New survey: Staff turnover at social services is increasing sharply

Staff turnover at the country's social services is rising sharply. The proportion of municipalities whose social services have a turnover rate of over 30 percent has doubled in four years. The Humana Child Barometer that is published today, and developed in cooperation with the organisation Maskrosbarn shows these results. The situation increases the risk of it affecting children in vulnerable situations in need of social support.

- The proportion of municipalities that have very severe problems with high staff turnover in social services is increasing dramatically. High turnover means that children in need of the social services’ support are caught in the middle when they are not able to build up long-term and stable relations with the social worker, says Jeanette Johansson-Ånmark, Method-coordinator for Child and Youth at Humana.

This is the fourth consecutive year that the Humana Child Barometer is conducted. 143 municipalities have been examined in a number of areas that are important for the social services work with children in vulnerable situations. One of the most significant, and negative, changes noted on social services is the staff turnover.

The proportion of surveyed municipalities with a healthy level of turnover among social workers, i.e. a maximum of ten per cent, has fallen from 41 per cent in 2013 to 25 per cent in 2016. At the same time, the share of municipalities at the highest level of staff turnover doubled during the same period, this now applying to every fifth municipality compared to every tenth, three years earlier.

The study also shows that during the same period, the proportion of surveyed municipalities that failed to carry out child investigations within four months, as the law specifies as the limit, has increased. The proportion of municipalities that have violated the four month limit more than ten times over a two-year period has doubled. The municipalities themselves indicates that the heavy workload is the main cause of the delayed investigations.

- We who daily meet and work with children in vulnerable situations, often see how the municipalities are finding it increasingly difficult to meet the best interests of the child. When staff turnover and workload is high, it is ultimately affecting the children. We need strategies and resources for strengthening social services, says Jeanette Johansson-Ånmark.

The Humana Child Barometer 2016 is based on a survey directed to the municipal social services. The questions were developed by experts at Humana and the organisation Maskrosbarn. Read the full report here: www.humana.se.

For more information contact:
Jeanette Johansson-Ånmark, Method-coordinator Child and Youth, Humana, +46 (0)72-700 86 88,
email jeanette.johansson-anmark@humana.se
Sandra Patel Seropian, Head of advocacy work , Maskrosbarn, +46 (0)73-081 22 03 
email sandra@maskrosbarn.org
Caroline Almgren, Project Manager, +46 (0)70-520 26 55, email caroline.almgren@humana.se 

Humana is a leading Nordic care company providing services within individual and family care, personal assistance, elderly care and special service housing in accordance with LSS. Humana has more than 16,000 employees in Sweden, Norway and Finland providing care for over 8,000 individuals, and working towards the vision “Everyone is entitled to a good life”. In 2015, Humana’s operating revenue was SEK 5 655 M. The company’s headquarters are located in Stockholm, Sweden. Read more about Humana on www.humana.se or http://corporate.humana.se

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