What does a family case manager do?
Family Case Managers are responsible for helping at-risk youths find families and stable home environments. Family Case Managers generally work in social services, either for government or non-profit agencies.
Family case manager responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real family case manager resumes:
- Manage caseloads for Medicaid; interviewing and instructing clients in proper preparation of documentation.
- Coordinate ISP meetings to review and assess client's progress.
- Collaborate to review status of goals and objectives identify on ISP quarterly.
- Complete a wide variety of documentation to ensure the compliance of DCS policies, federal regulations, and comprehensive case files.
- Coordinate Telepsychiatry and Telemedicine services.
- Develop and supervise foster placements and parental rehabilitation to facilitate family reunification.
- Participate in training programs regularly on new policies and regulations regarding Medicaid and eligibility.
- Provide prenatal education and support to high risk maternity patients throughout pregnancy and into postpartum period.
- Base upon ongoing safety/risk assessments and observation/documentation of behavioral changes recommend permanency decisions for court consideration.
- Determine whether report information meets criteria for DCS investigation or should be refer to the appropriate agency/jurisdiction.
- Make arrangements for provision of psychological and psychiatric services, rehabilitation services, and social recreational training.
- Assist family/caregivers as needed to ensure placement stability, permanency, medical coverage and other need services for children.
- Provide patients with education and counseling on contraceptive methods to prevent unintend pregnancies allowing timing and planning for plan pregnancies.
- Perform concurrent review to assure appropriateness of admission, inpatient/acute care, rehabilitation/SNF status, and discharge using establish InterQual guidelines.
- Conduct MDS interviews as needed.
Family case manager skills and personality traits
We calculated that 18% of Family Case Managers are proficient in Social Work, Foster Care, and Patients. They’re also known for soft skills such as Compassion, Time-management skills, and Communication skills.
We break down the percentage of Family Case Managers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Social Work, 18%
Participate in multidisciplinary case planning committee involving the clinical director, county social worker and the family.
- Foster Care, 8%
Provided intensive home-based psychotherapy in an effort to reunify the family after foster care involvement.
- Patients, 6%
Provided patients with education and counseling on contraceptive methods to prevent unintended pregnancies allowing timing and planning for planned pregnancies.
- Treatment Options, 6%
Perform needs assessments to determine treatment options consistently following policies and procedures.
- Criminal Justice, 6%
Forged/Maintained relationships with agency's partners in the community and criminal justice system.
- Permanency, 5%
Assist family/caregivers as needed to ensure placement stability, permanency, medical coverage and other needed services for children.
"social work," "foster care," and "patients" are among the most common skills that family case managers use at work. You can find even more family case manager responsibilities below, including:
Compassion. One of the key soft skills for a family case manager to have is compassion. You can see how this relates to what family case managers do because "social and human service assistants often work with people who are in stressful and difficult situations." Additionally, a family case manager resume shows how family case managers use compassion: "provided care and compassion, while addressing deep hurt and psychological harm. "
Time-management skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling family case manager duties is time-management skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "social and human service assistants often work with many clients." According to a family case manager resume, here's how family case managers can utilize time-management skills in their job responsibilities: "maintained a caseload of 25 patients, working under strict deadlines. "
Communication skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of family case managers is communication skills. This skill is critical to many everyday family case manager duties, as "social and human service assistants talk with clients about the challenges in their lives and assist them in getting help." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "facilitate communication & coordinate meetings amongst wraparound, probation, mental health & children's services with families & clients. "
Interpersonal skills. family case manager responsibilities often require "interpersonal skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "social and human service assistants must make their clients feel comfortable discussing sensitive issues." This resume example shows what family case managers do with interpersonal skills on a typical day: "provided family therapy for families in crisis, using an interpersonal model. "
Organizational skills. A commonly-found skill in family case manager job descriptions, "organizational skills" is essential to what family case managers do. Family case manager responsibilities rely on this skill because "social and human service assistants must often complete lots of paperwork and work with many different clients." You can also see how family case manager duties rely on organizational skills in this resume example: "reviewed and revised policies and procedures, quality improvement organizational process for case management / social services department. "
Problem-solving skills. Another skill commonly found on family case manager job descriptions is "problem-solving skills." It can come up quite often in family case manager duties, since "social and human service assistants help clients find solutions to their problems." Here's an example from a resume of how this skill fits into day-to-day family case manager responsibilities: "prepared for and conducted early resolution conferences with family court litigants. "
The three companies that hire the most family case managers are:
- Indiana State Police134 family case managers jobs
- LifeStream Behavioral Center17 family case managers jobs
- Southwest Key Programs8 family case managers jobs
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Compare different family case managers
Family case manager vs. Therapeutic support staff
A therapeutic support staff member specializes in providing guidance and counseling to individuals with emotional support needs, mainly children. They are primarily responsible for building rapport with clients while assessing their different conditions and needs. Through this assessment, therapeutic support staff can develop specific treatments in collaboration with mental health practitioners. One may directly work with schools, clinics, and other medical health facilities. Furthermore, it is essential to maintain all clients' records and monitor their progress, regularly updating the assigned physician or caseworker.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between family case managers and therapeutic support staff. For instance, family case manager responsibilities require skills such as "foster care," "patients," "treatment options," and "permanency." Whereas a therapeutic support staff is skilled in "autism," "rehabilitation," "emotional support," and "compassion." This is part of what separates the two careers.
