ERIC Number: EJ742872
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2006-Aug
Pages: 26
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0145-2134
EISSN: N/A
The Effects of the ARC Organizational Intervention on Caseworker Turnover, Climate, and Culture in Children's Service Systems
Glisson, Charles; Dukes, Denzel; Green, Philip
Child Abuse & Neglect: The International Journal, v30 n8 p855-880 Aug 2006
Objective: This study examines the effects of the Availability, Responsiveness, and Continuity (ARC) organizational intervention strategy on caseworker turnover, climate, and culture in a child welfare and juvenile justice system. Method: Using a pre-post, randomized blocks, true experimental design, 10 urban and 16 rural case management teams were randomly assigned to either the ARC organizational intervention condition or to a control condition. The culture and climate of each case management team were assessed at baseline and again after the one-year organizational intervention was completed. In addition, caseworker turnover was assessed by identifying caseworkers on the sampled teams who quit their jobs during the year. Results: Hierarchical Linear Models (HLM) analyses indicate that the ARC organizational intervention reduced the probability of caseworker turnover by two-thirds and improved organizational climate by reducing role conflict, role overload, emotional exhaustion, and depersonalization in both urban and rural case management teams. Conclusions: Organizational intervention strategies can be used to reduce staff turnover and improve organizational climates in urban and rural child welfare and juvenile justice systems. This is important because child welfare and juvenile justice systems in the U.S.A. are plagued by high turnover rates, and there is evidence that high staff turnover and poor organizational climates negatively affect service quality and outcomes in these systems.
Descriptors: Role Conflict, Organizational Climate, Organizational Culture, Organizational Change, Organization, Intervention, Caseworkers, Labor Turnover, Child Welfare, Juvenile Justice, Models, Children, Persistence, Work Environment
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A