Date of Conferral

2021

Degree

Doctor of Public Administration (D.P.A)

School

Public Policy and Administration

Advisor

Raj K. Singh

Abstract

The United States has issues involving child abuse/neglect with children being abused and neglected every 47 seconds. In 2018, approximately 443,000 children in the country were in foster care. The purpose of this administrative study was to identify measures for reducing turnover and improving retention among case managers within a GA agency. Qualitative data were collected from 10 case managers through virtual interviews and analyzed using NVivo to identify key themes. The three key themes emerged from the data collected: case managers need support from leaders and supervisors to perform their daily obligations, second, the leaders’ unrealistic expectations make case managers feel that there is a lack of empathy within the agency and lastly, case managers addressed the lack of effective communication with leaders resulting in stress, thereby emphasizing the need for timely communication. The three themes are indicative to providing solutions to the retention of case managers within the GA agency. The case managers provided the information they felt was a dire need for them and their colleagues. Leaders in the child welfare field should look beyond factors for turnover cited in existing literature such as low wages, long hours, stress, and high caseloads and also address issues identified in this study to reduce retention. Addressing the issues identified in this administrative study will result in positive social change by ensuring that case managers continue to deliver needed services to families and children who rely on child welfare agencies. Future researchers can build on the study’s findings by replicating the study in other agencies.

Download

Share

 
COinS