Careers > Child, Family, and School Social Workers

Child, Family, and School Social Workers

$50.82K Median Salary 36.7K Job Openings (Annual Projection) 12.6% Job Growth

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About This Career

Provide social services and assistance to improve the social and psychological functioning of children and their families and to maximize the family well-being and the academic functioning of children. May assist parents, arrange adoptions, and find foster homes for abandoned or abused children. In schools, they address such problems as teenage pregnancy, misbehavior, and truancy. May also advise teachers.

Reported Job Titles

Adoption Social Worker, Case Manager, Case Worker, Child Protective Services Social Worker (CPS Social Worker), Family Protection Specialist, Family Resource Coordinator, Family Service Worker, Foster Care Social Worker, School Social Worker, Youth Services Specialist

Career data shown for:

Skills You'll Need

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Abilities

Oral Expression

Oral Comprehension

Problem Sensitivity

Written Comprehension

Written Expression

Speech Clarity

Deductive Reasoning

Inductive Reasoning

Speech Recognition

Information Ordering

Near Vision

Category Flexibility

Fluency of Ideas

Originality

Selective Attention

Knowledge

Customer and Personal Service

Psychology

Therapy and Counseling

English Language

Administrative

Sociology and Anthropology

Education and Training

Law and Government

Skills

Active Listening

Speaking

Critical Thinking

Social Perceptiveness

Judgment and Decision Making

Reading Comprehension

Service Orientation

Complex Problem Solving

Monitoring

Coordination

Negotiation

Persuasion

Time Management

Writing

Active Learning

Instructing

Learning Strategies

Systems Analysis

Technology Skills

Data base user interface and query software

Computer based training software

Spreadsheet software

Medical software

Electronic mail software

Office suite software

Word processing software

Internet browser software

Presentation software

Tools

Photocopiers

Notebook computers

Laser printers

Special purpose telephones

Laser fax machine

Desktop computers

Personal computers

Abilities

Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
Fluency of Ideas: The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
Originality: The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.

Knowledge

Customer and Personal Service: Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Psychology: Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
Therapy and Counseling: Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
English Language: Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Administrative: Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Sociology and Anthropology: Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
Education and Training: Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
Law and Government: Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.

Skills

Active Listening: Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Speaking: Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Critical Thinking: Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
Social Perceptiveness: Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Judgment and Decision Making: Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
Reading Comprehension: Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
Service Orientation: Actively looking for ways to help people.
Complex Problem Solving: Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
Monitoring: Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Coordination: Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
Negotiation: Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
Persuasion: Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
Time Management: Managing one's own time and the time of others.
Writing: Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
Active Learning: Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
Instructing: Teaching others how to do something.
Learning Strategies: Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
Systems Analysis: Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.

Technology Skills

Data base user interface and query software: Blackboard software; Database software; Microsoft Access; Yardi software
Computer based training software: BrainTrain IVA+Plus; Language arts educational software; Math educational software
Spreadsheet software: Microsoft Excel
Medical software: Henry Schein Dentrix; Medical condition coding software; Medical procedure coding software; MEDITECH software
Electronic mail software: IBM Notes; Microsoft Exchange; Microsoft Outlook
Office suite software: Microsoft Office software
Word processing software: 3M Post-it App; Evernote; Google Docs; Microsoft Word
Internet browser software: Web browser software
Presentation software: Microsoft PowerPoint

Tools

Photocopiers: Photocopying equipment
Notebook computers: Laptop computers
Laser printers: Computer laser printers
Special purpose telephones: Multi-line telephone systems
Laser fax machine: Laser facsimile machines
Desktop computers:
Personal computers:

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