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Child Protective Service (CPS) workers are educated about how to do the job to ensure child safety; however, they lack education about how to protect themselves from being overwhelmed by the high demand and stressful job duties they fulfill. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), work-related stress causes many health concerns. For child welfare workers, the constant exposure to work-related traumatic events often triggers mental health issues like secondary traumatic stress. Workplace wellness programs have emerged to address job stress, thus benefitting employers with cost savings, and offering ways to help employees manage their stress more effectively. This appreciative inquiry (AI) research initiative was aimed at identifying CPS workers' perceptions of self-care needs in relation to managing work-related stress and how this might be addressed within the CPS workforce. The study included interviews with 13 CPS workers. The CPS workers primarily held front line positions; however, supervisors and support staff were also included. It included a mixed methods design consisting of in-person structured interviews, a burnout survey, and field notes derived from journaling. The findings showed that CPS workers are interested in stress management tools to help them manage their job stress and believe it should be part of ongoing training. The data was organized using Microsoft Excel and analyzed using Microsoft Word. Many social workers hold positions within child welfare programs; thus the findings are significant for social work professional practice. Although research results were available, participants did not request a summary of the findings. However, once doctoral degree has been confirmed, the research results will be disseminated to the local state child welfare agency, and may be delivered through professional social work conferences, and scholarly publications that emphasize on child welfare and social work practice.
Advisor: | Hackstaff, Dr Lynn |
Commitee: | Ersing, Robin, Quijano, Louise |
School: | Capella University |
Department: | School of Public Service Leadership |
School Location: | United States -- Minnesota |
Source: | DAI-A 81/8(E), Dissertation Abstracts International |
Source Type: | DISSERTATION |
Subjects: | Social work |
Keywords: | Child welfare workers, Self-care training, Social work, Turnover, Workplace wellness |
Publication Number: | 27739719 |
ISBN: | 9781658426336 |