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What does a social services manager do?

Updated January 8, 2025
8 min read
Quoted expert
Debra Minsky-Kelly

A social services manager is responsible for handling community programs and activities for societal needs. Social services managers coordinate with different local organizations to strategize techniques in building a safe and peaceful environment for the citizens, as well as identifying resources to provide them with their essentials. They also attend community events and meetings to represent the community and propose ideas for community development. A social services manager supervises the program budgeting, as well as reaching out to potential donors and sponsors for funding purposes.

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Social services manager responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real social services manager resumes:

  • Manage the MSW staff and coordinate all social service and select patient service activities.
  • Research community services for patient care and coordinate transportation for patients to external organizations for short and long-term treatment.
  • Provide case-management for patients in a rehabilitation setting, assisting with referrals to appropriate agencies and resources in their local area.
  • Assist with Medicaid applications and insurance problems.
  • Process payroll information in an accurate and timely manner.
  • Help residents with their advance directives, assist in filing Medicaid applications and file and investigate grievances.
  • Monitor and ensure proper payroll setup including coordination of common paymaster with university paycheck to ensure savings on FICA taxes.
  • Develop program/policy manual for the department which meet JCAHO and state compliance guidelines.
  • Ensure that departments are JCAHO compliant and work with contract compliance personnel to prepare for all audits.
  • Utilize other staff members to provide personalize learning opportunities for students that emphasize employability skills.

Social services manager skills and personality traits

We calculated that 19% of Social Services Managers are proficient in Social Work, Patients, and Discharge Planning. They’re also known for soft skills such as Compassion, Time-management skills, and Interpersonal skills.

We break down the percentage of Social Services Managers that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Social Work, 19%

    Provide effective administrative support to Social Worker/Support Workers and Nurses caring within the local community for Adults with learning disabilities.

  • Patients, 13%

    Provided case-management for patients in a rehabilitation setting, assisting with referrals to appropriate agencies and resources in their local area.

  • Discharge Planning, 7%

    Discharge Planning specializing in Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation

  • Mental Health, 6%

    Facilitate monthly care coordination meetings with Detroit Wayne County Mental Health Authority.

  • Crisis Intervention, 6%

    Provided family mediation and crisis interventions as needed.

  • Psychosocial Assessments, 4%

    Conducted medical, financial and psychosocial assessments (intake) of women diagnosed with cancer to determine eligibility.

"social work," "patients," and "discharge planning" are among the most common skills that social services managers use at work. You can find even more social services manager responsibilities below, including:

Compassion. The most essential soft skill for a social services manager to carry out their responsibilities is compassion. This skill is important for the role because "social and human service assistants often work with people who are in stressful and difficult situations." Additionally, a social services manager resume shows how their duties depend on compassion: "provide support and compassion to residents and families. "

Time-management skills. Many social services manager duties rely on time-management skills. "social and human service assistants often work with many clients," so a social services manager will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways social services manager responsibilities rely on time-management skills: "maintained a caseload of 30-75 patients, working under strict deadlines. "

Interpersonal skills. This is an important skill for social services managers to perform their duties. For an example of how social services manager responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "social and human service assistants must make their clients feel comfortable discussing sensitive issues." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a social services manager: "utilize strong interpersonal skills to build and maintain strong relationships with community agencies. ".

Organizational skills. social services manager responsibilities often require "organizational skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "social and human service assistants must often complete lots of paperwork and work with many different clients." This resume example shows what social services managers do with organizational skills on a typical day: "coordinate and implement case plans research social histories assist with organizational/planning/documentation for admission paperwork provide counseling services to residents and families"

Communication skills. Another crucial skill for a social services manager to carry out their responsibilities is "communication skills." A big part of what social services managers relies on this skill, since "social and human service assistants talk with clients about the challenges in their lives and assist them in getting help." How this skill relates to social services manager duties can be seen in an example from a social services manager resume snippet: "maintain communication with hospital case managers, assisted livings, home health agencies, psychiatric services and ancillary services. "

Problem-solving skills. Another skill commonly found on social services manager job descriptions is "problem-solving skills." It can come up quite often in social services manager duties, since "social and human service assistants help clients find solutions to their problems." Here's an example from a resume of how this skill fits into day-to-day social services manager responsibilities: "provided ongoing assessment of psychosocial needs of residents, including care planning, counseling, discharge planning, and conflict resolution. "

Most common social services manager skills

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Compare different social services managers

Social services manager vs. Program coordinator

Program coordinators are mid-level employees who are assigned to work on a program of a specific department. They handle the communications between their department and any other department that they may need to collaborate with. They coordinate action plans and activities to ensure that the departments are aligned. They are present during the planning stage for the program so that they will be familiar with action items. They are directly involved in the implementation by liaising with the involved departments. Program coordinators should have good communication skills, interpersonal skills, and organization skills.

