Designing an Orientation Program for the Direct Care Staff of a Children's Residential Treatment Center

ABSTRACT

Direct care staff in children's residential treatment centers are crucial to consistency in program implementation, and establishing a therapeutic treatment milieu. However, the orientation process provided to child care workers is often inadequate, and leaves these staff ill-prepared to execute the responsibilities of the job. This leads to frustration, low morale, and a high turnover rate of direct care staff. A comprehensive orientation process was developed and implemented for the direct care staff at a residential treatment center for children located in the midwest. While the established outcome measures were not met, a high degree of satisfaction with the process by both direct care staff and supervisors was achieved. More study is needed, over time, to determine if this process has a positive impact on the turnover rate of child care workers.