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2001 Salary Study Information
Results of a Study of Salaries Paid Administrators and Staff in Child Welfare Agencies
For more information, contact
Joyce Johnson
Phone: 804/492-4519
Cell: 703/980-7641
E-mail: jjohnson@cwla.org
According to a 2001 Salary Study conducted by the Child Welfare League of America (CWLA), an overwhelming majority of chief executive administrators in public child welfare agencies plan to leave their agencies within the next ten years. This will have a profound impact on the capacity of the child welfare system to effectively serve at-risk children and their families.
The study found 82% of public chief administrators expect to retire from their agency in the next 10 years, and 76% expect to retire from the child welfare field. Of private agency administrators, 53% expect to retire from their agency, and 49% expect to retire from child welfare.
With an average age of 52, the child welfare workforce mirrors concerns in other fields. Not only will many administrators be leaving before mandatory retirement, future leadership concerns that are exacerbated by long term unresolved workforce problems mean that few stay long enough to develop the skills and expertise needed at the leadership level. In some public child welfare agencies the years of tenure for the highest paid child protective service staff with a Master's Degree in Social Work was less than three.
Turnovers and vacancies remain serious concerns. Between January 1, 2001 and July 1, 2001, average turnover rates in public agencies were 20% for direct service staff and 8% for supervisors, respectively. In private agencies during the same period, the turnover rate for direct service staff were 36% and 38% for supervisors. At the same time, public child welfare agencies had an overall vacancy rate of 12.9%, while the rate among private agencies was 7.9%.
While there has been an increase in the median salaries of workers in the past twenty years, salaries for some direct care staff has not kept pace with inflation or increasing wages in other sectors of the economy. The median starting salary for child protective service staff at the state level with an undergraduate degree in social work was $27,643 while comparably educated direct services workers in private agencies have a median starting salary of $23,000. Even with a master's of social work median starting salaries for state level child protective services staff and private agency direct services staff are just $30,470 and $29,967 respectively.
The survey found that 90% of public agencies and 68% of private nonprofit agencies provide some tuition assistance, however the study also discovered that the level of education of workers does not significantly influence the salaries of direct service staff in either public or private nonprofit agencies. Other forms of compensation include increased use of flex time.
Few agencies with budgets of less than $1.0 million dollars have development and training staff and are at a disadvantage to cope with retention, training, and supervision. CWLA urges the child welfare field to examine the trends and issues highlighted in this survey to begin to make the important decisions needed to recruit, retain, train, and mentor at all levels from administrators to direct service workers. To avoid the kinds of shortages faced by the nursing community, chief child welfare administrators must begin to develop succession plans.
Other suggestions include reimbursement of staff based on their education and tuition reimbursement and supporting legislative efforts to gain federal support for loan forgiveness programs for child welfare professionals.
Data collected for the survey is based on public and private child welfare agencies as of January 1, 2001. The data represents more than 93,000 full-time salaries as of January 1, 2001. The salary study is made up of survey responses from CWLA's member agencies. The 2001 Salary Study contains tables and statistics covering salaries, benefits and compensation trends among CWLA member agencies. Data tables include salaries and benefits for chief executive administrators, deputy directors, child protective workers, residential group care workers, supervisors, child day care personnel, and other key staff positions.
 Order the 2001 Salary Study
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