Crisis intervention specialist vs foster care worker

The differences between crisis intervention specialists and foster care workers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a crisis intervention specialist and a foster care worker. Additionally, a crisis intervention specialist has an average salary of $54,678, which is higher than the $46,037 average annual salary of a foster care worker.

The top three skills for a crisis intervention specialist include social work, patients and substance abuse. The most important skills for a foster care worker are foster care, social work, and child abuse.

Crisis intervention specialist vs foster care worker overview

	Crisis Intervention Specialist	Foster Care Worker
Yearly salary	$54,678	$46,037
Hourly rate	$26.29	$22.13
Growth rate	9%	9%
Number of jobs	80,817	151,625
Job satisfaction	4	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 60%	Bachelor's Degree, 64%
Average age	45	42
Years of experience	4	4

What does a crisis intervention specialist do?

A crisis intervention specialist provides counseling services and intervention to patients in high-stress situations. Their responsibilities include conducting assessments to understand the clients' conditions, studying their medical histories and personal background, developing treatment plans, and regularly monitoring their behavior and progress. They may also coordinate with the patients' families or guardians, provide care advice, or refer patients to other specialists when necessary. Moreover, a crisis intervention specialist gives emotional support and guidance to patients, helping them deal with stress.

What does a foster care worker do?

A Foster Care Worker helps improve the social and psychological functioning of children and their families as well as increases the family's well-being and the academic functioning of children. They counsel families about issues regarding their child's care and develop healthy living situations.

Crisis intervention specialist vs foster care worker salary

Crisis intervention specialists and foster care workers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Crisis Intervention Specialist	Foster Care Worker
Average salary	$54,678	$46,037
Salary range	Between $40,000 And $73,000	Between $32,000 And $65,000
Highest paying City	Hoboken, NJ	Baltimore, MD
Highest paying state	New Jersey	New Jersey
Best paying company	Legacy Health	Riverview Health
Best paying industry	Professional	Construction

Differences between crisis intervention specialist and foster care worker education

There are a few differences between a crisis intervention specialist and a foster care worker in terms of educational background:

	Crisis Intervention Specialist	Foster Care Worker
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 60%	Bachelor's Degree, 64%
Most common major	Psychology	Social Work
Most common college	California State University - Long Beach	Boston University

Crisis intervention specialist vs foster care worker demographics

Here are the differences between crisis intervention specialists' and foster care workers' demographics:

	Crisis Intervention Specialist	Foster Care Worker
Average age	45	42
Gender ratio	Male, 29.6% Female, 70.4%	Male, 20.1% Female, 79.9%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 7.9% Unknown, 6.2% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 3.1% White, 74.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%	Black or African American, 13.4% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 15.1% Asian, 2.7% White, 63.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.5%
LGBT Percentage	15%	10%

Differences between crisis intervention specialist and foster care worker duties and responsibilities

Crisis intervention specialist example responsibilities.

Provide clinical assessments, crisis intervention and supportive counseling for patients who are involuntary admissions.
Provide content lead support on mathematics assessment projects/contracts.
Provide mathematics content expertise and consultation to meet and support customer specify goals.
Prepare, arrange, and facilitate involuntary and voluntary inpatient psychiatric hospitalization placement for patients when clinically indicate.
Provide individual counseling, weekly psycho-educational groups in DBT and substance abuse prevention, crisis intervention and administration of clinical intakes.
Author and review items for ESL assessments, including TOEFL and TOEIC tests.

Foster care worker example responsibilities.

Conduct unscheduled regular school visits to attain records of attendance, suspensions, IEP, and treatment plans.
Manage to write progress note, complete FASP's and input information on PROMIS on a timely manner.
Manage caseload of 18 23 children and adolescents in DSS custody due to abuse, neglect and criminal activity.
Manage a caseload of families with children in DSS custody awaiting return home to family of origin base upon progress make.
Lead presentation and training sessions to community and inter-agency groups.
Help children/youth in state custody achieve permanency whether through reintegration, adoption or custodianship.

Crisis intervention specialist vs foster care worker skills

Common crisis intervention specialist skills

Social Work, 15%
Patients, 12%
Substance Abuse, 7%
Community Resources, 5%
Crisis Stabilization, 5%
Triage, 4%

Common foster care worker skills

Foster Care, 26%
Social Work, 19%
Child Abuse, 7%
Social Services, 6%
Foster Children, 5%
Community Resources, 4%

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Community and Social Services Industry
Crisis Intervention Specialist
Crisis Intervention Specialist vs Foster Care Worker

Updated January 8, 2025

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