http://www.mydaytondailynews.com/news/local/high-staff-turnover-burnout-puts-child-welfare-system-crisis/lDxydAqvyWqr3INdDikMWM/
This news article discusses the high turnover and burnout rates of the workers in the child welfare system. It sheds light on some of the reasons this may be (highly emotional work, stress, hard to ever catch up on your work, at times they are threatened or physically harmed, etc). Having such a high turnover in the child welfare work system relates directly to the youth in our communities. If a child is involved in the system, has an ever changing caseworker, how is the child and family supposed to build an effective relationship with that caseworker to grow through the process of their case plan as well as trust them as an adult for support.
"High turnover acutely affects those the system is designed to protect: Ohio’s most vulnerable children"
This quote in the article speaks so true to this issue. How are we supposed to protect and help our children and families when there is such inconsistency within the system, and at some points the new workers with little experience are also training new workers. I think that an important take away is that there needs to be more support for staff in these work environments as well as educating about self care, and determining how to ensure that the staff are taking care of themselves.
This was a very insightful article. I didn't consider the impact of managed care in taking social workers away from public sector jobs in case management.
ReplyDeleteI do believe education on self care should be extensively taught and worshiped in this type of work, but also, companies need to PRACTICE what they PREACH! This means vacation days, self care services, other resources, incentives that create a strong environment for child workers to attend this type of work. It should not just be taught in class, but mentioned in team meetings, supervision, and highlighted among all programs. I personally know clients that have been affected by the turnover of their clinicians at my field placement and I never know how to respond to the clients.
ReplyDeleteSocial workers have some of the most difficult jobs out there, and high burnout sort of comes with the job. Upon reading this, I found myself thinking about /why/ burnout is such an issue, and to me, it has to do with working tirelessly and often seeing no progress in return. To me, this is because many social workers are fighting very large battles on a small scale. The climate around us creates more fires than we are capable of putting out. To me, while vacation and self-care are important, figuring out how to get legislators and funding providers to look beyond the short term and more toward the big picture could help eliminate some of these stresses before they arise.
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