Theses and Dissertations
Date of Award
2026
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education (EdD)
Department
Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice
Advisor
Deeb Paul Kitchen
Committee Member
Lisa Carbone
Committee Member
Kimberly Durham
Keywords
burnout, case manager retention, case manager turnover, child welfare, child welfare agencies, chronic stressors, coping strategies, descriptive qualitative content analysis, Florida, member checking, motivation theories, qualitative descriptive study, resiliency theories, retention, semi-structured interviews, staff retention, supportive strategies, training, turnover, workload reduction, work demand instability, workplace support
Abstract
This applied dissertation explores the factors influencing child welfare case manager turnover in Florida and how child welfare case managers are addressing those factors. National data has underscored the severity of this issue highlighting high turnover and low staff retention are attributed to work demand instability, chronic stressors and undermine the effectiveness of child welfare services.
This qualitative study investigates child welfare case managers’ perspectives on key influencing factors that determine child welfare case manager retention or influence their decision to leave. Guided by Motivation and Resiliency Theories, this qualitative descriptive study investigates child welfare case manager perspectives of why child welfare case managers remain in or leave their roles and explores how they cope with factors impacting retention.
The study aims to provide insight into how child welfare agencies can better support and retain child welfare case managers in their case manager roles. Using a qualitative descriptive design, data was collected through semi-structured interviews with 16 current and former child welfare case managers, recorded interviews, field and reflective journal notes, and member-checking procedures to ensure accuracy. The descriptive qualitative content analysis approach was used to analyze data and reveal patterns related to turnover and retention. The findings indicate that many child welfare case managers feel overwhelmed, underprepared and unsupported, highlighting the need for enhanced training, supportive strategies and workload reduction.
NSUWorks Citation
LaTasha R. Harris. 2026. Crisis in Care: A Qualitative Study to Understand the Factors That Influence High Turnover Among Florida’s Child Welfare Case Managers. Doctoral dissertation. Nova Southeastern University. Retrieved from NSUWorks, Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice. (1239)
https://nsuworks.nova.edu/fse_etd/1239.