The Moral and Fiscal Costs of Social Worker Turnover in Child Protection Social Work: The Moral and Fiscal Costs of Social Worker Turnover in Child Protection Social Work

For children and families engaged with statutory child protection systems, the loss of a social worker is more than a staffing issue, it is often the loss of a trusted relationship in a time of deep vulnerability. Drawing on eleven studies published over the past four decades, including peer-reviewed studies, grey literature, and commissioned reports, the review finds that turnover contributes to placement disruptions, delays in achieving permanency, and emotional distress among service users. Repeated relational losses through moves, case handovers, and broken attachments compound the trauma many children and families already face. The review also considers organisational factors, such workload and supervision, can mitigate or exacerbate these harms. Despite profound implications for child welfare outcomes, the issue remains under-researched. The paper concludes by sharing emerging findings from current research in NI on service user perspectives on turnover and how critical retention is for service continuity and outcomes for children. An economic analysis of the cost of social worker turnover is included in the presentation and shows the scale of costs associated with social worker workforce turnover in Northern Ireland.