How to hire a social services case manager

How to hire a social services case manager, step by step

Here's a step-by-step social services case manager hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a social services case manager job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new social services case manager
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a social services case manager do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   First, determine the employments status of the social services case manager you need to hire. Certain social services case manager roles might require a full-time employee, whereas others can be done by part-time workers or contractors.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them a social services case manager to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire a social services case manager that fits the bill.

   This list shows salaries for various types of social services case managers.

   Type of Social Services Case Manager	Description	Hourly rate
   Social Services Case Manager	Social and human service assistants provide client services, including support for families, in a wide variety of fields, such as psychology, rehabilitation, and social work. They assist other workers, such as social workers, and they help clients find benefits or community services.	$10-21
   Volunteer	Volunteers are usually unpaid individuals who render their service to a company or organization. Most of the time, volunteers are skilled in specific areas needed by the organization but prefer to provide free service... Show more	$11-19
   Coordinator	Coordinators are responsible for liaising between the department they are assigned to and any other external party. They oversee projects or agreements... Show more	$12-29

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Social Work
   • Social Services
   • Patients
   • Mental Health
   • Discharge Planning
   • Crisis Intervention
   • Foster Care
   • Community Agencies
   • Financial Assistance
   • Law Enforcement
   • Substance Abuse
   • Face-To-Face Interviews
   • Medicaid
   • Child Victims

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage a caseload TANF clients, assess clients eligibility to receive benefits, assist with placement of clients in various programs.
   • Work close with DHS on documents and monthly reports need.
   • Complete weekly chart audits, maintain weekly 2010E housing reports mandate by DHS and closely monitor vacancy report.
   • Assist patients with the rigorous application process necessary to obtain state-issu health insurance.
   • Assist probationers and juveniles with job placement assistance, refer clientele to appropriate Medicaid /housing/ food assistance programs.
   • Complete and process all Medicaid/Medicare and third party insurance applications for patients and residents in need of public assistance.

   More social services case manager duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your social services case manager job description is a great way to entice the best and brightest candidates. A social services case manager salary can vary based on several factors:

   • Location. For example, social services case managers' average salary in georgia is 42% less than in district of columbia.
   • Seniority. Entry-level social services case managers earn 50% less than senior-level social services case managers.
   • Certifications. A social services case manager with a few certifications under their belt will likely demand a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for a prestigious company or an exciting start-up can make a huge difference in a social services case manager's salary.

   Average social services case manager salary

   $15.31hourly

   $31,854 yearly

   ---

   Entry-level social services case manager salary

   $22,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 22, 2026

   Average social services case manager salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$42,326	$20
   2	Massachusetts	$36,136	$17
   3	Ohio	$35,124	$17
   4	Pennsylvania	$34,750	$17
   5	Washington	$34,283	$16
   6	Colorado	$32,838	$16
   7	Missouri	$32,159	$15
   8	Texas	$31,377	$15
   9	Kansas	$29,023	$14

   Average social services case manager salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	UofL Hospital	$42,991	$20.67	7
   2	Scripps Health	$39,078	$18.79	10
   3	CareSource	$38,784	$18.65	1
   4	Elder Services of Worcester Area, Inc.	$37,760	$18.15
   5	Tri-City Medical Center	$37,276	$17.92	4
   6	Kaiser Permanente	$35,222	$16.93	220
   7	UPMC	$34,562	$16.62	58
   8	Bingham Memorial Hospital	$33,133	$15.93	1
   9	Providence Health & Services	$33,061	$15.89	56
   10	Houston Methodist	$32,947	$15.84	19
   11	University Health	$32,033	$15.40	13
   12	Lakemary	$31,069	$14.94
   13	Salvation Army North	$30,576	$14.70
   14	The Salvation Army	$29,527	$14.20	387

4. Writing a social services case manager job description

   A job description for a social services case manager role includes a summary of the job's main responsibilities, required skills, and preferred background experience. Including a salary range can also go a long way in attracting more candidates to apply, and showing the first name of the hiring manager can also make applicants more comfortable. As an example, here's a social services case manager job description:

