Human Resource Development in Residential Youth Care Facilities. Findings from a Germany-Wide Survey on the Staffing Situation and Strategies for Recruitment and Retention

ABSTRACT

In human service organizations, staff are a key factor for ensuring quality and success. This is also the case in residential youth care. Staff turnover and shortages thus pose a serious challenge to residential youth care facilities. Consequently, strategies for recruiting and retaining staff are important in residential youth care. The article focuses on how residential youth care facilities in Germany assess their staffing situation and which strategies they employ for recruitment and retention. The data are from a 2019 survey of facilities throughout Germany offering residential care for children and youth. The descriptive analysis of the data shows that in spite of rather low staff turnover, the facilities are confronted with varied recruitment challenges. Furthermore, the data show that the facilities employ a wide range of strategies for recruiting and retaining staff. Both the size of the facility as well as the type of provider affect the staffing situation and the strategies employed for human resource development.

KEYWORDS:

• Residential care for children and youth
• Germany
• staff
• personnel development, turnover

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Even though empirical findings show that full-time permanent jobs are becoming less important, they still retain enormous normative power in Germany and are highly desirable for many people.