Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between family service workers and therapeutic support staff can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a family service worker, becoming a therapeutic support staff takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, a family service worker has an average salary of $37,674, which is higher than the $34,086 average annual salary of a therapeutic support staff.
The top three skills for a family service worker include social work, foster care and child abuse. The most important skills for a therapeutic support staff are autism, social work, and rehabilitation.
| Family Service Worker | Therapeutic Support Staff | |
| Yearly salary | $37,674 | $34,086 |
| Hourly rate | $18.11 | $16.39 |
| Growth rate | 9% | 12% |
| Number of jobs | 111,599 | 192,172 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 69% | Bachelor's Degree, 79% |
| Average age | 42 | 43 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 12 |
A family service worker is in charge of providing support services to families in a community, referring them to other agencies or programs as needed. They serve as the primary point of contact of family members, ensuring they maintain an active line of communication. Their responsibilities typically revolve around enrolling family members into social services programs, gathering and verifying information, maintaining databases, and assisting in all procedures, all while updating families for any progress. Furthermore, a family service worker needs to coordinate with other social workers to provide the most effective service.
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.
Family service workers and therapeutic support staff have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Family Service Worker | Therapeutic Support Staff | |
| Average salary | $37,674 | $34,086 |
| Salary range | Between $28,000 And $49,000 | Between $27,000 And $42,000 |
| Highest paying City | Chicago, IL | - |
| Highest paying state | New Jersey | - |
| Best paying company | Washington County | - |
| Best paying industry | Government | - |
There are a few differences between a family service worker and a therapeutic support staff in terms of educational background:
| Family Service Worker | Therapeutic Support Staff | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 69% | Bachelor's Degree, 79% |
| Most common major | Social Work | Psychology |
| Most common college | Hunter College of the City University of New York | California State University - Long Beach |
Here are the differences between family service workers' and therapeutic support staff' demographics:
| Family Service Worker | Therapeutic Support Staff | |
| Average age | 42 | 43 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 14.8% Female, 85.2% | Male, 25.4% Female, 74.6% |
| 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, 9.5% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 12.5% Asian, 5.5% White, 65.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.9% |
| LGBT Percentage | 10% | 11% |