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The home care industry experiences similar problems with the recruitment and retention of direct care workers (DCWs) as those faced by institutions, and it is important to identify strategies to help retain and grow this important workforce. The empowerment of DCWs has been shown to be an effective strategy for increasing job satisfaction and decreasing turnover in nursing homes, but has not been studied in home care. Using Kanter's organizational theory of empowerment, including structural empowerment (structure of opportunity, access to resources, access to information, and access to support) and psychological empowerment (meaning, competence, self-determination or autonomy, and impact) this study examined whether home care workers (HCWs) feel empowered in carrying out their jobs. An exploratory, qualitative study of 12 HCWs, recruited from two states in the United States, found high levels of both structural and psychological empowerment among research participants, as well as a number of disempowering aspects of their job. Findings suggest ways to support elements of the work that HCWs find empowering and decrease elements that contribute to job dissatisfaction and turnover.

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In the United States today, more than 56% of individuals are in debt (Foster,Meijer, Schuh, & Zabek, 2011).  Debt literacy may be defined as the ability to correctly assess debt contracts andcompound interest when making financial decisions about loans, credit cards,interest rates and fees. Often, low-income individuals are vulnerable toexperiencing debt and social workers are uniquely placed to assist them.  However, little is known about the debtliteracy levels of Master of Social Work (MSW) students who are about to becomesocial workers.  This study attempts tofill this gap.  Data were collected from 48MSW students, and analyzed using Chi-Square goodness-of-fit tests, Chi-Square testsof independence, and Fishers’ Exact Test where appropriate. Resultsindicate that social work studentsscored low on all debt literacy measures, but were statistically similar to thegeneral population and to service providers in the asset building field. Inaddition, students with higher self-assessed financial knowledge, or who comefrom households with higher incomes or network, tend to have higher debtliteracy levels. Implications for social work practice and education are discussed