Trajectories and Predictors of Client Violence Among Child Protection Services Workers

Area of Science:

• Social psychology
• Occupational health
• Public administration

Background:

• Child protective services (CPS) work involves significant client-related stress and potential violence.
• Understanding the long-term impact of client violence on CPS workers is crucial for workforce retention and well-being.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the trajectories of client violence (yelling, threats, physical violence) experienced by CPS workers over their job tenure.
• To investigate how demographic factors and job attributes influence these violence trajectories.

Main Methods:

• Longitudinal study of 837-859 newly-hired CPS workers over 3.5 years.
• Multi-level mixed-effect logistic regression to model client violence occurrence.
• Examination of demographic variables and time-lagged job attributes (caseload, time pressure, role demands).

Main Results:

• Non-physical client violence (yelling, threats) decreased over time, while physical violence remained constant.
• Younger, White, and female workers reported higher rates of non-physical violence.
• Job demands like caseload difficulty, role demands, and time pressure were associated with increased non-physical violence; organizational support was not significant.

Conclusions:

• High rates of non-physical violence early in a CPS worker's career highlight the need for violence assessment and management training.
• Developing responsive protocols for all CPS workers can foster a safer work environment and reduce future incidents.