Dataset Details
Florida Study of Professionals for Safe Families (FSPSF), Waves 1-6
Dataset Number: 281
Investigator(s)
Dina J. Wilke, PhD, MSW
Florida State University Tallahassee, FL
Melissa Radey, PhD, MSSW, MA
Florida State University Tallahassee, FL
Lisa Magruder, PhD, MSW
Florida State University Tallahassee, FL
Abstract
The Florida Study of Professionals for Safe Families (FSPSF) is a longitudinal study of Florida’s
child welfare workforce. The primary focus of the study examines turnover and retention
decisions among frontline workers. FSPSF project staff recruited all Child Protective
Investigators and Dependency Case Managers in pre-service training between Sept. 1, 2015 and
December 31, 2016 and 84% of eligible participants provided consent and baseline information
(N = 1,500). Participants were followed during the study timeframe even if they left their child
welfare positions. Workers were surveyed every six months for approximately 3.5 years
focusing on individual, occupational, and organizational influences on child welfare employee
retention.
This statewide study examined worker personal characteristics (e.g., educational background,
family history, self-esteem, etc.) worker experiences and responses (e.g., stress and burnout,
work/family balance, social support, and coping, etc.), and organizational influences (e.g.,
organizational climate, supervisory practices, and caseload responsibilities etc.). Respondents
were surveyed every 6-7 months with a core instrument and three in-depth substantive modules
that were rotated during the data collection period. Modules included a focus on
(1) supervision and organizational functioning (assessed at waves 2, 5, and 8);
(2) work/family life balance (assessed at waves 3, 6 and 8); and
(3) mental health (assessed at waves 4 and 7).
Overall, 100% of child welfare administrative units across the state of Florida agreed to be part
of the study. Individual response rates for each wave were also very high. Across all waves of
data collection, response rates averaged 81% and ranged from 77% to 87%, and 62% (n = 929)
of participants responded at every wave of data collection.
Documentation for the data includes:
- Codebooks for each wave (available upon request) that contain a listing of the variables in the dataset, brief descriptions of the variables, variable names, variable labels, response categories, value ranges for continuous variables, and frequency distributions for categorical variables
- A users' guide that explains the background, purpose, and design of the study; the data de-identification procedures; the data limitations; and analytical considerations
Bibliographic Citation
Wilke, D., Radey, M., & Magruder, L. (2023). Florida Study of Professionals for Safe Families (FSPSF): Waves 1-6 [Data set]. National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect (NDACAN). https://doi.org/10.34681/wjmw-7n19
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