Staff Retention and Turnover in a Residential Treatment Center

Staff retention is a major problem facing residential treatment programs serving referred children and adolescents. High rates of staff turnover undermine the educational and therapeutic mission of residential treatment. Variables associated with residential staff job retention and turnover were investigated in a sample of 402 employees from a single residential treatment center. Over a 3.5 year interval the rate of staff turnover was 46.1%. Employee characteristics, job factors, and use of employer incentives were all significantly correlated with staff reten-tion and turnover. Organizational interventions to increase staff retention are discussed.