   Social services case manager job description example

   The professional who provides for Social Services and Case Management (to include utilization review and discharge planning) for Orchard Hospital. In collaboration with the provider and other healthcare team members, provides medically related social services support for inpatient and outpatient physical, mental, and psychosocial well-being, assessing and addressing psychosocial, discharge planning, chronic disease management and issues relevant to medical treatment, appropriateness and efficacy of services - including utilization review, case management, and discharge planning support with RN Case Manager and support of organization wide patient experience. As necessary, support organization wide social services activities, including backup for other social services staff in the skilled/long term care residential areas.
   Salary Range: $33.00 - $39.60 DOE
   
   Qualifications:
   
   + Requires a bachelor's degree in social work or in a human services field including but not limited to sociology, special education, rehabilitation, recreation, counseling, and psychology and one year of supervised social work experience in a health care setting working directly with individuals;
   
   + Previous medical social work specialization experience required and hospital and case management experience preferred;
   
   + Current BLS Certificate
   
   Job Requirements:
   
   + Performs psychosocial assessments and disposition planning for high risk patients, participating in patient care planning with responsiveness to age specific needs and referrals as indicated to appropriate community resources for inpatient and outpatient as indicated.
   
   + Provides crisis intervention, arrange for needed counseling services, and emotional support to patients and families, as well as consultative support to providers and staff related to psychosocial, bioethical, grieving, and disposition related issues for inpatient and outpatient services as indicated.
   
   + Provide support to discharge planning and utilization review pre-admission through post discharge follow up; organization wide patient experience support, and demonstrates knowledge of the process and forms utilized in transferring patients to an outside facility.
   
   + In coordination with Case Management RN or designee, participate in utilization review huddle, interdisciplinary teams and utilization review/management committees; demonstrating successful guidance to the medical and nursing staff as appropriate related to care level, diagnosis, treatment, and services related to medical necessity.
   
   + Coordinates patient/family provider conferences (including interdisciplinary teams and ethics committees/conferences), develops and maintains working relationships with community agencies, and participates in planning the social work component required in select hospital committees, policies, and procedures.
   
   + Provides in-service education for staff related to psychosocial components and assist staff to inform patient/residents or their designee of health status and health care choices.
   
   + Collects and records pertinent contacts, assessments, and data related to disposition and psychosocial assessments for the social services component of the patient's medical record, including timely review and interdisciplinary care planning for inpatient and outpatient services. score: N/A
   
   + Provide primary contact and support of Swing Bed Activities Program in conjunction with Activities Director for D/P SNF and Swing Bed; d emonstrating competency in CMS Appendix W/SOM, as well as knowledge of federal and state guidelines and regulations, third party payers and swing bed guidelines to provide support related to pre-authorizations, continued authorizations, appeals, peer review process, and denials. score: N/A
   
   + Demonstrates proficiency navigating through Orchard Hospital Health Information Systems (HIS) ELearning, and Orchard Hospital Policies and Procedures - entering appropriate documentation in a timely manner, accessing information from previous hospital visits and locating policy and procedures. score: N/A
   
   + Demonstrates effective communication with members of the health care team to achieve desired outcomes; attends and participates in all required in-service training and mandatory meetings (75% staff meetings) per policy and providing orientation/mandated reporting and other social service specific education as indicated.
   
   Orchard Hospital complies with the California State mandate which requires all healthcare workers to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, with a booster shot. Some workers may be exempt from this requirement due to religious beliefs or a qualified medical reason. Any offer of employment will be contingent upon valid documentation of complete vaccination including a booster shot OR a qualifying exemption. Please contact Human Resources for additional information.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right social services case manager for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with social services case managers they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit social services case managers who meet your education requirements.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your social services case manager job on Zippia to find and recruit social services case manager candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit social services case managers, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents. You can move on to the technical interview if a candidate is good enough for the next step.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new social services case manager

   Once you've decided on a perfect social services case manager candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your agreement with a contract.

   You should also follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that you've filled the position.

   After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new social services case manager. Human Resources and the hiring manager should complete Employee Action Forms. Human Resources should also ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc., and that new employee files are created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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How much does it cost to hire a social services case manager?