2024 Child Social Worker Salary, Duties, and Educational Requirements
Top 2024 Guide | Social Care for Children & How to Become a Children’s Social Worker
Of all the social work career paths, one of the most popular is a “Children’s Social Worker”. Social care for child well-being and security is an important service provided in many government, educational, and mental health settings.
You’ll find social workers children rely on in many different settings. Schools, substance abuse centers, state child & family services agencies, hospitals, special needs facilities, and more, can all be places where you see a social worker for kids.
In this article on social work careers dealing with children, we’ll take a look at social work for child well-being, job duties, pay, and what it takes to become a social worker with kids. You’ll also find information on child social worker salary expectations, and child social worker degree requirements.
How to Become a Child Social Worker
Social work with kids centers around ensuring that children and adolescents have their physical, educational, and emotional needs met. Children social workers also work with families to support them in creating a nurturing environment for their children.
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Are you a “childrens social worker” who works very well with children? Would you like to share best practices with others on how to become a child social worker? If so, contact the Social Work Portal Team.
Table of Contents: Children’s Social Care Workers
Keep on scrolling down this page to read each section or click any link below to go directly to that section.
- What Is a Child Social Worker?
- What Does a Child Social Worker Do?
- Where Can a Social Worker Work with Children?
- Child Protection Social Worker Role
- Educational & Child Development Social Work
- Children’s Disability Social Worker
- Direct Work with Children in Private Therapy Practice
- Child Service Worker with a Non-Profit Agency
- Social Worker for Children in Medical Settings
- Child Care Social Services
- Social Worker Home Visit Administrator
- General Child Social Worker Job Description
- Child Social Worker Salary Expectations
- Childrens Social Work Jobs | Education Requirements
- Conclusion | Social Work Children: Career, Pay, Duties
- FAQ | Childrens Social Worker Jobs
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What Is a Child Social Worker?
A children’s social worker is dedicated to bettering the lives of children and youth. They do this through interventions, assessments, monitoring, and coordinating resources to help when a child is in need.
Social care services for children can go by a variety of titles, such as a Family and Children Social Worker, a Social Worker for Child Protection, a Hospital Child Care Social Worker, a Youth Substance Abuse Child Services Social Worker, a Disability Childrens Social Worker, and others.
As you can see, social services child care social workers are needed in many different areas of social work practice. Their distinction from other different kinds of social workers is that in all these various settings, they can be considered a social worker for kids.
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Do you have any questions about social services child in need jobs or children social worker job options? Do you have additional tips on “when can social services remove a child?” If so, contact the Social Work Portal Team.
What Does a Child Social Worker Do?
A child social worker job involves careers dealing with children and providing social care services for children in need. The child social worker role is about working with children and their families to support child well-being and child care social services. This could mean removing a child from a dangerous situation, as in the case of a social worker for child protective services, or facilitating a personalized learning plan for an at-risk child.
Social work practice with children involves a number of activities to support the goal of assisting a child with physical, emotional, and mental health needs.
How does a social worker help a child? Here are a number of their common activities in which social work practitioners can provide social services child care:
- Assessing children and families for support needs
- Reviewing reports of neglect or abuse for follow-up actions
- Creating a treatment or intervention plan
- Carrying out the intervention or treatment
- Monitoring and reporting on progress
- Conducting home visits and risk assessments
- Coordinating with other professionals and acting as an advocate for the child
- Working with parents and families to help them create a loving, safe, and nurturing environment
- Intervening as necessary to remove children from dangerous situations
- Facilitating Foster Care placement and adoptions
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Where Can a Social Worker Work with Children?
Children and families social worker jobs can be found in a wide range of settings, including government agencies, private psychotherapy offices, elementary and secondary schools, correctional institutions, substance abuse centers, and non-profit organizations.
Below, you’ll find a children’s social worker jobs overview with a brief children’s social worker job description for each one.
Child Protection Social Worker Role
A child protective services social worker is concerned with ensuring that children are rescued from dangerous and unsafe environments. A social worker child protection case worker also works with families to help them provide a safe and nurturing environment for their children so they can stay in their homes.
