Dale Weaver

Keeping Public Child Welfare Workers on the Job

Abstract The retention of public child welfare workers is of increasing concern in todays social work job market. This article presents results of a longitudinal study developing predictors of turnover among newly hired public child welfare workers. Comparisons are made between predictors of intention to leave and predictors of actually leaving the job as alternative outcomes. Attitudes of workers in response-to-job conditions are more likely to predict intention to leave than actually leaving. Time to receiving a full caseload, which is under the control of administrators, is an important predictor of leaving the job. Other lessons for administration are discussed.

Enforcement, Compliance, and Disputes in Welfare-to-Work Programs

Mandatory welfare-to-work programs are a cornerstone of current welfare reform efforts, but achieving compliance has been difficult for these programs, in part because the organizational issues facing welfare-to-work programs have not been considered. In this analysis of case management practices in four of Californias Greater Avenues to Independence programs, we demonstrate how organizational arrangements influence client compliance with program requirements. Compliance is associated with an ideology that does not stigmatize welfare recipients, goals that stress education and skill training, a service technology that is people-changing, and dispute management strategies that emphasize lenience and professional treatment.

Child Maltreatment Among Immigrant Chinese Families: Characteristics and Patterns of Placement

This study examined the characteristics of child abuse among immigrant Chinese families in Los Angeles. The study also identified some of the critical variables contributing to the selection of one of two types of placement (in home or out of home) by the child protective services system. Data were obtained from 221 active Chinese case files maintained by the Asian Pacific Unit of the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services. The extracted data were presented with logistic regression analysis to examine the odds of children being removed from the home. The most prevalent type of maltreatment experienced by the Chinese victims was physical abuse, and the rate of physical abuse was higher than in the general child welfare population. Chinese children are less likely to be removed from their homes than are non-Chinese children. Implications for practice include the need for focusing services on Chinese parent education and family preservation.

The effects of computerization on public child welfare practice

ABSTRACT This paper examines the impact of a new and promising case-based management information system on child welfare case management practices in two California counties. The objectives were to measure the extent to which computerization affected casework practices and to identify factors that influenced the effects of computerization. An exploratory longitudinal one-group pre-post design was used. Contrary to expectations, few differences were found, although workers spent more time alone after implementation of the system. A key finding is that the amount of time that caseworkers spent with clients was not reduced by the computer system.