JOB DESCRIPTION SUMMARY :
Assesses, plans and coordinates services for children suspected of being abused or neglected. Provides liaison and coordinates services with the child protective services, states attorney, law enforcement and other state agencies as needed. Provides psycho-social services including: psychosocial assessment, complex discharge planning, coordination of services, resource referral, and consultation to the Maternal Child Health areas of the hospital.
JOB DESCRIPTION SUMMARY :
Assesses, plans and coordinates services for children suspected of being abused or neglected. Provides liaison and coordinates services with the child protective services, states attorney, law enforcement and other state agencies as needed. Provides psycho-social services including: psychosocial assessment, complex discharge planning, coordination of services, resource referral, and consultation to the Maternal Child Health areas of the hospital.
Education
Bachelors of Social Work or related field required; Masters' in Social Work or related field preferred
Experience
At least 2 years' experience in pediatric social work or related field and child abuse evaluation, 3-5 years preferred.
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
+ Diagnostic and problem-solving skills
+ Verbal and written communication skills
+ Basic computer skills
+ Knowledge of various social, home and extended care services, child protective programs, law enforcement community services
+ Ability to assess complex patient needs including child abuse, psychiatric and substance abuse
+ Ability to assist with coordination of services for patients with limited resources
+ Customer service skills
+ Ability to assess discharge needs for patients
Licensures, Certifications
Licensed in Maryland as an LBSW LMSW, LCSW or LCSW-C, preferred. Would consider educational and specialized training in related field.
Physical Requirements
Visual acuity, ability to hear and orally communicate, ability to read, comprehend and write the English language. Able to concentrate on details in a hectic environment.
Working Conditions
+ Work is performed inside the organization's offices, patient care units, or inpatient rooms. Job attendance is required during all types of weather conditions
+ Exposure to patients, visitors and family members with a variety of physical and psychiatric mental health conditions
Conditions of Employment
Must speak, write, and understand English fluently both in person and on the phone.
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How to hire a child protective specialist
Child protective specialist hiring summary. Here are some key points about hiring child protective specialists in the United States:
- In the United States, the median cost per hire a child protective specialist is $1,633.
- It takes between 36 and 42 days to fill the average role in the US.
- Human Resources use 15% of their expenses on recruitment on average.
- On average, it takes around 12 weeks for a new child protective specialist to become settled and show total productivity levels at work.
How to hire a child protective specialist, step by step
To hire a child protective specialist, you need to identify the specific skills and experience you want in a candidate, allocate a budget for the position, and advertise the job opening to attract potential candidates. To hire a child protective specialist, you should follow these steps:
Here's a step-by-step child protective specialist hiring guide:
- Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
- Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
- Step 3: Make a budget
- Step 4: Write a child protective specialist job description
- Step 5: Post your job
- Step 6: Interview candidates
- Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new child protective specialist
- Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist
What does a child protective specialist do?
A Child Protective Specialist is a social worker who handles suspected cases of abuse and neglect in children. They focus on performing research and investigation, conducting home visits and inspections, interviewing families and potential witnesses, gathering evidence, and reaching out to hospitals or schools to collect and analyze data. Through the findings of their investigation, a Child Protective Specialist draws conclusions and develops recommendations for the children's safety and welfare. Moreover, there are instances where they conduct interventions, refer families to other agencies, or coordinate with law enforcement.
Post a child protective specialist job for free, promote it for a fee
Identify your hiring needs
Before you post your child protective specialist job, you should take the time to determine what type of worker your business needs. While certain jobs definitely require a full-time employee, it's sometimes better to find a child protective specialist for hire on a part-time basis or as a contractor.
Determine employee vs contractor statusIs the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?Hiring the perfect child protective specialist also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.
This list presents child protective specialist salaries for various positions.
Type of Child Protective Specialist Description Hourly rate Child Protective Specialist Social workers help people solve and cope with problems in their everyday lives. One group of social workers—clinical social workers—also diagnose and treat mental, behavioral, and emotional issues. $19-31 Family Counselor A Family Counselor treats married couples or family members in order to help them overcome mental or emotional problems. They provide effective treatment measures to help the family members resolve their issues. $12-29 Case Planner Case planners are social workers who provide assistance to children and their families to improve their social and psychological functioning as well as maximize the well-being of families. These planners are required to design service plans that address the safety, behavioral, education, and permanency needs of families and adolescents... Show more $15-27 Create an ideal candidate profile
Common skills:- Social Work
- Social Services
- Mental Health
- Protective Services
- District Court
- Child Protective
- Criminal Justice
- Child Maltreatment
- CPS
- Foster Care
- Community Agencies
- Community Resources
- Sexual Abuse
- Risk Factors
Responsibilities:- Provide comprehensive case management to DCFS clients and their families to achieve case goals as outlined in the client service plan.
