Released: December 2, 2022
This report provides the results of our job satisfaction survey of child welfare (CW) staff within the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) and information on agency initiatives to improve employee morale and job satisfaction. Recent events related to the handling of cases by CW staff and the subsequent testimonies during legislative committee meetings resulted in a legislative request to survey the job satisfaction of CW staff.
To assess job satisfaction, identify barriers to job performance, and evaluate employee perspectives on leadership and accountability, we conducted a survey of CW staff in October 2022.(1) We sent surveys to 1,433 DCFS staff who work in CW areas including Adoption, Centralized Intake, Child Protective Services, Family Services, Foster Care, Extended Foster Care, and Home Development. We received 816 responses for an overall response rate of 56.9%. Some questions on the survey were based on a survey we conducted in May 2013 as part of an April 2014 performance audit on child welfare(2) to determine whether morale and job satisfaction has improved.
To provide information on DCFS activities and initiatives to improve job satisfaction, job performance, and leadership we reviewed documentation provided by DCFS to the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare. Issues related to job satisfaction, morale, and job performance were also identified in our 2014
performance audit and by Governor John Bel Edwards’ 2016 Transition Committee on Children and Family Services,(3) which identified issues and made recommendations for changes by the new DCFS administration.
- We developed the survey questions using previous job satisfaction surveys sent to agencies by the LLA, and a previous survey of CW employees sent in May 2013. DCFS staff reviewed the survey questions and we incorporated their feedback prior to sending the survey.
- The April 2014 report can be found here: https://app.lla.state.la.us/publicreports.nsf/0/ccf81373b5cee48186257cb5007189f2/$file/00038f27.pdf?openelement&.7773098
- The report of the 2016 transition committee can be found here: https://gov.louisiana.gov/assets/docs/TransitionTeam/DCFS_Transition_Final_Report.pdf