My presentation on the long and irregular work hours of child welfare workers. I presented this at the 2007 Annual Program Meeting (APM) of the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE).

1. The Extended &
Irregular Work Hours
of Child Welfare
Workers
on-call / after-hours workload
Todd Stanfield, PhD, LCSW
Union University
Jackson, TN

2. my years as a child welfare worker
what we know about retention / turnover
occupational health literature
other professions
next steps for social work

3. MSW program
Title IV-E traineeship
field placement
2 years (research complete)
federal consent decree
Birmingham
“primary” foster care

4. rotation schedule
typical “day”
supervisor’s role
“comp time”
help each other
my resignation
next job

5. 3.3 million
referrals/reports nationwide in 2005
Child Maltreatment 2005
HHS - Children’s Bureau

6. 1,915,641
screened-in reports that were investigated
Child Maltreatment 2005
HHS - Children’s Bureau

7. high turnover
documented
negative outcomes for families

8. preventable
undesired
turnover

9. < 2 years
average length of employment
-GAO 2003

10. annual discretionary grants
targeted research
effectiveness of strategies
recruitment
retention

11. 1974 to 2004
job satisfaction
emotional exhaustion
role overload/conflict/
stress
reasonable workload

12. turnover effects
cost
time to train new workers
poorer outcomes for
families

13. turnover factors
individual
supervisory
organizational

14. individual factors
demographics
burnout
commitment
education

15. top predictors
burnout occupational
commitment
emotional exhuastion

16. caseload workload

17. work - home fit

18. “A one standard deviation increase in the
measure of work–life balance increases
the odds of retention by 59%”.
-Smith 2006

19. work responsibilities intrude
into one’s family and personal
life (24/7)
Ellet et al. (2007) - Georgia

20. 70 hours per week
Ellet et al. (2007) - Georgia

21. after hours & unpredictable work
interfere in personal & family life
53% 34%
“highly problematic” “somewhat problematic”
ranked 3rd behind “workloads too high”
and “caseloads too high”
APHSA 2005

22. occupational health
literature

23. 2002
“organization of work”
research needed on effects
in specific professions
“mandatory overtime”
“unplanned overtime”

24. work hours
work hours declining in
Japan & most of Europe
increasing in U.S.
longest working hours of
any of the wealthy
industrialized countries

25. long & non-standard
working hours
stress accidents
fatigue gastrointestinal disorders
sleep disorders musculoskeletal disorders
smoking mental illness
sedentary negative work-to-family
spillover
cardiovascular disease

26. not so much quantity of
time worked, but...
patterning of that time
intensity of work within that time
potential for rest
control the worker has over the time
worked

27. national research agenda
long work hours team
hours worked
predictability
nights / weekends
recovery time

28. other professions

29. Philadelphia Police Shift
Rescheduling Program
1984 to 1988
Center for the Design of
Industrial Schedules
177 in treatment / 199 in
control
cumulative sleep
deprivation
new schedule

30. Philadelphia Police Shift
Rescheduling Program
sleep quality
alertness
overall health
accidents
alcohol
sleeping pills
family/work satisfaction

31. “Tired Cops Study”
1996 to 2000
4 cities / different regions
used eye-reaction
measurement (FIT)
Pittsburgh Sleep Quality
Index

32. “Tired Cops Study”
1 in 5 had impairment =
BAC of .05%
twice as high as factory
workers
highest ever seen in any
occupational group

33. “Tired Cops Study”
less fatigue reported
by:
less overtime
less irregularity
work-related sleep
disruption

34. police officers
NIJ
NIOSH
NIMH
CDC

35. nurses
research on fatigue / hours
more errors
patient safety
six states
limits on mandatory
overtime

36. nurses
2,617
2 states
musculoskeletal disorders

37. nurses
MSDs increased with:
longer work days
less time between work
mandatory overtime
work on days off
on-call work
nights / weekends

38. doctors
less REM sleep when on-
call
more errors in patient
care when on-call
more errors as number of
hours increased
recovery time
many limits passed

39. sleep deprivation
truck drivers
airline pilots
doctors
nurses
police officers

40. Social Work?

41. Next steps?
Prevalence of on-call /
after-hours work
Measure effect of after-
hour work on emotional
exhaustion
Measure effect of after-
hour work on outcomes
for families served

42. Next steps?
OOW interventions that
create separate after-
hours workers
Effectiveness research on
those interventions
Advocacy for limits being
place on after-hour duties
for “daytime” workers

43. Next steps?
Clearly define the distinct
components of
“workload”
Worker safety after hours
Teach students the
importance of being aware
of their own limits
Teach students how to
professionally set clear
boundaries on their time

45. your experiences?

46. Todd Stanfield
Union University
toddstanfield@gmail.com