What does a social services aide do?
A social services aide works alongside social workers, assisting them in providing various support services for families and individuals. Their duties usually include conducting regular assessments and interviews with clients, educating families about their rights and other available services to help them with their needs, and visiting the homes of the elderly to ensure that they receive the needed medical assistance. They also are responsible for referring clients to other services, monitoring the welfare and care progress of the abused children, producing regular progress reports, and maintaining records of procedures.
Social services aide responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real social services aide resumes:
- Manage a caseload TANF clients, assess clients eligibility to receive benefits, assist with placement of clients in various programs.
- Assist with input of Medicare data, per legal deadlines.
- Collaborate with patients for vocational rehabilitation for family members who qualify.
- Confer with physicians, psychologists, occupational therapists, and other professionals to develop and implement client rehabilitation programs.
- Collaborate with community partners and non profit organizations to find best services for veterans.
Social services aide skills and personality traits
We calculated that 39% of Social Services Aides are proficient in Social Work, Community Resources, and Home Health. They’re also known for soft skills such as Compassion, Time-management skills, and Communication skills.
We break down the percentage of Social Services Aides that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Social Work, 39%
Assisted Social Workers with organizing and managing documentation and other paperwork.
- Community Resources, 12%
Assisted clients in obtaining and utilizing community resources.
- Home Health, 10%
Coordinated residents discharge with families and set up in home health services for residents.
- Rehabilitation, 9%
State of Ohio Rehabilitation Services Commission Columbus, Ohio.
- Child Care, 6%
Provided information to child care assistance applicants of their rights and responsibilities by personal interview or telephone.
- Mental Health, 5%
Provided crisis intervention, placement stabilization, documentation of concerns from mental health professionals, school personnel and foster parents.
"social work," "community resources," and "home health" are among the most common skills that social services aides use at work. You can find even more social services aide responsibilities below, including:
Compassion. One of the key soft skills for a social services aide to have is compassion. You can see how this relates to what social services aides do because "social and human service assistants often work with people who are in stressful and difficult situations." Additionally, a social services aide resume shows how social services aides use compassion: "assisted patients in daily activities, and provided basic care with compassion"
Time-management skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling social services aide duties is time-management skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "social and human service assistants often work with many clients." According to a social services aide resume, here's how social services aides can utilize time-management skills in their job responsibilities: "assisted with input of medicare data, per legal deadlines. "
Communication skills. This is an important skill for social services aides to perform their duties. For an example of how social services aide responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "social and human service assistants talk with clients about the challenges in their lives and assist them in getting help." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a social services aide: "enhanced client satisfaction level through delivery of excellent home health care, vigilant monitoring and effective physician family communication. ".
Interpersonal skills. social services aide responsibilities often require "interpersonal skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "social and human service assistants must make their clients feel comfortable discussing sensitive issues." This resume example shows what social services aides do with interpersonal skills on a typical day: "experience providing socialization, interpersonal, community reintegration and independent living skills rehabilitation services. "
Organizational skills. Another common skill required for social services aide responsibilities is "organizational skills." This skill comes up in the duties of social services aides all the time, as "social and human service assistants must often complete lots of paperwork and work with many different clients." An excerpt from a real social services aide resume shows how this skill is central to what a social services aide does: "provided clerical and organizational help for social workers. "
Problem-solving skills. Lastly, "problem-solving skills" is an important element of what a social services aide does. Social services aide responsibilities require this skill because "social and human service assistants help clients find solutions to their problems." This resume example highlights how social services aide duties rely on this skill: "facilitated group to colleagues: conflict resolution, coping mechanisms, crisis intervention, and stress management techniques. "
The three companies that hire the most social services aides are:
- Wyoming4 social services aides jobs
- Prime Healthcare3 social services aides jobs
- Alden Poplar Creek Rehabilitation & Health Care Center2 social services aides jobs
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Compare different social services aides
Social services aide vs. Family counselor
A Family Counselor treats married couples or family members in order to help them overcome mental or emotional problems. They provide effective treatment measures to help the family members resolve their issues.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a social services aide are more likely to require skills like "home health," "rehabilitation," "foster care," and "referral services." On the other hand, a job as a family counselor requires skills like "poc," "family support," "family therapy," and "dod." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Family counselors earn the highest salaries when working in the professional industry, with an average yearly salary of $40,967. On the other hand, social services aides are paid more in the government industry with an average salary of $33,558.The education levels that family counselors earn slightly differ from social services aides. In particular, family counselors are 25.6% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a social services aide. Additionally, they're 2.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Social services aide vs. Family worker
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.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that social services aide responsibilities requires skills like "home health," "rehabilitation," "mental health," and "developmental disabilities." But a family worker might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "intake assessments," "risk factors," "child abuse," and "mental health issues."
In general, family workers achieve higher levels of education than social services aides. They're 6.6% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 2.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for social services aides in the next 3-5 years?
Virginia Schwindt
MSW Field Director/Associate Professor, Union University
Social services aide 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.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, social services aides are more likely to have skills like "home health," "rehabilitation," "child development," and "referral services." But a case worker is more likely to have skills like "patients," "child abuse," "customer service," and "intake assessments."
Case workers earn the best pay in the education industry, where they command an average salary of $40,730. Social services aides earn the highest pay from the government industry, with an average salary of $33,558.When it comes to education, case workers tend to earn higher degree levels compared to social services aides. In fact, they're 5.3% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.8% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Social services aide vs. Counselor
Often, counselors are known to be the go-to person in times we are in need of emotional and psychological support. They help people to manage and overcome the issues which affect their mental health and well-being. Counselors face different kind of situations which may involve trauma, addiction, disabilities, abuse, suicide, anger management, career, and even personal relationships. They provide care, counseling, rehabilitation, and support services. Every counseling requires collaborative effort both from the counselor and client to become effective.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between social services aides and counselors, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a social services aide might have more use for skills like "home health," "rehabilitation," "child care," and "mental health." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of counselors require skills like "patients," "family therapy," "mental health issues," and "intake assessments. "
The education industry tends to pay the highest salaries for counselors, with average annual pay of $37,750. Comparatively, the highest social services aide annual salary comes from the government industry.In general, counselors hold higher degree levels compared to social services aides. Counselors are 10.8% more likely to earn their Master's Degree and 1.1% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of social services aide
Updated January 8, 2025
