High turnover and inexperienced caseworkers are a serious problem for DFS.

Chapter Summary

With roughly one-third of DFS caseworkers leaving in 1999, this occupation had the highest turnover among the four we reviewed.  The inexperience of remaining caseworkers, as well as a high number of vacant positions, continue to be problems for DFS.  Wyoming is not unique compared to other states in experiencing high caseworker turnover, as this is a problem nationwide.  Although dollar costs of this turnover were the second lowest of the four occupations, high turnover compromises the effectiveness of the program, impacts remaining caseworkers, and has great societal costs.  We found wages and working conditions to be intertwined causes of caseworker turnover; we also found that working conditions are of most concern to caseworkers.  DFS management needs to concentrate on further problem definition to determine how to shift costs from turnover to retention. 

One-Third of Caseworkers

Left Agency in 1999

DFS has had ongoing difficulty in retaining caseworkers and filling vacancies.  Turnover rates for caseworkers have been increasing over the past five years, and increased dramatically in 1999.  The combination of inexperienced caseworkers and vacant positions is an obstacle for DFS as it struggles to deliver effective services to at-risk populations. 

Caseworker turnover high enough to be a threat to the organization.

We focused our analysis on “frontline” caseworkers, not those in supervisory or managerial positions, because this is where DFS turnover is concentrated.  In 1999, the caseworker turnover rate was 30.2 percent, which was the highest of the four occupations we reviewed.  Additionally, this rate was higher than DFS’ agency-wide rate, and was more than twice as high as for state employees as a whole.  One research article about turnover in human services agencies considers turnover above 20 percent to be “a threat to the organization,” and refers to a 33 percent turnover rate of caseworkers as “disturbingly high.”

Small Field Offices
Impacted More

Turnover is spread throughout the DFS field offices, and although the rates vary widely, small offices are particularly impacted.  In 1999, the turnover rate in small offices as a group was 57 percent, in medium offices was 27 percent, and in large offices was 20 percent.  The smaller the office, the bigger the impact of one departing employee on the turnover rate.

Half of caseworkers had two years or less of tenure.

Supervisors and managers have high tenure and provide stability.

Caseworkers Are
Inexperienced

Many caseworkers are leaving DFS before they have the training and experience they need to be fully productive and able to work independently.  Caseworkers must complete mandatory training within the first year of employment, but many we interviewed estimated it takes at least an additional year of on-the-job experience to develop the professional judgment necessary for proficiency.

Departing caseworkers tend to leave as soon as they have completed training and gained some initial experience.  We found that 61 percent of those who left in 1999 had completed two years or less of employment.  Half of caseworkers employed by DFS in 1999 had tenure of two years or less, and overall, 71 percent had tenure of five years or less.  By contrast, about 71 percent of all state employees had five years or more of tenure. 

As distinguished from frontline caseworkers, those in supervisory or managerial positions have considerable experience, averaging 15 years of tenure in 1999.  The stability provided by DFS’ 38 supervisors and managers may offset caseworker inexperience, but the large number of inexperienced frontline caseworkers adds to these supervisors’ workloads.

Vacancies Heighten
The Problem

In addition to turnover and inexperienced caseworkers, vacancies are also a problem for DFS.  DFS reported an average of 7 percent of caseworker positions were vacant each month during 1999.  Research done by LSO for the 1999 evaluation on Child Protective Services (CPS) showed that vacancies contributed to additional workloads for remaining caseworkers.

Caseworker Turnover
is an Issue Nationwide

DFS is facing the same problem that many other states are experiencing.  Professional literature we reviewed identifies turnover among caseworkers as a problem nationwide.  A report by the General Accounting Office about CPS programs nationwide spoke of the difficulty in maintaining a skilled workforce as a “long-standing weakness that has plagued CPS programs.” 

Turnover Compromises

Effectiveness of Services

High caseworker turnover compromises the effectiveness of service delivery; resulting vacancies increase workloads and stress for the remaining caseworkers and undermine morale. It also disrupts continuity and the community networks essential to casework, and leads to less experienced caseworkers assuming greater responsibilities. 

Turnover is especially harmful to social services agencies that rely heavily on the skills of workers to deliver services.

