Child welfare social workers ensure that children and youths who have experienced abuse or neglect are supported through a range of services. Social workers also help parents of children with developmental disabilities understand their legal rights. They help parents learn to be advocates and find special services that enable their children to be as independent as possible.
Since the early s, professionally trained social workers have helped people deal with personal and social factors that affect health and wellness.
Some health care social workers are in direct services and concentrate on individuals, families, and small groups. Others work in settings where the focus is on planning, administration, and policy. In the health care setting, social workers may conduct research, develop programs, and administer social work and other departments.
The functions of social work in international development are diverse. They include direct services in communities, refugee camps, orphanages, hospitals, and schools, as well as supporting the efforts of national governments, intergovernmental organizations, and non-governmental organizations to enhance social well-being. Social workers who work in justice and corrections can be found in courts, rape crisis centers, police departments, and correctional facilities.
They provide mental health services in both urban and rural settings, where they may be the only licensed provider of mental health services available. Social workers help individuals, families, and communities find ways to recover from substance use.
They provide a much-needed ecological perspective to treatment that focuses on the client in relation to family and neighborhood environments, community support systems, cultural attitudes, and policies.
Consequently, social workers trained in treating alcohol, tobacco, and other drug addictions can be found doing case management, group and individual therapy, family counseling, advocacy for jobs and housing needs, community resource development, education, and policy making. Occupational social workers help organizations re-engineer their structure and methods to improve efficiency, creativity, productivity, and morale. They may also work for a union and be involved in job counseling or organizing.
Social workers analyze policies, programs, and regulations to see what is most effective. They identify social problems, study needs and related issues, conduct research, propose legislation, and suggest alternative approaches or new programs. They may foster coalitions of groups with similar interests and develop organizational networks. There is a natural progression in the careers of many social workers from activism to leadership.
Increasingly social workers are holding elective offices from school boards to city and county governments, from state legislatures all the way to the U. For instance, social workers are desperately needed to provide emotional support and other aid to families displaced by war. Social work positions require licensure; however, the requirements vary by state.
There are three main types of licensure:. All three require that you pass the ASWB exam and complete supervised hours. Requirements vary, so research the state and federal requirements for social workers. Because social workers can take on a variety of roles, there is no defined list of skills it takes to be a social worker. However, there are certain skills all social workers should possess. There are multiple sectors in which a social worker can pursue a career.
Social workers employed by the government usually work in the Department of Health and Human Services. Branches include the child welfare branch, public health and safety, and the unemployment office. Private, nonprofit and charitable organizations are the second-largest employer of social workers, accounting for A growing number of companies are utilizing the skills of social workers to improve the work environment for their employees.
The remaining 2. Social workers are useful in many situations, so they can work in numerous locations and environments. To sum up , social work serves individuals and communities, helping them heal and grow. Social workers have an incredible ability to improve the lives of others. The majority of social workers work full time. They sometimes work evenings, weekends, and holidays to see clients or attend meetings, and they may be on call. Clinical social workers must also be licensed by their state.
A BSW prepares students for direct-service positions such as caseworker or mental health assistant. These programs teach students about diverse populations, human behavior, social welfare policy, and ethics in social work.
All programs require students to complete supervised fieldwork or an internship. MSW programs prepare students for work in their chosen specialty by developing clinical assessment and management skills. All programs require students to complete a supervised practicum or an internship. Two years of supervised training and experience after obtaining an MA degree is typically required for clinical social workers.
All states require clinical social workers to be licensed, and most states require licensure or certification for nonclinical social workers. After completing their supervised experience, clinical social workers must pass a clinical exam to be licensed.
Because licensing requirements vary by state, those interested should contact their state licensure board. For more information about regulatory licensure boards by state, visit the Association of Social Work Boards. Communication skills. Clients talk to social workers about challenges in their lives. Emotional skills. Social workers often work with people who are in stressful and difficult situations. To develop strong relationships, they must have patience, compassion, and empathy for their clients.
Interpersonal skills. Social workers need to be able to work with different groups of people. They need strong interpersonal skills to foster healthy and productive relationships with their clients and colleagues.
Organizational skills. Social workers must help and manage multiple clients, often assisting with their paperwork or documenting their treatment. Problem-solving skills. Note: All Occupations includes all occupations in the U. Source: U. The median wage is the wage at which half the workers in an occupation earned more than that amount and half earned less. In May , the median annual wages for social workers in the top industries in which they worked were as follows:.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections program. Employment of child, family, and school social workers is projected to grow 13 percent from to , faster than the average for all occupations. Child and family social workers will be needed to work with families to strengthen parenting skills, prevent child abuse, and identify alternative homes for children who are unable to live with their biological families.
In schools, more social workers will be needed as student enrollments rise. However, employment growth of child, family, and school social workers may be limited by federal, state, and local budget constraints.
Employment of healthcare social workers is projected to grow 13 percent from to , faster than the average for all occupations. Healthcare social workers will continue to be needed to help aging populations and their families adjust to new treatments, medications, and lifestyles. Employment of mental health and substance abuse social workers is projected to grow 15 percent from to , faster than the average for all occupations.
Employment will grow as more people seek treatment for mental illness and substance abuse. In addition, drug offenders are increasingly being sent to treatment programs, which are staffed by these social workers, rather than being sent to jail. These estimates are available for the nation as a whole, for individual states, and for metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas. The link s below go to OES data maps for employment and wages by state and area.
All state projections data are available at www. Information on this site allows projected employment growth for an occupation to be compared among states or to be compared within one state. CareerOneStop includes hundreds of occupational profiles with data available by state and metro area. There are links in the left-hand side menu to compare occupational employment by state and occupational wages by local area or metro area.
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