Examining associations between child welfare workforce well-being and utilization of casework skills with children and families

Background: While child welfare scholarship has paid much attention to workforce well-being such as burnout, secondary traumatic stress (STS), and compassion satisfaction, few studies have investigated how these outcomes influence utilization of casework skills. Objectives: This study aimed to understand the relationship between child welfare workforce wellbeing and use of casework skills. Specifically, we examined associations between burnout, STS, and compassion satisfaction and casework skills including parent/youth engagement, safety and risk assessment/case planning, and relative/kin connections. Participants and Setting. Participants comprised 786 child welfare direct service workers and supervisors in a Midwestern state. Method: Using a repeated cross-sectional design, data were collected via online surveys. Multivariate regression tested relationships between measures of well-being and casework skills. Results: First, higher compassion satisfaction was positively associated (p p = 0.000, f2 2 = 0.14) while higher burnout (p p = 0.000, f2 2 = 0.04) and STS (p p = 0.002, f2 2 = 0.01) were negatively associated with use of engagement skills. Similarly, higher compassion satisfaction was positively associated (p p = 0.000, f2 2 = 0.18) and higher burnout (p p = 0.000, f2 2 = 0.06) and STS (p p = 0.001, f2 2 = 0.02) were negatively associated with use of assessment/case planning skills. Lastly, compassion satisfaction (p p = 0.000, f2 2 = 0.06) was positively associated and burnout was negatively associated (p p = 0.000, f2 2 = 0.02) with relative/kin connections. Conclusion: Child welfare workforce well-being may influence use of casework skills. More research is needed to understand how positive workforce well-being impacts service delivery and, ultimately, child and family outcomes.