What does a family specialist do?
A Family Specialist performs social work for families in need. They are focused on helping individuals and families to improve their lives.
Family specialist responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real family specialist resumes:
- Help children/youth in state custody achieve permanency whether through reintegration, adoption or custodianship.
- Complete family assessments and supervise visit documentation for family DHS worker and also for court hearing purposes.
- Co-Facilitate state require GPS: MAPP training for prospective adoptive parents.
- Do MAPP trainings with potential foster and adoptive parents to assist them to make an inform decision.
- Assess the families' capacity to protect their children, and ensure compliance with the DHS safety plan.
- Develop deep trust and credibility through empathy, integrity, compassion and consistently providing sound advice and helpful support.
- Conduct pet meet-and-greet sessions with potential adopters.
- Advocate for responsible pet ownership through community outreach.
- Mediate conflicts between patients, handle medical emergencies, assist patients in developing and implementing positive and cooperative living skills.
- Used evidence base practices; including treatment plans, documenting treatment progress, TF-CBT, CBT and DBT.
- Schedule interviews with clients as necessary for re-evaluation of Medicaid benefits.
- Provide thorough documentation according to government and medicaid standards for therapy sessions in monthly reports.
- Work closely with special education personnel with career transition planning and IEP development.
- Co-Facilitate DBT groups for adolescents providing psycho-education in distress tolerance, emotional regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness skills.
- Complete risk assessments and develop comprehensive intervention plans to address safety, communication, and problem solving abilities.
Family specialist skills and personality traits
We calculated that 22% of Family Specialists are proficient in Social Work, Foster Care, and Substance Abuse. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Emotional skills, and Problem-solving skills.
We break down the percentage of Family Specialists that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Social Work, 22%
Provided social workers with letters declining and/or accepting clients cases as well as termination letters making recommendations for families after intervention.
- Foster Care, 11%
Provide clinical intervention and supervision visitation between biological parents and their children who are currently placed in foster care.
- Substance Abuse, 7%
Provided substance abuse counseling to families and monitored caseloads after completing intake assessments, screenings and enrolling families in treatment programs.
- Crisis Intervention, 7%
Provided behavior modification, counseling, and crisis intervention services to adolescents with mental illness in an intensive residential facility.
- Child Abuse, 6%
Court documentation* Drug and alcohol screening* Individual/Family counseling* Extensive case loads* Daily documentation* Marital counseling* Conflict resolution* Boundaries* Child Abuse education/reporting
- Community Resources, 5%
Worked collaboratively with case workers on case plans and provided culturally acceptable community resources for families of diverse backgrounds.
Common skills that a family specialist uses to do their job include "social work," "foster care," and "substance abuse." You can find details on the most important family specialist responsibilities below.
Communication skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a family specialist to have is communication skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "clients talk to social workers about challenges in their lives." Family specialists often use communication skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "determined financial assistance through verbal communication by interviewing customers along with conducting family assessment plans. "
Problem-solving skills. family specialists are also known for problem-solving skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to family specialist responsibilities, because "social workers must analyze their clients’ complex situations and develop practical solutions." A family specialist resume example shows how problem-solving skills is used in the workplace: "helped create energy and excitement around apple products and provided the right solutions to get products back into customers' hands. "
Interpersonal skills. For certain family specialist responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "interpersonal skills." The day-to-day duties of a family specialist rely on this skill, as "social workers must be able to work with different groups of people." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what family specialists do: "co-facilitated dbt groups for adolescents providing psycho-education in distress tolerance, emotional regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness skills. "
Organizational skills. Another crucial skill for a family specialist to carry out their responsibilities is "organizational skills." A big part of what family specialists relies on this skill, since "social workers must help and manage multiple clients, often assisting with their paperwork or documenting their treatment." How this skill relates to family specialist duties can be seen in an example from a family specialist resume snippet: "maintain full accountability for handling all aspects of family services operations in accordance with organizational goals. "
Compassion. Lastly, "compassion" is an important element of what a family specialist does. Family specialist responsibilities require this skill because "social workers often work with people who are in stressful and difficult situations." This resume example highlights how family specialist duties rely on this skill: "developed deep trust and credibility through empathy, integrity, compassion and consistently providing sound advice and helpful support. "
The three companies that hire the most family specialists are:
- Berkshire Farm Center and Services for Youth33 family specialists jobs
- Rose Hills Mortuary13 family specialists jobs
- Service Corporation International11 family specialists jobs
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Compare different family specialists
Family specialist 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.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between family specialists and case worker. For instance, family specialist responsibilities require skills such as "social services," "child development," "family support," and "provide technical assistance." Whereas a case worker is skilled in "patients," "customer service," "intake assessments," and "mental illness." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Case workers tend to make the most money working in the education industry, where they earn an average salary of $40,730. In contrast, family specialists make the biggest average salary, $55,461, in the technology industry.The education levels that case workers earn slightly differ from family specialists. In particular, case workers are 5.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a family specialist. Additionally, they're 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Family specialist vs. Protective service specialist
Protective Service Specialists provide information to individuals and families to achieve self-sufficiency through child support services and employment opportunities. Most of these specialists recommend family services include parenting education, drug counseling, and financial base services. They review applicant documentation to determine eligibility for federal and state aid programs, including food stamps, Medicaid, and emergency assistance. Also, protective service specialists assist families with the resources that can help resolve the issues that risk the children's placement. They may even provide staff supervision about referrals obtained to ensure that they meet the criteria for services and intervention.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real family specialist resumes. While family specialist responsibilities can utilize skills like "child abuse," "child development," "family support," and "provide technical assistance," protective service specialists use skills like "aps," "criminal justice," "adult protective," and "collateral contacts."
On average, protective service specialists earn a higher salary than family specialists. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, protective service specialists earn the most pay in the government industry with an average salary of $51,289. Whereas family specialists have higher pay in the technology industry, with an average salary of $55,461.protective service specialists earn similar levels of education than family specialists in general. They're 1.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for family specialists 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 specialist vs. Family support worker
A family service worker is a social service agent who assesses the needs of family and promotes wellbeing, social justice, and human rights through governmental and social service agencies. Family service workers offer services that can include counseling and mediation to families that will help them navigate the protocols of the social system. They act as liaisons between families facing problems and different government organizations. Family service workers also ensure that families in need are getting the benefits they are entitled to, as well as help them access various community resources.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, family specialists are more likely to have skills like "child abuse," "social services," "provide technical assistance," and "family therapy." But a family support worker is more likely to have skills like "family services," "behavior management," "protective services," and "excellent organizational."
Family support workers earn the highest salary when working in the government industry, where they receive an average salary of $40,316. Comparatively, family specialists have the highest earning potential in the technology industry, with an average salary of $55,461.Most family support workers achieve a lower degree level compared to family specialists. For example, they're 5.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.5% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Family specialist vs. Family service worker
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.
Types of family specialist
Updated January 8, 2025