On average, therapeutic support staff reach similar levels of education than family case managers. Therapeutic support staff are 4.4% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.5% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Family case manager vs. Social worker assistant
A social worker assistant is in charge of performing support tasks for social workers in the joint effort to assist disadvantaged families in communities. Their responsibilities include preparing and processing documentation, managing schedules, arranging appointments with clients and external parties, handling calls and correspondence, maintaining records, and running errands on behalf of staff. Furthermore, a social worker assistant may reach out to families to identify their needs, conduct interviews and assessments, facilitate activities, and monitor the progress of families or individuals, referring them to other agencies as needed.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that family case manager responsibilities requires skills like "foster care," "treatment options," "criminal justice," and "permanency." But a social worker assistant might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "public assistance," "social services," "patient care," and "discharge planning."
Social workers assistant earn a lower average salary than family case managers. But social workers assistant earn the highest pay in the finance industry, with an average salary of $49,756. Additionally, family case managers earn the highest salaries in the professional with average pay of $38,420 annually.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Social workers assistant tend to reach similar levels of education than family case managers. In fact, they're 2.8% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.5% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for family case managers in the next 3-5 years?
Lesley Casarez Ph.D.
Director, Quality Enhancement Plan Program Coordinator, M.S. Professional School Counseling Associate Professor, Curriculum and Instruction, Angelo State University
Family case manager vs. School social worker
A school social worker specializes in counseling students, families, and faculty members. They are responsible for coordinating with the school to develop programs that prioritize the students' emotional and psychological well-being, respond to any issues and concerns, build rapport to identify their needs, and communicate with support services to provide necessary assistance to any students or families. There are also instances when a school social worker must assist teachers in handling students with behavioral issues, investigating the underlying reasons. Moreover, it is crucial to identify any signs of neglect or abuse, conducting interventive measures right away.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from family case manager resumes include skills like "foster care," "patients," "treatment options," and "criminal justice," whereas a school social worker is more likely to list skills in "social emotional," "professional development," "behavioral issues," and "child abuse. "
School social workers earn the highest salary when working in the education industry, where they receive an average salary of $53,660. Comparatively, family case managers have the highest earning potential in the professional industry, with an average salary of $38,420.When it comes to education, school social workers tend to earn higher degree levels compared to family case managers. In fact, they're 36.8% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.1% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Family case manager vs. Case worker
Caseworkers are social workers who watch over the welfare of underprivileged individuals and at-risk families by counseling and providing them with assistance. Usually employed under the government or a local non-profit organization, a caseworker must conduct a thorough interview and house visits to determine the needs of the family. They then refer them to any programs or agencies that can give them the specific care and help needed. Furthermore, it is crucial to identify neglect and abuse signs, reporting them to the authorities right away.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between family case managers and case workers, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a family case manager might have more use for skills like "treatment options," "criminal justice," "permanency," and "situation warrants." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of case workers require skills like "child abuse," "customer service," "intake assessments," and "mental illness. "
The education industry tends to pay the highest salaries for case workers, with average annual pay of $40,730. Comparatively, the highest family case manager annual salary comes from the professional industry.case workers reach similar levels of education compared to family case managers, in general. The difference is that they're 2.3% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.0% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of family case manager
Updated January 8, 2025
