Job Expectations and Intention to Leave in a State Child Welfare Agency

Abstract

A cross–sectional survey of Connecticut's child welfare staff examined reasons for taking a public child welfare position and job expectations to better understand why workers leave. Workers who take jobs because they are committed to the mission of the agency were more satisfied and less inclined to leave. Regardless of why workers accepted the position, they were more likely to think about leaving if they thought the organization did not provide what they expected. These findings suggest that the reasons why workers choose to take a job in public child welfare may be as important as the reasons why workers choose to leave, and managers may need to consider workers' job expectations when addressing worker retention.

KEYWORDS:

• job satisfaction
• job expectations
• organizational commitment
• intention to leave
• child welfare
• mission-driven
• rewards-driven

Notes

The study and project were supported by a grant from the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children & Families, Award # 90CT0118.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Roslyn H. Chernesky

Roslyn Chernesky, DSW, is professor, Fordham University Graduate School of Social Service, New York, NY.

Marion K. Israel

Marion Israel, DSW, At the time of the study, was principal investigator of this project, Retention and Recruitment of Child Welfare Staff by Building Management Capacity.