Stronger together: Workplace social support among residential child welfare professionals

Residential childcare workers (RCWs) in child welfare and youth-justice settings are at risk of secondary traumatic stress, burnout, and moral distress. Workplace support has been shown to be protective against work-related harms for some helping professionals and a lack of workplace support has been cited as a contributing factor toward workforce instability; however, little is known about what types or sources of support are effective for RCWs.

81 RCWs from 11 residential units in 11 of the 16 territorial service centers across the province of Québec, Canada.

This interpretive description study analyzed data extracted from transcripts of individual interviews guided by the Secure Base Interview protocol (Schofield & Beek, 2018). Responses to a single item were read for meaning, compared, contrasted, and then coded using the thematic analysis technique. The sources of support identified by participants as helpful were aggregated to reveal a common support system pattern.

Multiple sources of social support were described; the majority were interpersonal interactions with peers, unit managers, and various interdisciplinary team members. Informal individual supports without role overlap and teams with a common vision were most often cited, even when formal supports were available.

Implications of these findings include the need to conceptualize effective workplace social support for RCWs and to rethink the place of mutual-aid among trauma-exposed professionals in residential child welfare and youth-justice settings.