Catherine K. Lawrence

Mixing Methods for Full-Strength Results: Two Welfare Studies.

This article discusses the practical application of mixed quantitative and qualitative designs. Mixed methods designs can be especially powerful in illuminating policy solutions and directions for social action, thus supporting the social justice goals of social work and other helping professions. However, the decision to combine methods must be appropriate for the study, elevating the integrity and strength of the results. This article uses two studies of U.S. welfare policy to describe the decisions researchers made during the design, implementation, and combined statistical and interpretive analyses of the two research projects.

Predicting Turnover: Validating the Intent to Leave Child Welfare Scale.

A number of proxies have been used in child welfare workforce research to represent actual turnover; however, there have been no psychometric studies to validate a scale specifically designed for this purpose. The Intent to Leave Child Welfare Scale is a proxy for actual turnover that measures workers’ intention to leave. This scale was validated in the current study by a CFA. The resulting factors were compared to actual turnover. Nearly two in three workers who indicated that they had considered looking for a job in the past year actually left their agencies (60.0%). A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to determine the validity of the Intent to Leave Child Welfare Scale. The best fitting model consisted of three factors with acceptable fit statistics (X 2 = 28.6, p = 0.04; RMSEA = 0.05, 90% RMSEA CI = 0.01-0.08; CFI = 0.99; TLI = 0.98). Identified latent factors included “thinking,” which included observed variables related to workers thinking about leaving their current jobs; “looking,” which included observed variables related to workers searching for a new job; and “acting,” which included observed variables related to workers actually taking physical steps to seek a new job. Once a good fitting model was identified, binary logistic regression was conducted to determine odds ratios to predict who actually left their agencies. Each of the identified latent factors was significantly predictive of actual leaving (thinking: OR = 1.24, p = 0.00; looking: OR = 1.25, p = 0.00; acting: OR = 1.28, p = 0.01).

Latina Women: Health and Healthcare Disparities

This article examines disparities in health and healthcare for Latina women. It draws on existing literature and descriptive data from a study with Latinas. Mortality rates, leading causes of death, and reproductive health are well-documented. Little information is available on the health and chronic health conditions severely inflicting Latinas such as heart disease and diabetes. Despite advances regarding reproductive care and screening procedures, Latinas still experience inequities in healthcare insurance and utilization. Study findings indicate higher rates of diabetes and hypertension than Latinas nationwide and reasons for delaying seeking healthcare. Directions for future research and policy recommendations are explored.

Societal Factors Impacting Child Welfare Validating the Perceptions of Child Welfare Scale

Objective: This research examines the psychometric properties of the Perceptions of Child Welfare Scale (PCWS). This instrument is designed to assess child welfare workers’ understanding of how society views their role and their work. Methods: Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was utilized to analyze data on 538 child welfare workers. Results: The final model consisted of three latent variables with 14 indicators related to stigma, value, and respect (χ2 = 362.33, p = .00; root mean square error of approximation [RMSEA] = .09; 90% confidence interval [CI]: [.08, .09]; comparative fit index [CFI] = .96; Tucker–Lewis Index [TLI] = .95). Discussion: The way in which workers believe others view their work suggests an increasingly complex prototype for understanding workforce issues. Those wishing to examine societal factors related to child welfare workforce issues could use this validated instrument.

Organizational Climate Factors of Successful and Not Successful Implementations of Workforce Innovations in Voluntary Child Welfare Agencies

This study advances research on implementing innovations in child welfare organizations, confirming the association between a positive organizational climate and successful change initiative implementation. Administrators and child welfare workers from six agencies were surveyed using independent samples t-and OLS regressions. The organizational climate dimensions found significant were organization, job and role, indicating the three agencies that fully implemented a change initiative enjoyed a more positive organizational climate. The organization dimension was also significant for administrators, indicating a more positive climate perception than workers. Supervisor dimension was not significant, indicating no association whether or not the change initiative was implemented.

Climate Change in Private Child Welfare Organizations

Agency-based design teams effectively address workforce issues in public child welfare agencies. This article presents findings from an adaptation of a design team intervention for private child welfare agencies. A longitudinal mixed-methodology design measures effects of the intervention and conditions of implementation. Pre–post surveys of workers (n = 137) and a comparison group (n = 153) measure climate, job satisfaction, perceptions of child welfare, and intent to leave. Statistically significant increases of 0.37 points on dimensions of organizational justice and support (justice: p = 0.01; support: p = 0.03) parallel the team’s perceived effect of their work—that it will make the organization more fair and accountable.

Building Cultural Competence in the Child Welfare Workforce: A Mixed-Methods Analysis

Cultural competence training has been suggested as one way to help address the over-representation of children of color in the child welfare system. This article describes findings from a mixed-methods study of specialized training in cultural competence knowledge, attitudes, and skills for experienced caseworkers in public child welfare. Results indicate training participants had statistically significant increases in knowledge across all topic areas related to cultural competence. Of particular note is the increase in participant knowledge of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) and related changes in working with families and individuals.

Validating the Psychological Climate Scale in Voluntary Child Welfare

Objective: Organizational climate has emerged as an important factor in understanding and addressing the complexities of providing services in child welfare. This research examines the psychometric properties of each of the dimensions of Parker and colleagues’ Psychological Climate Survey in a sample of voluntary child welfare workers. Methods: Confirmatory factor analysis was utilized to analyze data on 640 child welfare workers providing services directly to children and families. Results: Strong models were developed for each dimension. Each validated model was more parsimonious than in the original instrument but supported the theoretical underpinnings of each. Discussion and Applications to Social Work: Psychological climate in voluntary child welfare agencies can be assessed along each of four dimensions identified by Parker and colleagues: job, role, organization, and supervision. Those wishing to examine psychological climate in voluntary child welfare settings should consider using the models identified in the current research.

Designing Evaluations in Child Welfare Organizations: An Approach for Administrators

Evaluations in child welfare settings present challenges and opportunities for administrators. This paper presents a framework for considering such evaluations and proposes mixed methods to assess participatory interventions for sustainable organizational change. A progression of three studies illustrates this approach and draws on results to demonstrate how evaluation designs impact findings.

Measuring the impact of public perceptions on child welfare workers

ABSTRACT The Public Perceptions of Child Welfare Scale measures how the social environment influences child welfare workers, including their job satisfaction and intent to leave. Psychometric studies have validated the scale for private child welfare workers, but there are no validation studies with public agency staff. This study fills that gap, showing stigma and respect are important constructs that also predict worker intent to leave. This research found an additional construct, blame, which was not present in private worker validation studies. The scale provides an important tool for the field as we continue to build evidence for effective recruitment and retention.