Staff turnover in ordinary housing services for people with severe or profound mental handicaps.
Adult ID homes lose anywhere from 5 to 48 percent of staff each year, but keeping a practice-leader mentor and checking burnout can protect your core team.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Tantam et al. (1993) mailed surveys to managers of ordinary group homes for adults with severe or profound intellectual disability.
They asked how many direct-care staff had left each home in the past year.
Answers showed turnover ranged from 5 percent to 48 percent across homes.
What they found
Most houses kept a small core of long-serving staff even when overall turnover was high.
The wide spread means some programs are almost stable while others rotate staff constantly.
How this fits with other research
Deveau et al. (2016) later showed that frontline managers who use practice leadership have happier teams and slightly lower turnover.
Gerber et al. (2011) gave us a burnout tool that predicts who might leave next.
Hastings et al. (2002) built the 3SQ to measure how much support staff feel they get.
Together these papers turn the 1993 head-count into something you can act on: train leaders, watch burnout, and boost support.
Why it matters
You cannot run good ABA programs if staff walk out every few months.
Use the 3SQ or burnout scale during supervision to spot flight risks early.
Pair new hires with a practice-leader mentor to keep the core team intact.
Stable staff mean consistent programs and better outcomes for residents.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The characteristics and turnover of direct-care staff in two housing services for adults with moderate, severe or profound mental handicaps are described. Both staff groups were predominantly female with a good representation of staff aged under 30, and between 30 and 50 years. Most had prior experience in a caring capacity before taking up their current posts, but only a quarter to a third had a relevant vocational qualification. Turnover was similar in the two services, but varied considerably between settings in each. Average annual turnover ranged from 8 to 39% in one and from 5 to 48% in the other. However, most houses still had a core of long-serving staff providing continuity over time. The implications of the level of staff turnover found for management and staff training are discussed, as are the reasons for leaving given by former staff of one of the services, together with their views on job satisfaction, conditions of work, and the adequacy of management and training.
Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR, 1993 · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2788.1993.tb00581.x