Turnover can be particularly detrimental to a social service agency such as DFS, since its effectiveness is dependent on the knowledge, skills, and abilities of its caseworkers when serving clients.  An effective caseworker provides technical assistance, but must also be able to connect with families under difficult circumstances and have strong community relations as well.  A single failure in the protection of an endangered person is a tragic event for that individual, the family, the agency, and the community. 

Constant entering and exiting of caseworkers causes problems with continuity of cases.

Caseworkers need experience to develop professional judgment.

Caseworker Churning Hurts
Provision of Services   

“Churning” among caseworkers, or constant turnover and short worker tenure, is a serious problem for DFS.  Effective casework cannot be accomplished with constant entering and exiting of employees.  It takes time for a caseworker to establish relationships with children and families, and with the community.  Community networks, such as with local police and educators, are essential for carrying out casework effectively, but are often slow to develop.

Current and former DFS staff repeatedly stated that when caseworkers leave, there are problems with continuity in the cases and important relationships are lost.  In particular, because of their experiences, abused or neglected children may have difficulty trusting others.  Thus, establishing a relationship with a caseworker is critical to making progress in helping a child and family.  When a caseworker leaves, the trust-building process has to start over again with another caseworker.  For caseworkers themselves, sound judgment in handling cases is developed through experience, and this is difficult to attain in an unstable work environment.

Workload Increases Stress
and Lowers Morale

When turnover occurs, staff who remain must absorb the caseloads of those who left.  Current and former caseworkers say this increases stress, affects morale, and can compromise the quality of the casework.  Because of the nature of the work, it is not possible or appropriate for DFS to use contractors or temporary personnel to fill vacancies. 

Turnover increases the workload of those remaining, and adds training responsibilities.

In addition to increased workloads, caseworkers who stay with the agency generally have some responsibility for helping to train and mentor new caseworkers.  They said this can contribute to increased stress and the likelihood of burnout and further turnover.  Several also mentioned working overtime without pay in order to keep current with paperwork and other duties. 

A number of former caseworkers said the inherent difficulty of their work was not balanced by a supportive work environment.  We believe this perception may also be linked to high turnover.  Supervisors must compensate for additional workloads caused by departing caseworkers and hiring and training of new caseworkers.  These responsibilities may take time away from efforts that might have been made to create a nurturing work environment.

Caseworker Training Costs

Are Highest Among Occupations

On-the-job training required of caseworkers during the first year of employment is costly.

We found that the greatest costs associated with caseworker turnover are societal costs, and are therefore unquantifiable, as discussed in the previous section.  The quantifiable costs of DFS turnover were second lowest among the four occupations, even though its total training costs were the highest. 

According to agency-reported estimates, DFS’ training costs of $376,171 account for 81 percent of its total turnover costs. This is largely due to the costs of on-the-job training, or the informal training that occurs as more experienced DFS staff mentor new caseworkers during the first year of employment. 

Vacancy costs for caseworkers, such as overtime, were low.

DFS’ separation costs in 1999 were the highest among the four occupations, but the agency reports this was due to the cost of administering one grievance.  Otherwise, DFS separation costs are negligible, as was the case in the other occupations studied.  DFS had the second lowest replacement costs (the costs of advertising, screening, and selecting applicants) per turnover.

Compared to the other three occupations, DFS had low total vacancy costs for caseworkers.  These costs include overtime paid to remaining workers while positions were vacant.  We found total overtime costs for caseworkers for 1999 were approximately  $25,000.  DFS estimates only 25 percent of that amount is attributable to overtime caused by vacancies.  This is a lower number than we expected, since a number of current and former caseworkers said they worked overtime. 

It is possible that caseworkers are accepting compensatory time off in exchange for overtime pay.  However, in light of provisions of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, DFS may wish to examine the possibility that some caseworkers are working overtime without being paid for it or taking compensatory time off.  The agency may put itself at financial risk by allowing overtime work in this occupation without appropriate compensation. 

Dissatisfaction with Working Conditions and Wages Causes Turnover

Wages were secondary to caseworker concerns about working conditions.

The National Council of State Legislatures (NCSL) has linked national problems with caseworker turnover to factors such as heavy caseloads, inadequate compensation, lack of training, and the inherent difficulty of the work.  Dissatisfaction with pay and benefits is also a causal factor, and it is wages that DFS officials have focused on.  However, we found wages to be secondary to caseworker concerns about working conditions.  In addition, poor job fit of new-hires appears to be a contributing factor.  DFS has addressed some concerns, while other important issues are still outstanding.

