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The differences between family educators and family support specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a family educator and a family support specialist. Additionally, a family support specialist has an average salary of $37,343, which is higher than the $35,404 average annual salary of a family educator.
The top three skills for a family educator include social work, child development and CPR. The most important skills for a family support specialist are social work, child abuse, and patients.
| Family Educator | Family Support Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $35,404 | $37,343 |
| Hourly rate | $17.02 | $17.95 |
| Growth rate | 9% | 9% |
| Number of jobs | 24,959 | 143,739 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 63% | Bachelor's Degree, 64% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
A family educator ensures that parents are educated on their family members' nutritional, medical, and educational needs. These educators support and encourage self-sufficiency for the family that they work with by helping navigate family problems. They enable parents to obtain the education and skills to raise physically, emotionally, and psychologically healthy children. Family educators must have strong communication skills, good decision-making skills, strong self-esteem, and knowledge of human development.
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.
Family educators and family support specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Family Educator | Family Support Specialist | |
| Average salary | $35,404 | $37,343 |
| Salary range | Between $25,000 And $50,000 | Between $24,000 And $55,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | Trenton, NJ |
| Highest paying state | - | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | - | Catholic Health East |
| Best paying industry | - | Professional |
There are a few differences between a family educator and a family support specialist in terms of educational background:
| Family Educator | Family Support Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 63% | Bachelor's Degree, 64% |
| Most common major | Psychology | Psychology |
| Most common college | California State University - Long Beach | Hunter College of the City University of New York |
Here are the differences between family educators' and family support specialists' demographics:
| Family Educator | Family Support Specialist | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 19.7% Female, 80.3% | Male, 14.0% Female, 86.0% |
| Race ratio | 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% | 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 | 10% | 10% |