2026-08-11T21:20:55","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T21:20:55","slug":"turnover-costs-and-retention-strategies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casey.org\/es\/turnover-costs-and-retention-strategies\/","title":{"rendered":"\u00bfC\u00f3mo afecta la rotaci\u00f3n del personal en el sistema de bienestar infantil a los ni\u00f1os y las familias?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Summary<\/h3>\n

Since a stable workforce is vital for families, leaders must move beyond hiring and address the systemic issues and culture causing burnout.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \n \n \n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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For decades, high rates of staff turnover have plagued child protection agencies<\/a>, and retaining a highly qualified workforce has become even more difficult in recent years. Knowledgeable, engaged, and committed child welfare professionals are vital to providing the quality supports that children and families need to thrive. High turnover rates not only impact children and families, they also affect agencies, primarily through higher costs. Not all staff turnover is preventable, but awareness of the factors that predict high turnover can inform both public and provider agencies\u2019 efforts to strengthen the child welfare workforce.<\/p>\n

The COVID-19 pandemic<\/a>, labor market shifts<\/a>, a public reckoning with racial injustice<\/a>, and the current youth mental health crisis<\/a> have exacerbated workforce challenges. Yet child welfare leaders can use these challenges as an opportunity to rethink services, engage with communities, and create organizational climates that are conducive to effective practice. Agencies are implementing a range of direct strategies to improve recruitment and retention<\/a>, but high turnover often is a symptom of broader systemic challenges that also need to be acknowledged and addressed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \n \n \n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Measuring turnover<\/h2>\n \n \n \n

For about 15 years prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, child welfare turnover rates hovered between an estimated 20% and 40%,1<\/sup><\/a>,<\/sup>2<\/sup><\/a>,<\/sup>3<\/sup><\/a> with an estimated national average of 30% and even higher turnover rates among child welfare trainees in some states.4<\/sup><\/a> In comparison, annual turnover rates below at or below 12% are considered optimal in the health care and human services sectors.5<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0A report<\/a> from the Quality Improvement Center for Workforce Development includes turnover rate estimates across jurisdictions, based on national data in a 2018 research study.6<\/sup><\/a> Newer data suggest turnover rose in some jurisdictions as a result of the recent workforce challenges.7<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

Variation in turnover rates is due in part to differences in how turnover is calculated in each jurisdiction, which results in difficulty processing and comparing rates. If turnover is not measured effectively, it is difficult to address and track. The Quality Improvement Center for Workforce Development has a tool<\/a> to help jurisdictions calculate their turnover rate.<\/p>\n

Tracking annual turnover is only one step in understanding an agency\u2019s workforce challenges. Agency leaders must explore and disaggregate turnover data a variety of ways, including demographics, roles, and geography, and hear from various workers about their reasons for staying on or leaving the job.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \n \n \n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Why turnover matters<\/h2>\n \n \n \n

High staff turnover has a direct impact on children and families<\/a> that an agency serves. Staff turnover has been associated with more placement disruptions, time in foster care, incidents of maltreatment, and re-entries into foster care. Research suggests that caseworker turnover is frequent, often abrupt, and constitutes a relationship loss with children that has complex and negative impacts on children\u2019s well-being.8<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

Increased turnover at both the frontline and supervisor levels can lead to high caseloads for the staff who stay. A summary of research<\/a> indicates that high caseloads and workloads impact caseworkers\u2019 levels of stress, feelings of emotional exhaustion, and job satisfaction. They also impact key casework functions, such as timeliness, continuity, quality of service delivery, family engagement, and relationship-building.9<\/sup><\/a>,<\/sup>10<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

In addition to a direct impact on children, families, and caseworkers<\/a>, high caseloads<\/a> and workloads contribute to an array of direct and indirect costs for a child protection agency. Every time a caseworker leaves the workforce, the cost to the agency<\/a> is approximately 70% to 200%\u00a0of the exiting employee\u2019s annual salary.\u00a0In Texas, the agency cost was estimated at $54,000 per departing staff member.11<\/sup><\/a> Costs<\/a> of caseworker turnover include:<\/p>\n