Working Conditions are
the Primary Concern

Caseworkers who left DFS accepted jobs with even     lower wages.

Most former caseworkers ranked working conditions, not wages, as the overriding reason for leaving DFS.

Results of our surveys plus research by R&P led us to conclude that working conditions carry more weight as a cause of caseworker turnover than wages or personal reasons.  R&P’s research found wage records for 35 of 76 caseworkers formerly employed by DFS.  According to R&P’s analysis, these 35 individuals earned 20 percent less after leaving DFS.  This indicates that working conditions were more important than wages for these individuals. 

R&P found only half of the caseworkers formerly employed by DFS in Wyoming wage records, and we do not know the earnings of these individuals subsequent to DFS employment.  R&P concluded these individuals either left the workforce or left the state.

R&P’s analysis does not reveal a clear trend of caseworkers leaving DFS for employment with school districts, as DFS management has believed.  R&P found only 14 of 76 caseworkers were employed by state or local government after leaving DFS.  See Appendix E, page E-2, for further detail.

We surveyed caseworkers formerly employed by DFS to gather information about their reasons for departure.  In their responses, nearly two-thirds ranked working conditions as the overriding reason for ending employment with DFS.  The working conditions most frequently cited by former caseworkers were workload, organizational morale, management responsiveness, and supervisor relationships. 

Often, these former caseworkers said they did not feel supported by the management of DFS.  Additionally, when there were problems with supervisor relationships or local management, they believe there were not avenues to address and improve the problems.  They saw the need for a supportive work environment to prevent burnout and counteract the difficult nature of casework.

Caseworkers are dissatisfied with health insurance benefits.

Dissatisfaction With Wages
Also Causes Turnover

The state’s pay for caseworkers is lower than in other states, and DFS officials particularly single out low pay and benefits as causing turnover.  While we believe wages are a cause of turnover, our survey results show compensation is secondary to concerns about working conditions.  Only one-fourth of former DFS caseworkers responding to our survey ranked wages as the primary motivator for their departure, while more than twice as many chose working conditions as the primary motivator.  Very few indicated personal reasons were the cause.

Caseworkers also expressed dissatisfaction with the state’s health insurance benefits.  In response to our survey of former DFS caseworkers, several wrote comments about the declining quality of insurance benefits, or stated that raises were offset by increases in the cost of premiums or deductibles.

Wyoming’s caseworker wages are lowest among comparator states.

Caseworker Wages Lower
Than Surrounding States

Low pay, compared to similar occupations, is generally recognized in  professional literature as a cause of the national caseworker turnover crisis.  Wyoming’s caseworker wages are among the lowest of the 24 states reporting to the Central States Survey (CSS).  In this group, Wyoming pays caseworkers the second lowest starting salary and the lowest average wage.  The starting wage for a Wyoming caseworker is $22,044, compared to the average starting wage of $25,991 reported to CSS.  Furthermore, whether considering starting wage and average wage, Wyoming pays caseworkers less than all six contiguous states.  See Appendix C, page 2, for further detail. 

Eleven percent of caseworkers employed by DFS supplemented their income by working additional jobs during 1998.  Research by R&P showed 18 of 164 individuals engaged in other employment while employed that year as DFS caseworkers.  R& P states that extra employment indicates a greater likelihood that an individual will end employment with the state.

Caseworkers leaving with short tenure indicates new hires may not be well-suited for the job.

Poor Job Fit Causes
Some Turnover

The number of DFS caseworkers who leave after short tenure may indicate that DFS is not consistently hiring applicants who are a good fit for the job.  New hires may not have had realistic expectations about the profession, or may not have been well suited to the type of work caseworkers do.  We believe DFS could track the number of caseworkers who leave DFS because they were not a good match for the occupation.  The resulting information could lead to better understanding about job fit and to actions that would counter the trend. 

DFS has increased the wages of the lowest paid caseworkers.

