Retention percentages can be misleading if you’re not tracking them carefully. Some caregivers leave your system for good reasons, like adopting the child or youth or moving out of state. Others leave because caregiving isn't a good fit for them, which may be best for everyone involved.

Focus your retention efforts on caregivers who drop out due to frustration or burnout that could have been prevented.

How to do this

Define when a caregiver stops serving. This might be when their license expires, when they submit a termination letter, or when a kin placement ends. If you don't have clear milestones, create one, such as "has not taken a placement in over 12 months."

Track reasons why caregivers leave. Capture the reason when caregivers close their license in your CWIS (child welfare information system). You may get diplomatic answers, but it's a starting point for understanding patterns.

Focus on preventable departures. Differentiate between problems that could have been avoided with agency action and those that could not. Focus your retention efforts only on the former.

This strategy in action

The Center for State Child Welfare Data provides a framework for categorizing retention reasons in their report "The Dynamics of Foster Home Recruitment and Retention." It includes 7 specific categories.

Washington State tracks detailed termination reasons. They track more than 20 specific categories.

Resources