What does a senior social worker do?
A senior social worker is in charge of overseeing the support services conducted in a community or a particular area. Their responsibilities often revolve around coordinating different social workers, handling issues or concerns, managing schedules, and performing support tasks for other staff when necessary. They also perform welfare checks on families, provide referrals to other support agencies, conduct interviews and counseling, and identify any signs of abuse or neglect. Furthermore, as a senior social worker, it is essential to lead and mentor junior social workers, all while adhering to the agency's policies and regulations.
Senior social worker responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real senior social worker resumes:
- Collaborate with partners including public and private agencies to achieve permanency for children.
- Refer customers to other community agencies such as clinics, employment services, and vocational rehabilitation services.
- Facilitate family meetings to provide support and psycho-education to patients and their family members and to discuss discharge planning.
- Supervise students in MSW programs and high school programs.
- Supervise MSW staff and student-interns in adult alcohol/substance abuse program.
- Collaborate with other hospital departments to streamline services for homeless veterans.
- Train rehabilitation team about the overview of the program and institution management.
- Work collaboratively with and provide supervision/support to interdisciplinary team to assess and effectively meet the needs of patients and their families.
- Coordinate admissions of active duty service members and veterans to the inpatient rehabilitation/medical unit after suffering a new spinal cord injury.
- Integrate a therapeutic/clinical model base on of DBT that support student academic, behavioral and social success.
Senior social worker skills and personality traits
We calculated that 41% of Senior Social Workers are proficient in Social Work, Patients, and Veterans. They’re also known for soft skills such as Emotional skills, Communication skills, and Interpersonal skills.
We break down the percentage of Senior Social Workers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Social Work, 41%
Participated in family therapy seminars and grand rounds and provided clinical supervision to on-call crisis team social workers and Para-professionals.
- Patients, 11%
Collaborated with inpatient multidisciplinary team with Medicare Risk Case Managers to develop appropriate discharge plans for high risk geriatric patients.
- Veterans, 4%
Provide individualized intensive case management services to assist Veterans with overcoming barriers to maintaining stable housing.
- Treatment Services, 3%
Worked closely with other treatment providers to ensure the delivery of appropriate treatment services.
- Patient Care, 3%
Facilitated and coordinated patient care by achieving efficient utilization of resources for targeted population.
- Rehabilitation, 3%
Referred customers to other community agencies such as clinics, employment services, and vocational rehabilitation services.
Common skills that a senior social worker uses to do their job include "social work," "patients," and "veterans." You can find details on the most important senior social worker responsibilities below.
Communication skills. Many senior social worker duties rely on communication skills. "clients talk to social workers about challenges in their lives," so a senior social worker will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways senior social worker responsibilities rely on communication skills: "conferred with school, county, counseling, and medical professionals regarding the clients via verbal, written and face-to-face communication. "
Interpersonal skills. This is an important skill for senior social workers to perform their duties. For an example of how senior social 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 senior social worker: "provided evaluation and interpersonal social services for 35-40 participants. ".
Organizational skills. A big part of what senior social workers do relies on "organizational skills." You can see how essential it is to senior social worker responsibilities because "social workers must help and manage multiple clients, often assisting with their paperwork or documenting their treatment." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical senior social worker tasks: "acted as a mental health consultant through unit and organizational consultation. "
Problem-solving skills. Another crucial skill for a senior social worker to carry out their responsibilities is "problem-solving skills." A big part of what senior social workers relies on this skill, since "social workers must analyze their clients’ complex situations and develop practical solutions." How this skill relates to senior social worker duties can be seen in an example from a senior social worker resume snippet: "offered short term supportive or solution focused counseling to tenants unconnected to outside mental health services. "
Compassion. Lastly, "compassion" is an important element of what a senior social worker does. Senior social worker responsibilities require this skill because "social workers often work with people who are in stressful and difficult situations." This resume example highlights how senior social worker duties rely on this skill: "recognized frequently by patients for compassion, empathy and resolving their challenge. "
The three companies that hire the most senior social workers are:
- University of Washington21 senior social workers jobs
- Northwell Health9 senior social workers jobs
- Indiana University Health La Porte Hospital Inc5 senior social workers jobs
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Compare different senior social workers
Senior social worker vs. Case manager
A case manager is responsible for giving advice, handling plans for the client's recovery, and connecting with other human service professionals to ask for further options and recommendations for the client's concerns. Case managers should have excellent communication and listening skills to evaluate the client's needs, ensuring that they will have the utmost care and safety through efficient advocacy. A case manager should be able to provide a reliable support system for the client and monitor progress to achieve wellness and guarantee satisfaction.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between senior social workers and case manager. For instance, senior social worker responsibilities require skills such as "veterans," "treatment services," "msw," and "english language." Whereas a case manager is skilled in "customer service," "child abuse," "utilization review," and "social security." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Case managers really shine in the insurance industry with an average salary of $50,652. Comparatively, senior social workers tend to make the most money in the government industry with an average salary of $62,728.On average, case managers reach lower levels of education than senior social workers. Case managers are 33.2% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Senior social worker vs. Social services case manager
Social services case managers conduct in-person appointments and phone intake assessments. They manage the organization's documents and report for non-federal grants and federal grants. These professionals counsel clients and their families, making it easy to develop life skills, service plan goals, and sustain financial stability. Social services case managers also conduct activities and monitor the service environment to maximize client well-being and success. Furthermore, social services case managers maximize client assistance by working with community partners.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that senior social worker responsibilities requires skills like "veterans," "treatment services," "patient care," and "rehabilitation." But a social services case manager might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "face-to-face interviews," "child victims," "risk assessments," and "group homes."
Social services case managers earn a lower average salary than senior social workers. But social services case managers earn the highest pay in the finance industry, with an average salary of $39,234. Additionally, senior social workers earn the highest salaries in the government with average pay of $62,728 annually.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Social services case managers tend to reach lower levels of education than senior social workers. In fact, they're 28.7% 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 senior social workers in the next 3-5 years?
Virginia Schwindt
MSW Field Director/Associate Professor, Union University
Senior social worker vs. Social services specialist
A Social Services Specialist provides social services to children and adults in communities, facilities, institutions, or hospitals. They develop and implement specialized treatment programs.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from senior social worker resumes include skills like "veterans," "treatment services," "patient care," and "msw," whereas a social services specialist is more likely to list skills in "term care," "mds," "social service agencies," and "child abuse. "
Social services specialists earn the highest salary when working in the insurance industry, where they receive an average salary of $64,884. Comparatively, senior social workers have the highest earning potential in the government industry, with an average salary of $62,728.When it comes to education, social services specialists tend to earn lower degree levels compared to senior social workers. In fact, they're 25.0% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.3% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Senior social worker vs. Family support specialist
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.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between senior social workers and family support specialists, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a senior social worker might have more use for skills like "veterans," "treatment services," "patient care," and "rehabilitation." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of family support specialists require skills like "child abuse," "child development," "family services," and "cpr. "
Family support specialists enjoy the best pay in the professional industry, with an average salary of $38,192. For comparison, senior social workers earn the highest salary in the government industry.The average resume of family support specialists showed that they earn lower levels of education compared to senior social workers. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 34.8% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 0.3%.Types of senior social worker
Updated January 8, 2025