DFS Has Taken Some Action
To Respond to Turnover

DFS officials are aware of the turnover problem and have taken some actions in the area of wages to try to decrease turnover.  For example, DFS requires caseworkers to be on-call during non-business hours, yet the longstanding policy was to compensate individuals only if they were called to work.  This policy did not recognize the limitations that being on-call places on a caseworker, such as not being able to be away from a phone or leave town.  DFS recently instituted on-call compensation for caseworkers and now pays a caseworker $120 for every seven days of on-call.

Further, when funds became available for raises, DFS decided to increase the pay of the lowest paid caseworkers.  In 1999, caseworkers’ entry-level pay was increased by nearly 10 percent from $1,674 to $1,837.  Overall, however, we found caseworkers have received minimal pay raises in recent years.  The average monthly wage for DFS caseworkers was $2,008 in 1996; it increased to $2,061 in 1999, or only about 3 percent.

DFS needs to give attention to the dissatisfaction with working conditions.

Further understanding about dissatisfaction with morale and management is needed.

More Pay Does Not Address
Workload And Morale Issues

In addition to bolstering wages, we believe DFS leaders also need to focus attention on dissatisfaction with working conditions, since this  appears to be an even more significant cause of turnover.  For example, we believe turnover will likely continue to be high until workload issues are satisfactorily addressed.  DFS has tried to decrease workloads by reallocating staff when possible and by sometimes requesting additional staff.  However, workload is a complex and technical problem needing more attention in order to develop a sufficient remedy.

Some years ago, DFS established in rule a workload standard of 25 cases per caseworker, although this standard was not originally based on a staffing study.  This standard has become outdated as many changes in the profession have since occurred.  The Child Welfare League of America (CWLA) recommends that each state develop its own workload standard specific to the tasks and activities expected of caseworkers.  DFS is currently in the process of contracting for a staffing study, which would result in an updated workload standard. 

DFS officials may not be aware of the extent to which caseworkers are leaving because of dissatisfaction with the overall morale and management of the agency.  As these are standard problems any organization might have, further problem identification is needed to determine the nature of these concerns, as well as solutions.

DFS Needs to
Invest in Solutions

A more supportive work environment may decrease turnover.

DFS needs to invest in further identifying the causes of this turnover and developing solutions.  Areas in need of further analysis are those of management and morale, workload, and wages.  Creating a more supportive internal environment may help alleviate worker stress and provide a more positive work experience.  Over time, such an approach may begin to change the long-standing and entrenched problem of high caseworker turnover. 

DFS is currently engaged in a workload study.

Our November 1999 report on CPS recommended that DFS work to develop reliable and meaningful workload information that will allow it to identify caseload trends by field office.  We recommended the agency also develop workload standards specific to Wyoming.  This information is needed to determine if caseloads are high, where caseloads are high, and to justify and effectively advocate for additional staff.  DFS officials report work on this is presently in process.

DFS should increase opportunities for internships.

DFS should make further efforts to hire individuals who are well suited to be caseworkers.  We recognize it may be difficult to address poor job fit when the agency also has difficulties filling vacancies.  Still, it may benefit the agency to concentrate on hiring individuals who demonstrate characteristics associated with long tenure with DFS.  Some research has shown that academic preparation for social work, or having completed an internship with a social services agency, tends to increase an individual’s longevity in the caseworker profession.

DFS reports it has a requirement that hiring preference be given to workers with a bachelor’s or master’s degree in social work, or a closely related field.  In addition, since many of its new hires may not have this academic preparation, it may be productive for DFS to concentrate on increasing opportunities for aspiring caseworkers to do internships with the agency.

Next Steps to Decrease
Turnover Costs

DFS should go forward with strategies to increase the retention of caseworkers.

As a consequence of high caseworker turnover, risks are created for vulnerable segments of the state’s population, and this combination of factors may undermine the effectiveness of the state’s social service efforts.  Because client services are jeopardized by turnover, we believe there is some urgency for DFS to develop strategies to increase retention of caseworkers. 

Our November 1999 report on CPS recognized caseworker turnover as a serious problem.  We had recommended that DFS develop a plan of action for issues raised.  DFS is to report progress on the plan to the Management Audit Committee in May 2000.  The analysis conducted for this report is based on 1999 data and does not include an evaluation of any actions DFS has taken in recent months to address turnover problems.  Depending on the plan DFS has developed, additional funding may be required to address the causes of turnover.  In light of the caseworker turnover cost information developed for this report, we recommend that policymakers consider DFS’ plan carefully.