Careers in Social Work
Do you know what you want to do once you complete your Social Work education and what kind of social work careers await you? Do you know the issues you’d like to help people work on or where you’d like to practice? Does working with children make you happy? Or would you rather work with single mothers or families in poverty and help them come up with solutions to improve their situation? Below you’ll find a list of different social work careers including the descriptions, work environment and the people social workers would typically work with in those careers. The three most popular social work careers are the following:
- Child welfare social work
- School social work
- Clinical social work
The following social work careers are also briefly discussed below: Hospice Social Worker, Community Social Worker, Healthcare Social Worker and Substance Abuse Social Worker.
Child Welfare Social Worker Career Overview
Child Welfare Social Workers advocate and help children who are most vulnerable in our society and concern themselves with children’s well-being. They attempt to prevent harm and abuse of children. They also intervene when child abuse or neglect are present. Not all child abuse is physically noticeable. Child abuse can also be emotional, mental or verbal. Child Welfare Social Workers may assist in helping families understand and develop proper parenting behavior or appropriate disciplinary techniques. They may also assist in placing a child in a temporary home or assist in the child adoption process. This line of social work usually deals with lower income families and in locations that are poverty stricken.
Child Welfare Social Workers may intervene under the following circumstances:
- if under age children are left home alone to fend for themselves for long periods of time
- if they often go to school hungry
- they appear malnourished
- their hygiene is less than desirable
- they appear to have bruises on their body
Usually someone from the school staff will talk to the child and, depending on what the child says as well as their behavior, notify Child and Protective Services. Once Child Services is notified, a Social Worker is assigned to their case. That will get the ball rolling into investigating the situation. It’s possible that school staff may notify a child’s parents prior to reaching out to Protective Services. However, given the tendency that parents may become defensive, the urgency of these situations and potentially dangerous or undesirable outcomes, it’s important to notify these agencies immediately so they can get involved once the abuse or neglect becomes known.
Education Requirements, Child Welfare Social Work Career Outlook and Salary Expectations
You may qualify to become a Child Welfare Social Worker with a minimum of a Bachelors in Social Work. Please check your state’s social work requirements to be sure as each state is different. In order to be eligible to sit for the certification or licensing exam, your degree must be accredited by the Council of Social Work Education (CSWE). You must also have a minimum of supervised experience under a licensed or certified Social Worker.
The top 5 states (2) employing Child Welfare Social Workers are as follows:
- California
- New York
- Texas
- Pennsylvania
- Michigan
The national annual median salary is around $44,000. You can expect employment growth to be above average around 16% for the next two years.
School Social Worker Career Overview
School Social Workers advocate for students and their families. Most importantly, however, their focus is on the student’s academic achievement as well as their emotional, social and behavioral development. School Social Workers want to ensure that students are able to focus in the classroom and are not allowing outside influences to affect their academic development. They will intervene when issues arise such as pregnancy, tardiness, missing school, bullying, aggressive behavior, signs of physical abuse or if there’s a decline in the student’s grades.
School Social Workers must keep in constant communication with teachers, parents and the student and be able to set clear goals so any issue can be remediated as soon as possible. They must also stay on top of educational policies and their school or school district’s rules and regulations such as information privacy acts and tardiness policies. If you like working with children and want to have an impact on the future of our youth, school social work may be the right career path for you. Many school social workers may also have their teaching license and may have taught in the classroom before deciding to move onto a career in social work. A related career is School Counseling. For more information, read more about a career in school counseling.
Education Requirements, School Social Work Career Outlook and Salary Expectations
Most states require school social workers to have a minimum of a Masters in Social Work and may also require fieldwork hours in a school setting. Some states may also require a teaching license or certification. Your MSW degree must be accredited so you’re eligible to sit for the social work licensing exam in your state. According to the NASW, some states may allow a minimum of a BSW as long as supervision is provided by someone who holds an MSW. Please always be sure to check your state’s licensing requirements for school social workers.