A social worker for child services will typically work for a government agency tasked with child protection. A child department of social services or health and human services agency is usually where you will find a social work child protection professional.
Child protection social worker jobs will often look different than the roles of social workers children casework in other areas like schools or hospitals. They can involve intense situations where a child needs to be removed from a home due to abuse and neglect. Home visits to monitor progress and assess the home environment are also a common requirement found in child protection social worker job description listings.
Educational & Child Development Social Work
The child social worker role in educational settings is usually centered around learning and helping eliminate any barriers to education for the child. Behavioral issues may interfere with a child’s learning. Situational problems such as bullying are also often addressed by social workers working with children in schools.
Both a social worker for child services and educational social workers will interface with teachers and school administrators in providing the best possible care and treatment plan for a child.
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Children’s Disability Social Worker
Social work with children with disabilities involves assisting children with mental or physical disabilities. Many parents need support when it comes to caring for and nurturing children that are disabled in some way.
A children’s disability social worker often does classroom observations to assess and diagnose mental health disorders. They work with educators on personalized learning plans and facilitate any special education, disability resource, or home care needs.
Social Work with Children in Private Therapy Practice
Social work and children also interact in a private setting. Children’s counselors, psychologists, and psychotherapists can assist children with mental health issues or mental disorders they may be experiencing at the request of families or guardians.
Clinical social workers are often the ones that are in these private practice settings. Someone licensed to be a clinical childrens social worker can diagnose mental disorders, provide appropriate treatment recommendations, and carry out the treatment.
Children Social Workers with Non-Profit Agencies
Becoming a social worker for children can also mean working for a non-profit agency that helps children and their families in some way. For example, a social worker working with children may work for a “big brother/big sister” type agency that provides mentors to at-risk youth. A non-profit organization supporting children with cancer and their families would also represent children in need of social worker support.
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Social Work for Child & Families in Medical Settings
Social services for children and families are also found in hospitals and other medical facilities. When families face struggles with major illnesses or injuries, a medical child and social services social worker can be a welcome source of support.
In medical settings, social services for children and families will involve helping parents understand options for outpatient treatment and making referrals for recovery, therapy, and other needs.
Navigating medical bills and health insurance language is also an area of strife for parents that have children going through hospital stays. Medical children social workers will do all they can to help families understand health insurance information and find affordable options for needed treatments.
Social Child Care in Social Services
Social child care social worker positions will usually involve supervising children or youth. This may be in a camp counselor setting or a full-time rehabilitation facility.
Social work and child protection jobs may also involve an element of child care. For example, if a department of child social services has a childcare facility for children that have been removed from their homes and are awaiting placement with a Foster Care family.
Social Worker Home Visit Administrator
Home visits are necessary in social worker child protection jobs to assess living conditions and follow up on abuse or neglect allegations. Coordinating each social worker for child protection staff member and ensuring they are reporting home visit findings in a consistent way is something that social workers children home visit administrators will do.
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See the section below for a children’s social worker job description.
If you have any feedback or questions about how to be a child social worker or the child protection social worker salary range compared to other children’s social worker qualifications, please reach out and let us know. Contact the Social Work Portal Team.
General Child Social Worker Job Description
Because there are so many ways to provide childrens social care, job descriptions for children social workers can vary across different areas of social work practice.
Someone working as a social worker for kids in an educational setting may be developing personalized learning plans. While a professional providing social care for children at a child department of social services may be involved with evaluating complaints of child abuse and neglect.
Below are some of the general duties found in social care for child social worker job descriptions:
- Conduct intake interviews with children and their parents or guardians.
- Assess children and their families for specific needs.
- Give the child any pertinent mental health assessments, such as a children’s depression screening or a pediatric anxiety screening.
- Coordinate and advocate for the child with other care providers (doctors, teachers, therapists, etc.).
- Create a treatment plan for the child based on the childrens social care evaluations.
- Monitor, take case notes and report on the child’s progress in the treatment plan.
- Provide referrals to families for resources to support the well-being of their children.
Are you are child service worker, and would you like to share feedback and tips on how children’s social worker job description or on the best practices for providing “social services child in need” services? If so, contact the Social Work Portal Team.
