What does a children's service worker do?
Children's service worker responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real children's service worker resumes:
- Help children/youth in state custody achieve permanency whether through reintegration, adoption or custodianship.
- Task supervisor for MSW graduate students for field placement.
- Recognize risk factors quickly, collaborate with interdisciplinary team, nurture positive relationships with patients through consistency and modeling healthy boundaries.
- Authorize medical necessity forms for Medicaid services.
- Assure federal regulations and all eligibility requirements are follow when placing customers into proper Medicaid program.
- Perform related adoptions and supervisory visits for state adoptions.
Children's service worker skills and personality traits
We calculated that 10% of Children's Service Workers are proficient in Social Work, Foster Care, and Law Enforcement. They’re also known for soft skills such as Emotional skills, Communication skills, and Interpersonal skills.
We break down the percentage of Children's Service Workers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Social Work, 10%
Integrated advanced social work intervention with dysfunctional families to prevent/remedy abuse/neglect.
- Foster Care, 10%
Managed foster Care caseload of approximately 30-40 cases consistently and ensured records were compliant with state regulation.
- Law Enforcement, 7%
Direct involvement with practitioners including educational staff, medical personnel, law enforcement, and judicial system.
- Community Resources, 6%
Assist in the development and implementation of regional plan to recruit potential foster/adoptive families; identify additional community resources.
- Substance Abuse, 6%
Make appropriate referrals to other service providers (i.e., psychological, domestic violence, and substance abuse services).
- Protective Services, 6%
Deliver and coordinate protective services involving neglected, abused or exploited children.
Common skills that a children's service worker uses to do their job include "social work," "foster care," and "law enforcement." You can find details on the most important children's service worker responsibilities below.
Communication skills. Another essential skill to perform children's service worker duties is communication skills. Children's service workers responsibilities require that "clients talk to social workers about challenges in their lives." Children's service workers also use communication skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "coordinate communication between wvdhhr, law enforcement, attorneys, judges, and other professionals. "
Interpersonal skills. This is an important skill for children's service workers to perform their duties. For an example of how children's service worker responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "social workers must be able to work with different groups of people." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a children's service worker: "demonstrate excellent interpersonal and counseling skills. ".
Organizational skills. children's service worker responsibilities often require "organizational skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "social workers must help and manage multiple clients, often assisting with their paperwork or documenting their treatment." This resume example shows what children's service workers do with organizational skills on a typical day: "organized and conducted joint investigations with law enforcement in strict accordance with government regulations and organizational procedures and policies. "
Problem-solving skills. A commonly-found skill in children's service worker job descriptions, "problem-solving skills" is essential to what children's service workers do. Children's service worker responsibilities rely on this skill because "social workers must analyze their clients’ complex situations and develop practical solutions." You can also see how children's service worker duties rely on problem-solving skills in this resume example: "acted as a liaison between social workers and the court to assist in the resolution of court cases. "
Compassion. Lastly, "compassion" is an important element of what a children's service worker does. Children's service worker responsibilities require this skill because "social workers often work with people who are in stressful and difficult situations." This resume example highlights how children's service worker duties rely on this skill: "provided compassion and direction to those who were experiencing hard times. "
The three companies that hire the most children's service workers are:
- Aramark4 children's service workers jobs
- Lower Eastside Service Center2 children's service workers jobs
- Fraser Ltd1 children's service workers jobs
Choose from 10+ customizable children's service worker resume templates
Build a professional children's service worker resume in minutes. Our AI resume writing assistant will guide you through every step of the process, and you can choose from 10+ resume templates to create your children's service worker resume.
Compare different children's service workers
Children's service worker vs. Youth advocate
Youth advocates are individuals who responsible for maintaining the human rights of youth while assisting them in developing their skills in all areas of life, such as education, health, employment, and relationships. These advocates are required to discuss youth development and involvement with various leaders in the community. They must provide crisis interventions by performing one-on-one and group meetings with young adults. Youth advocates must also work with mental health professionals within the community so that they can guide teenagers with drug or alcohol problems and mental health issues.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between children's service workers and youth advocate. For instance, children's service worker responsibilities require skills such as "law enforcement," "court reports," "child protective," and "sexual abuse." Whereas a youth advocate is skilled in "youth development," "independent living," "life training," and "community outreach." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Youth advocates earn the highest salaries when working in the automotive industry, with an average yearly salary of $31,171. On the other hand, children's service workers are paid more in the government industry with an average salary of $43,339.youth advocates tend to reach lower levels of education than children's service workers. In fact, youth advocates are 5.2% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.3% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Children's service worker vs. Youth development professional
Youth Development Professionals are specialists in implementing and overseeing programs to help adolescents discover their abilities and interests. They are responsible for coordinating career days and field trips, organizing mentorship sessions, create youth outreach projects, and assisting community organizations in youth provision development. Other duties include supporting the training of volunteer youth workers as well as ensuring service provided adheres to professional standards and current regulations. A Youth Development Professional may specialize in a specific development sector, such as healthy living, experiential learning, or public service.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real children's service worker resumes. While children's service worker responsibilities can utilize skills like "social work," "foster care," "law enforcement," and "community resources," youth development professionals use skills like "youth development," "direct care," "productive relationships," and "restraints."
Youth development professionals earn similar levels of education than children's service workers in general. They're 4.7% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.3% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for children's service workers in the next 3-5 years?
Virginia Schwindt
MSW Field Director/Associate Professor, Union University
Children's service worker vs. Family support specialist
A family support specialist is an individual who provides counseling and rehabilitation services to families who are facing crises so that their lives can be improved. Family support specialists conduct interviews with members of a family to determine areas that need support such as anti-social behavior, bullying, or domestic violence. They collaborate with healthcare and social professionals to evaluate caseload needs. In cases of relevant child protection, family support specialists are also required to attend court sessions.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from children's service worker resumes include skills like "protective services," "court reports," "social services," and "sexual abuse," whereas a family support specialist is more likely to list skills in "child abuse," "patients," "child development," and "cpr. "
Family support specialists make a very good living in the professional industry with an average annual salary of $38,192. On the other hand, children's service workers are paid the highest salary in the government industry, with average annual pay of $43,339.family support specialists typically earn similar educational levels compared to children's service workers. Specifically, they're 3.8% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Children's service worker vs. Family specialist
A Family Specialist performs social work for families in need. They are focused on helping individuals and families to improve their lives.
Types of children's service worker
Updated January 8, 2025
