What does a director of social services do?
A director of social services or social services director is an individual who works with the community to identify the suitable programs and services. Social services directors provide overall leadership for certain departments within organizations. Essentially, they take charge of the daily activities of a program or an organization. They perform as social services board secretary and executive officer. In nursing homes, the directors assess patients, develop care plans, and help patients adjust along with their respective families.
Director of social services responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real director of social services resumes:
- Transform CRM system from measuring activities to managing business pipeline.
- Facilitate weekly or bi-weekly care meeting between patients, family members and staff to discuss physical progress and recommendations post rehabilitation.
- Provide educations for families and resident on available community assistance, hospice services, insurance benefits, Medicare and Medicaid education.
- Maintain WordPress articles using SEO, article tags, and categories.
- Conduct patient family, and staff interviews and ensure relevant MDS sections are complete.
- Train in first aid and CPR to help event goers until medical personnel arrive.
- Work closely with physicians and nursing staff to properly assess patients for qualification for SNF level of care.
- Provide clinical and administrative supervision to MSW care managers, program coordinators, and MSW field placement students.
- Provide reports relate to length of stay, monitoring that the LTAC, LOS average is greater than30 days.
- Contribute statistical data to monthly OIC meetings and communicate this data to the CEO and CFO in weekly LOS meetings.
- Negotiate and allocate online marketing and SEO budgets
- Generate initial and concurrent reviews using InterQual criteria.
- Facilitate monthly meetings with all agency coordinators and directors.
- Develop and supervise the case management department; utilize InterQual software.
- Adhere to the company's business ethics policy including documentation and reporting responsibilities.
Director of social services skills and personality traits
We calculated that 21% of Directors Of Social Services are proficient in Social Work, Patients, and Discharge Planning. They’re also known for soft skills such as Managerial skills, Time-management skills, and Analytical skills.
We break down the percentage of Directors Of Social Services that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Social Work, 21%
Provided supervision and professional support to approximately 10-12 employees including social workers, chaplains, bereavement coordinator and volunteer coordinator.
- Patients, 10%
Established an education program for patients and family members regarding Advanced Directives, and assisted them in completing the required documentation.
- Discharge Planning, 7%
Coordinate Discharge Planning *Assisted residents with personal needs if family wasn't available *Planned weekly medicare meetings for interdisciplinary team.
- Mental Health, 5%
Addressed need and developed/implemented a company protocol to screen substance abuse and mental health residents' appropriateness for admissions.
- Rehabilitation, 4%
Secured medical services and equipment, therapeutic referrals for residents to promote a successful return home from the rehabilitation facility.
- Community Resources, 3%
Maintain current knowledge of and working relationships with community resources Designed and administered a monthly newsletter to market the facility.
Most directors of social services use their skills in "social work," "patients," and "discharge planning" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential director of social services responsibilities here:
Managerial skills. One of the key soft skills for a director of social services to have is managerial skills. You can see how this relates to what directors of social services do because "social and community service managers spend much of their time administering budgets and responding to a variety of issues." Additionally, a director of social services resume shows how directors of social services use managerial skills: "provide managerial oversight of social work services and delegated responsibility and assign duties to the social work assistant. "
Time-management skills. Another essential skill to perform director of social services duties is time-management skills. Directors of social services responsibilities require that "social and community service managers must prioritize and handle numerous tasks, often in a short timeframe." Directors of social services also use time-management skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "maintained a caseload of 84 patients, working under strict deadlines. "
Analytical skills. directors of social services are also known for analytical skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to director of social services responsibilities, because "social and community service managers need to understand and evaluate data in order to provide strategic guidance to their organization." A director of social services resume example shows how analytical skills is used in the workplace: "worked closely with facilities and physicians offices to insure accurate patient information is translated/data entered for home health staff. "
Problem-solving skills. director of social services responsibilities often require "problem-solving skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "social and community service managers must be able to address client, staff, and agency-related issues." This resume example shows what directors of social services do with problem-solving skills on a typical day: "participate in idt care planning and grievance resolution. "
Communication skills. A commonly-found skill in director of social services job descriptions, "communication skills" is essential to what directors of social services do. Director of social services responsibilities rely on this skill because "social and community service managers must be able to speak and write clearly." You can also see how director of social services duties rely on communication skills in this resume example: "provide open communication and compassion to family members of the residents. "
The three companies that hire the most director of social servicess are:
- Genesis HealthCare42 directors of social services jobs
- Lifesteps17 directors of social services jobs
- North Shore Healthcare17 directors of social services jobs
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Compare different directors of social services
Director of social services vs. Communications lead
The global senior program manager acts as a coordinator for the organization's projects and performs various tasks including supervision, account management, daily staff assignments, budget planning, cost control, and tracking program expenses by collaborating with various global departments to enhance all global programs. He/she should have excellent analytical, decision-making, leadership, and organization skills and knowledge about project management to be able to oversee and organize activities to ensure its compliance with the organization's goals.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, director of social services responsibilities require skills like "social work," "discharge planning," "mental health," and "rehabilitation." Meanwhile a typical communications lead has skills in areas such as "project management," "strategic communications," "hr," and "customer service." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Communications leads earn the highest salaries when working in the internet industry, with an average yearly salary of $125,151. On the other hand, directors of social services are paid more in the health care industry with an average salary of $59,532.communications leads tend to reach lower levels of education than directors of social services. In fact, communications leads are 13.9% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.2% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Director of social services vs. Youth coordinator
A youth coordinator is mainly focused on developing and facilitating programs for children in various settings that enhance and support personal youth education and development. As a youth coordinator, you need to understand recreational and Educational Services and activities with strong leadership skills. It will help if you are a compelling communicator because you will be communicating with youths and various services. Youth coordinators can possess a university degree to enhance their career, but it isn't necessary for this job.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, director of social services responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "social work," "patients," "discharge planning," and "rehabilitation." Meanwhile, a youth coordinator has duties that require skills in areas such as "youth program," "community outreach," "youth development," and "public speaking." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
On average, youth coordinators earn a lower salary than directors of social services. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, youth coordinators earn the most pay in the hospitality industry with an average salary of $39,966. Whereas directors of social services have higher pay in the health care industry, with an average salary of $59,532.In general, youth coordinators achieve lower levels of education than directors of social services. They're 15.4% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Director of social services vs. Member/volunteer
A youth leader is a young individual who is responsible for building a sense of community within the church youth that can provide an opportunity for both spiritual and social development. Youth Leaders organize regular social, educational, and spiritual oriented events with parents and volunteers to maintain a vibrant program. They establish support and appropriate relationships with their youth members and their families. Youth leaders also maintain social media and emails to provide information publicly to youth members about their organized events.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from director of social services resumes include skills like "social work," "patients," "discharge planning," and "mental health," whereas a member/volunteer is more likely to list skills in "community outreach," "emergency calls," "cpr," and "non-profit organization. "
Most member/volunteers achieve a lower degree level compared to directors of social services. For example, they're 16.9% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 1.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Director of social services vs. Youth leader
Even though a few skill sets overlap between directors of social services and youth leaders, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a director of social services might have more use for skills like "social work," "patients," "discharge planning," and "mental health." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of youth leaders require skills like "cpr," "fine arts," "academic enrichment," and "homework assistance. "
The education industry tends to pay the highest salaries for youth leaders, with average annual pay of $29,561. Comparatively, the highest director of social services annual salary comes from the health care industry.The average resume of youth leaders showed that they earn lower levels of education compared to directors of social services. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 20.9% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 0.4%.Types of director of social services
Updated January 8, 2025
