DSW Showcase Student Presentation

Lillian Varieur

MSW, LCSW-C

Sharing the Responsibility: How Organizations and Leaders Can Support a Diverse Workforce of Social Workers in Preventing Burnout and Turnover

Concentration - Administrative Leadership

Abstract

Social workers are at an increased risk of burnout, which can lead to decreased client outcomes, negative impacts on family, and job turnover. During COVID-19, many social workers experienced an increase in burnout, leading many organizations to experience higher levels of turnover. Many organizations are still experiencing staffing shortages and retention challenges with social workers. Burnout is discussed openly within the social work profession, but much of the responsibility to protect against burnout falls on the individual. Yet, research shows that organizational impacts are one of the largest factors of social worker burnout. Organizations and leaders have a responsibility to create cultures and implement practices which protect against social worker burnout. This presentation will first explore available research on how organizations and leaders can support social workers in reducing burnout, and therefore, turnover. Next, the presentation will explore a checklist that leaders and organizations can utilize to assess their current climate, policies, and practices with a focus on supporting a diverse workforce of social workers. Lastly, a training program will be proposed which can be implemented with leaders to improve their effectiveness in supporting all social workers in reducing burnout. By reducing burnout in diverse workforces, organizations can improve retention and promote diversity within the social work profession.

Biography

Lily Varieur, LCSW-C, is an independently licensed clinical social worker and board approved supervisor in Maryland. A DMV native, she currently serves as the Washington, DC Vet Center Director for the Department of Veterans Affairs and works part-time as a Mobile Crisis Team Clinician in Howard County, MD. Lily received her BSW from the University of Pittsburgh and her MSW, with a focus on military clinical social work, from the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. She has spent her career focused on trauma-informed care, especially within the military and veteran population.

Lily is currently a DSW candidate at the University of Kentucky where her research has focused on organizational approaches to social worker self-care and increasing accessibility to the social work profession. Her capstone project explores how organizations and leaders can best support a diverse workforce of social workers in reducing burnout and turnover. Lily has provided multiple self-care training presentations to organizations throughout Maryland with a focus on burnout reduction. She has received several awards and recognitions throughout her career including the 2020 Empowering Youth Award from her work as a Clinical Case Manager at Hearts and Homes for Youth, Inc. Outside of work, Lily can be found volunteering with her sorority, Sigma Delta Tau, taking workout classes, or spending time with her fiancé, Tim, and their dog, Bear.