Hiring and retaining direct-care staff: After fifty years of research, what do we know?

Recruiting and retaining direct-care staff has long been a challenge for administrators of programs that serve persons with disabilities. A literature review revealed that beginning in 1950, researchers set out to develop a paper-and-pencil test that would identify good employees. Regardless of how they defined good, employers were unable to identify tests that selected promising job applicants. Efforts to develop research-based selection tools decreased in the early 1970s with the transition from state institutions to community programs. However, the growth of community programs did not mitigate the turnover problem, and the need remains for a reliable hiring tool. Whereas recent researchers have identified practices that can reduce turnover, these practices should be more widely implemented and their efficacy examined.