Child Social Worker Job Description, Key Duties and Responsibilities

This post provides detailed information on the job description of a child social worker, to help you learn the tasks, duties, and responsibilities they typically perform.

What Does a Child Social Worker Do?

Child social workers labor to ensure the well-being and welfare of children, as well as their families.

According to the National Association of Social Workers, child welfare social workers are specialists who provide a safe and loving environment for children, building upon the strengths within a family and their community.

In the United States, the Bureau of Labor Statistics categorizes child social worker under the child and family social workers” class.

The child social worker job description involves protecting children from neglect, situations of abuse, and other forms of maltreatment.

It also entails making sure that the welfare of their clients is well taken care of.

They do this by visiting homes in order to investigate allegations of neglect or abuse, providing assessments as a way to determine whether a guardian or parent is fit to provide care for such children, evaluating whether a child should be permanently or temporarily removed from his/her living situation and placing children with adoptive families or foster care.

Working as a child welfare social worker presents a number of challenges, nonetheless, it can help you make a significant and meaningful difference in the lives of your clients.

Child social workers are usually expected to have a minimum of a bachelor’s degree in social work, though sometimes, they may have related undergraduate degrees in fields like sociology and psychology.

Several of them have master’s degrees in social work, and a very few of them have doctoral degrees, even though they all work in supervisory functions.

Depending on the requirements of the hiring agency, child welfare workers are most of the times not required to hold license.

Most social workers who work with children work for government agencies and bodies that focus on child welfare.

The name of these agencies varies depending on the state and location. Many child social workers also work for non-profit community organizations, child advocacy agencies, foster care and adoption agencies.

Child Social Worker Job Description Example/Sample/Template

Given below is a sample job description for the post of child social worker.

It shows typical duties, tasks, and responsibilities that make up the daily activities of someone holding the position.

Address legal issues such as discipline and child abuse
Assist with hearings and provide testimony in case of custody arrangements
Find, arrange or provide for support services, such as homemaker service, prenatal care, child care, substance abuse treatment, counseling, parenting classes or job training to prevent more serious problems from developing
Arrange for psychiatric, medical and other tests as necessary
Work in adolescent and child residential institutions
Administer welfare programs
Evaluate home conditions and personal characteristics of adoption applicants and foster home
Serve as liaisons between schools, family services, students, homes, child guidance clinics, courts, protective services, doctors and other contacts, to help children who face challenges such as poverty, disabilities or abuse
Place children in institutions, adoptive or foster homes or medical treatment centers
Supervise other social workers
Recommend temporary foster care
Advise adoptive or foster parents.
Determine adopter’s eligibility for financial assistance
Conduct social research
Establish and lead counseling sessions which provide support in such areas as stress, grief or chemical dependency.

Child Social Worker Requirements: Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities for Career Success

Here are vital skills and abilities child social workers are required to possess to excel on the job:

Patience and resilience
Ability to remain calm in crisis
Flexibility
Initiative
Strong observation, listening and analytical skills
Capacity to absorb procedural/legal information
The ability to mediate/interpret/negotiate on behalf of service users
Good organizational skills
Must be able to plan meetings for a caseload of clients.

Child Social Worker Employment

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of employments for child, family, and school social workers in the United States is 352,160, according to its May, 2023 report.

Employment by Industry

The BLS report also showed the industries that employed the highest number of child, family, and school social workers in the U.S. during the period to be: