Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between family workers 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 worker and a family support specialist. Additionally, a family support specialist has an average salary of $37,343, which is higher than the $36,992 average annual salary of a family worker.
The top three skills for a family worker include social work, foster care and child care. The most important skills for a family support specialist are social work, child abuse, and patients.
| Family Worker | Family Support Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $36,992 | $37,343 |
| Hourly rate | $17.78 | $17.95 |
| Growth rate | 9% | 9% |
| Number of jobs | 101,552 | 143,739 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 64% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
A family worker's role is to provide an intervention with parents, children, and young persons to help improve outcomes for families and children. The job they do includes working with parents to help strengthen family relationships and their ability to provide support and be community involved closely. They implement a program that helps parents recognize a child's needs, encouraging child self-esteem development, and positive behavior. Moreover, other duties include giving referrals to other community services as required and to assess family progress.
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 workers and family support specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Family Worker | Family Support Specialist | |
| Average salary | $36,992 | $37,343 |
| Salary range | Between $28,000 And $48,000 | 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 worker and a family support specialist in terms of educational background:
| Family Worker | Family Support Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 64% |
| Most common major | Psychology | Psychology |
| Most common college | Hunter College of the City University of New York | Hunter College of the City University of New York |
Here are the differences between family workers' and family support specialists' demographics:
| Family Worker | Family Support Specialist | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 15.1% Female, 84.9% | 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% |