- Provide comprehensive case management to DCFS intact families by assessing family functioning.
- Perform related adoptions and supervisory visits for state adoptions.
Make a budget
Including a salary range in your child protective specialist job description is a great way to entice the best and brightest candidates. A child protective specialist salary can vary based on several factors:- Location. For example, child protective specialists' average salary in mississippi is 57% less than in new jersey.
- Seniority. Entry-level child protective specialists earn 37% less than senior-level child protective specialists.
- Certifications. A child protective specialist with a few certifications under their belt will likely demand a higher salary.
- Company. Working for a prestigious company or an exciting start-up can make a huge difference in a child protective specialist's salary.
Average child protective specialist salary
$52,032yearly
$25.02 hourly rateEntry-level child protective specialist salary$41,000 yearly salaryUpdated January 20, 2026Average child protective specialist salary by state
Rank State Avg. salary Hourly rate 1 Washington $66,095 $32 2 District of Columbia $65,132 $31 3 Oregon $61,063 $29 4 California $57,555 $28 5 Montana $55,233 $27 6 Illinois $54,238 $26 7 Massachusetts $53,669 $26 8 Iowa $50,781 $24 9 Missouri $42,615 $20 Average child protective specialist salary by company
Rank Company Average salary Hourly rate Job openings 1 Children's National Medical Center $61,356 $29.50 12 2 Washington State University $59,045 $28.39 3 Peoples Health $52,029 $25.01 19 4 Action in Community Through Service $51,464 $24.74 5 State Of Illinois - Illinois Student Assistance Commission $49,890 $23.99 25 6 Iowa Department of Transportation $49,448 $23.77 7 The State of Oregon $49,366 $23.73 8 8 Maine $43,922 $21.12 8 9 State of Georgia: Teachers Retirement System of Georgia $43,150 $20.75 40 10 State Of Montana $42,829 $20.59 20 Writing a child protective specialist job description
A good child protective specialist job description should include a few things:
- Summary of the role
- List of responsibilities
- Required skills and experience
Including a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager is also appreciated by candidates. Here's an example of a child protective specialist job description:
Child protective specialist job description example
Post your job
To find the right child protective specialist for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:
- Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
- Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with child protective specialists they would recommend.
- Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit child protective specialists who meet your education requirements.
- Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.
- Post your child protective specialist job on Zippia to find and recruit child protective specialist candidates who meet your exact specifications.
- Use field-specific websites.
- Post a job on free websites.
Interview candidates
To successfully recruit child protective specialists, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.
It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match your ideal candidate profile. If you think a candidate is good enough for the next step, you can move on to the technical interview.
The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.
Send a job offer and onboard your new child protective specialist
Once you've selected the best child protective specialist candidate for the job, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, this letter should include details about the benefits and perks you offer the candidate. Ensuring that your offer is competitive is essential, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and you should be open to discussion. After you reach an agreement, the final step is formalizing the agreement with a contract.
You should also follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that you've filled the position.
To prepare for the new employee's start date, you can create an onboarding schedule and complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9 forms, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Human Resources should also ensure that a new employee file is created.
Go through the hiring process checklist
- Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
- Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
- Define job responsibilities and requirements
- Establish budget and timeline
- Determine hiring decision makers for the role
- Write job description
- Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
- Promote the job internally
- Process applications through applicant tracking system
- Review resumes and cover letters
- Shortlist candidates for screening
- Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
- Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
- Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
- Conduct background checks on top candidates
- Check references of top candidates
- Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
- Extend offer to top candidate(s)
- Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
- Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
- Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
- Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)
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How much does it cost to hire a child protective specialist?
Recruiting child protective specialists involves both the one-time costs of hiring and the ongoing costs of adding a new employee to your team. Your spending during the hiring process will mostly be on things like promoting the job on job boards, reviewing and interviewing candidates, and onboarding the new hire. Ongoing costs will obviously involve the employee's salary, but also may include things like benefits.
You can expect to pay around $52,032 per year for a child protective specialist, as this is the median yearly salary nationally. This can vary depending on what state or city you're hiring in. If you're hiring for contract work or on a per-project basis, hourly rates for child protective specialists in the US typically range between $19 and $31 an hour.
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Updated January 20, 2026