What does a family service worker do?
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.
Family service worker responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real family service worker resumes:
- Help children/youth in state custody achieve permanency whether through reintegration, adoption or custodianship.
- Practice motivational interviewing techniques to assist individuals in identifying personal hurdles in order to set goals and work towards rehabilitation.
- Establish and maintain relationships with stakeholder (DSS staff, schools and community partners).
- Integrate the individual support plan (ISP) objective into the individuals' daily schedule.
- Provide courtesy interviews or conflict investigations for other county DSS.
- Determine participants' eligibility for program by gathering data and maintaining information to ensure clients are compliant for TANF program regulations.
Family service worker skills and personality traits
We calculated that 18% of Family Service Workers are proficient in Social Work, Foster Care, and Child Abuse. They’re also known for soft skills such as Emotional skills, Communication skills, and Interpersonal skills.
We break down the percentage of Family Service Workers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Social Work, 18%
Interviewed, assessed, counseled, screened, and explained multiple social work programs and provided case management activities to clients.
- Foster Care, 10%
Coordinated supplemental in-home support services to foster care providers and relative care providers as required.
- Child Abuse, 9%
Reviewed and discussed information obtained by workers investigating suspected child abuse and neglect complaints to determine if allegations can be substantiated.
- Protective Services, 5%
File complaints/motions and testify in juvenile court regarding abuse/neglect cases and provide accommodations for continued protective services.
- Mental Health, 5%
Attended individual educational planning meetings, participated in family team meetings, and collaborated with mental health case managers and clinicians.
- Court Reports, 4%
Documented all casework activities and developed court reports for custody hearings and presented testimony when necessary.
"social work," "foster care," and "child abuse" are among the most common skills that family service workers use at work. You can find even more family service worker responsibilities below, including:
Communication skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling family service worker duties is communication skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "clients talk to social workers about challenges in their lives." According to a family service worker resume, here's how family service workers can utilize communication skills in their job responsibilities: "maintained contact and communication with the juvenile court officer of the assigned youth. "
Interpersonal skills. This is an important skill for family service workers to perform their duties. For an example of how family service worker responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "social workers must be able to work with different groups of people." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a family service worker: "utilized exceptional communicative and interpersonal abilities to establish and maintain positive rapport with patients through crisis intervention and counseling. ".
Organizational skills. family service worker responsibilities often require "organizational skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "social workers must help and manage multiple clients, often assisting with their paperwork or documenting their treatment." This resume example shows what family service workers do with organizational skills on a typical day: "provided case specific court testimony crisis intervention skills used verbal skills organizational skills time management skills crisis intervention skills"
Problem-solving skills. A commonly-found skill in family service worker job descriptions, "problem-solving skills" is essential to what family service workers do. Family service worker responsibilities rely on this skill because "social workers must analyze their clients’ complex situations and develop practical solutions." You can also see how family service worker duties rely on problem-solving skills in this resume example: "advised family service worker i's on strategies for conflict resolution and resources for families in need of our services. "
Compassion. Lastly, "compassion" is an important element of what a family service worker does. Family service worker responsibilities require this skill because "social workers often work with people who are in stressful and difficult situations." This resume example highlights how family service worker duties rely on this skill: "provided client family services in support of primary sales responsibilities while providing a high-level of integrity and compassion. "
The three companies that hire the most family service workers are:
- Texas23 family service workers jobs
- City of Norfolk11 family service workers jobs
- Sheltering Arms8 family service workers jobs
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Compare different family service workers
Family service worker vs. Advocate
An advocate is a voice for the voiceless. It is their responsibility to speak on behalf of an individual or a particular cause. Most of the duties will vary depending on the line of organization or duty involved; however, an advocate must have extensive knowledge or background on the subject matter. Furthermore, an advocate must be present at gatherings regarding the cause, assist in the negotiation and mediation processes involving contracts and legal documentation, provide or convey accurate information, and defend what they represent.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between family service workers and advocate. For instance, family service worker responsibilities require skills such as "social work," "foster care," "protective services," and "court reports." Whereas a advocate is skilled in "cpr," "customer service," "developmental disabilities," and "cleanliness." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Advocates tend to make the most money working in the government industry, where they earn an average salary of $40,536. In contrast, family service workers make the biggest average salary, $40,197, in the government industry.advocates tend to reach similar levels of education than family service workers. In fact, advocates are 2.5% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 1.8% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Family service worker 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.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real family service worker resumes. While family service worker responsibilities can utilize skills like "foster care," "child abuse," "protective services," and "court reports," therapeutic support staff use skills like "autism," "emotional support," "compassion," and "mental health interventions."
Therapeutic support staff earn similar levels of education than family service workers in general. They're 3.2% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 1.8% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for family service workers in the next 3-5 years?
Virginia Schwindt
MSW Field Director/Associate Professor, Union University
Family service worker vs. Child welfare specialist
Child welfare specialists are professionals who are responsible for protecting children and youngsters from harm by visiting their homes and other residential facilities to investigate their living conditions. These specialists are required to determine the suitability of the homes and resources of foster and adoptive parents for child placement. They must serve as child advocates by attending court proceedings to provide inclusive court proceedings. Child welfare specialists must also work closely with local enforcement to ensure the safety of children.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, family service workers are more likely to have skills like "child abuse," "child development," "rehabilitation," and "criminal justice." But a child welfare specialist is more likely to have skills like "child welfare," "adoptive parents," "law enforcement entities," and "dcfs."
Child welfare specialists earn the best pay in the technology industry, where they command an average salary of $48,390. Family service workers earn the highest pay from the government industry, with an average salary of $40,197.When it comes to education, child welfare specialists tend to earn similar degree levels compared to family service workers. In fact, they're 4.4% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.4% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Family service worker vs. Crisis intervention specialist
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.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between family service workers and crisis intervention specialists, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a family service worker might have more use for skills like "foster care," "child abuse," "protective services," and "court reports." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of crisis intervention specialists require skills like "patients," "crisis stabilization," "triage," and "emergency services. "
Crisis intervention specialists enjoy the best pay in the professional industry, with an average salary of $57,529. For comparison, family service workers earn the highest salary in the government industry.The average resume of crisis intervention specialists showed that they earn higher levels of education compared to family service workers. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 11.1% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 0.8%.Types of family service worker
Updated January 8, 2025