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Child Social Worker Salary Expectations
What is the annual pay for a children social worker? A child social worker earns between $34,000 to $78, 710 annually.
The various types of social work children casework positions are grouped on the US. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) website under the general heading of “Child, Family, and School” social workers. For this category, the child social worker salary range is from $35,820 to $78, 710 annually.
Here are a few breakdowns based on the different types of social work career paths that you may take. These are based on findings from job search sites like Salary.com, Zip Recruiter, and PayScale, as well as input from social workers working in these professions.
Average salaries in the U.S. for different types of social work with children:
- Social worker child protection: from $34,000 to $61,459/year (lower number based on social worker input, higher number based on job search websites)
- School social worker: $50,741/year
- Medical/pediatric social worker: $61,586/year
- Child therapist social worker: $50,635/year
- Child social work administrator: $58,382/year
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Do you have any questions or feedback to share about being a social worker with kids or social work for child well-being career options? If so, contact the Social Work Portal Team.
Children’s Social Work Jobs | Education Requirements
When researching how to become a children’s social worker, educational requirements are an important consideration. The salary an individual can expect from a job as a childrens social worker will depend on their level of education and experience.
Someone wanting to advance their career in social work with children, may also be interested in what additional qualifications they need to move up to a higher responsibility and pay level. Below, are the typical entry-level, and top-level child social worker job requirements.
Entry-Level Child Social Worker Jobs Requirements
- A bachelor’s degree in social work or a related social sciences field
- 1+ years of experience in a similar working environment (such as working with children in school for a school social worker or a medical setting for a hospital children’s social worker)
- A social worker license in the applicable jurisdiction (LSW)
Top-Level Child Case Worker Jobs Requirements
- A master’s degree in social work or a related social sciences field
- 2+ years of experience in a similar working environment
- A clinical social worker license in the applicable jurisdiction (LCSW)
Additional Children Social Workers Qualifications to Consider
The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) has some certifications for childrens social workers that you may want to consider:
- Certified School Social Work Specialist (C-SSWS)
- Certified Children, Youth & Family Social Worker (C-CYFSW)
- Certified Advanced Children, Youth & Family Social Worker (C-ACYFSW)
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If you have any feedback or questions about Childrens Social Work Jobs, please reach out and let us know. Contact the Social Work Portal Team.
Conclusion | Social Work Children: Career, Pay, Duties
Social care for children can be a very rewarding career path for a social worker. They work directly with children and their families to ensure that kids are in a protected, safe, and nurturing environment.
There are many childrens social care job types to choose from if you plan on becoming a social worker for children. From working in educational settings to being a pediatric social worker in a medical center to being a child protection social worker, the options for career direction are plentiful.
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FAQ | Childrens Social Worker Jobs
What is child social work called?
A children’s social worker is dedicated to bettering the lives of children and youth. They do this through interventions, assessments, monitoring, and coordinating resources to help when a child is in need.
Social care services for children can go by a variety of titles, such as a Family and Children Social Worker, a Social Worker for Child Protection, a Hospital Child Care Social Worker, a Youth Substance Abuse Child Services Social Worker, a Disability Childrens Social Worker, and others.
What does a child social worker do?
The child social worker role is about working with children and their families to support child well-being. This could mean removing them from a dangerous situation, as in the case of a social worker for child protective services, or facilitating a personalized learning plan for an at-risk child.
What do child social workers do for kids?
Wondering how do social workers help children? Social work practice with children involves a number of activities to support the goal of assisting a child with physical, emotional, and mental health needs. Ultimately social care for child professionals ensure that children are taken out of dangerous situations, get help with mental health problems, and have the resources they need to support a secure and healthy life.
When can social services remove a child?
Some of the reasons a social worker with the department of child social services would take a child out of a home are:
•Physical abuse
•Sexual abuse
•Medical abuse
•Child neglect or abandonment
•Illegal drug use in the home
•Inadequate care (e.g., lack of food and other basic necessities)
•Environmental danger
•At the request of a parent (e.g., if they cannot care for the child)
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