A comparison of caseworker characteristics in public and private foster care agencies

Recent attention has been given to caseworker characteristics as a relevant variable for study in foster care research. However, very few studies examine the characteristics of caseworkers employed in both public agencies and private contract agencies, in spite of increased privatization of foster care services. This study compared demographics, attitudes and beliefs, and work history among 51 public agency caseworkers and 30 private agency contract caseworkers in three Midwest counties varying in size from small to large. Caseworkers in public agencies had more experience and commensurately higher salary ranges than those employed by private agencies. Also, a larger proportion of public agency caseworkers in the sample were African American or members of several other ethnic minority groups compared to caseworkers in private contract agencies. Differences were noted in caseworkers' negative attitudes toward drug-using parents, alcohol-abusing parents, and parents with a mental illness, with caseworkers in private contract agencies expressing more negative attitudes toward parents with these conditions. On average, workers across types of agency thought that parents preferred more involvement in treatment planning than the workers themselves preferred. Results are discussed according to their implications for supervision and training of caseworkers, for research, and for policy-making.