Employment in the school setting is expected to grow by 16% through 2021 (1). Annual average salary for those is a school setting is around $44,000. The top 5 states with the highest annual salaries are:
- New Jersey
- Alaska
- California
- New York
- Massachusetts
The salaries for the above states range between $66,000 and $72,000 (2).
Clinical Mental Health Social Worker Career Overview
Clinical Social Workers are considered the largest group of social workers in the profession. Their work and the people they serve are the most varied in the social work profession. They must have a solid foundation of academic study, training and experience with most age groups. Clinical Social Workers may work with individuals, groups, families, children, or couples. They address emotional, behavioral, communication, social and mental issues, as well as try to help people address these issues in constructive and measurable ways.
Clinical Social Workers must be highly skilled in the areas of assessment, intervention, evaluation and diagnosis. As a result, they can effectively increase a person’s overall mental and emotional health. An important aspect of this line of work is that social workers focus on the relationship between person and environment and how their environment is a function of their behavior or emotional problems.
Education Requirements, Mental Health Social Work Career Outcomes and Salary Expectations
According to the NASW’s Standards for Clinical Social Work, most states require that Clinical Social Workers must have a CSWE accredited MSW degree, a minimum of 2 years of work experience or 3,000 of post degree supervised clinical experience and a license in the state where you choose to practice.
Expected annual salaries for Clinical Social Workers is around $62,000. The top 5 states with the highest annual salary are the following:
- Rhode Island
- Hawaii
- Massachusetts
- New Hampshire
- Washington DC.
The salaries range between $71,000 and $76,000 per year (2).
Other Social Work Career Paths
Hospice and Palliative Social Worker
Hospice care is a type of medical care aimed at caring for people with life-ending illnesses. Palliative care helps patients manage symptoms associated with their illness but is not a life-ending illness. Hospice Social Workers specialize in end of life care and help patients and their families deal with life-ending, terminal illnesses. They try to help families come to terms with losing a loved one and the grief, guilt and devastation during and after the loss. Losing a loved one is not something we are ever fully prepared for and the pain, confusion, hurt, anxiety and overall grief we feel can be unbearable. If you can relate to this type of work, then a career as a hospice social work may be right for you.
Hospice Social Workers try to help people navigate through these emotions and feelings to help alleviate the impact that death that can have on those who are left to continue their life without their loved one. They work closely with the patient, their families, doctors, nurses and friends. Hospice Social Workers communicate all questions and concerns that the grieving families have to the medical staff.
Community Social Worker
Community Social Workers work with people within a community to address issues such as mental health, public housing, homelessness, substance abuse. They aim to help residents find the appropriate services they need and help monitor their progress to ensure they are making strides in the right direction. Community Social Workers also work with community leaders to address macro level issues. Macro level issues are community welfare, health programs, recreational programs or environmental issues. They transform social policy into social services. As a result, their involvement benefits both the community and individual. They are advocates for positive change and at the forefront of empowering communities.
Healthcare Social Worker
Healthcare Social Workers work within a healthcare setting and support people dealing with acute or chronic illnesses. They may also provide counseling or provide other necessary resources for the family members caring for their sick loved ones. In addition to working directly with the patient or their family members, Healthcare Social Workers may be involved with healthcare policy. Some may also work to ensure people have access to quality healthcare free from discrimination.
Substance Abuse and Addiction Social Worker
Substance Abuse Social Workers help people who are battling substance abuse and addiction. They may provide counseling and treatment and help them find ongoing resources to keep them healthy. Social Workers in this area may work with people with drug, alcohol or tobacco addiction, eating disorders or sexual addiction. Many of the social workers working with substance abuse patients work in outpatient facilities, individual and family services centers, and mental health/substance abuse facilities (2). There are many similarities between Substance Abuse Social Workers and Substance Abuse Counselors with the exception of the educational and licensing/certification requirements and experience.
(1)Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, Social Workers,
on the Internet at https://www.bls.gov/ooh/community-and-social-service/social-workers.htm
(2)https://www.bls.gov/oes/2017/may/oes211023.htm