If we compare the average social services manager annual salary with that of a program coordinator, we find that program coordinators typically earn a $10,705 lower salary than social services managers make annually.While the two careers have a salary gap, they share some of the same responsibilities. Employees in both social services manager and program coordinator positions are skilled in social work, patients, and mental health.

These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a social services manager are more likely to require skills like "discharge planning," "digital marketing," "psychosocial assessments," and "provide emotional support." On the other hand, a job as a program coordinator requires skills like "customer service," "powerpoint," "excellent organizational," and "data collection." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.

Program coordinators really shine in the government industry with an average salary of $51,387. Comparatively, social services managers tend to make the most money in the health care industry with an average salary of $56,857.On average, program coordinators reach similar levels of education than social services managers. Program coordinators are 3.5% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.6% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Social services manager vs. Resident assistant

Resident assistants help manage peers or younger students who live in a particular residence hall on campus. They are usually in charge of welcoming fellow students, providing residence hall tours, and helping students cope with their new environment. To help students become more at ease with their environment, resident assistants usually act as buddies. They answer inquiries that the students may have and act as the bridge between the students and the residence hall management. They assist with administrative activities in the residence hall, such as handing out forms for students and ensuring documents are correctly filled out.

Resident assistant positions earn lower pay than social services manager roles. They earn a $25,802 lower salary than social services managers per year.While the salary may differ for these jobs, they share a few skills needed to perform their duties. Based on resume data, both social services managers and resident assistants have skills such as "crisis intervention," "emotional support," and "patient care. "

Each career also uses different skills, according to real social services manager resumes. While social services manager responsibilities can utilize skills like "social work," "patients," "discharge planning," and "mental health," resident assistants use skills like "cpr," "vital signs," "residential life," and "memory care."

On average, resident assistants earn a lower salary than social services managers. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, resident assistants earn the most pay in the education industry with an average salary of $30,623. Whereas social services managers have higher pay in the health care industry, with an average salary of $56,857.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Resident assistants tend to reach lower levels of education than social services managers. In fact, they're 16.8% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.6% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for social services managers in the next 3-5 years?

Debra Minsky-KellyDebra Minsky-Kelly LinkedIn profile

Director of Field Education / Clinical Assistant Professor of Social Work, Carthage College

We have certainly learned a lot about remote service delivery options and ways in which these tools can make services more accessible to some clients and communities. However, I also think we have learned that connecting via technology has limitations. The power of in-person human connection is reliable, and this can often not be replicated via technology. I believe that technology has an important role to play in service delivery. Still, social workers also need to recognize the importance of keeping clients connected to their natural support networks. During periods of distress, healthy and connected relationships provide an essential buffering effect on the long term effects of trauma.

Social services manager vs. 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. They may be employed in another organization, but they lend their time and talent to another organization or company to give back to the community. They raise funds, create awareness, and work on the ground. Volunteers usually choose a cause or advocacy close to their heart, such as teaching children, taking care of the elderly, coaching sports teams, cleaning up communities, and caring for animals.

On average scale, volunteers bring in lower salaries than social services managers. In fact, they earn a $24,546 lower salary per year.By looking over several social services managers and volunteers resumes, we found that both roles require similar skills in their day-to-day duties, such as "emotional support," "patient care," and "community services." But beyond that, the careers look very different.

The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, social services managers are more likely to have skills like "social work," "patients," "discharge planning," and "mental health." But a volunteer is more likely to have skills like "child care," "patient charts," "front desk," and "community outreach."

Volunteers typically earn lower educational levels compared to social services managers. Specifically, they're 13.6% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.6% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Social services manager vs. Program assistant

Program assistants are usually entry-level or junior employees assigned to a department that handles a specific program in the organization. They assist the team they are assigned to in the implementation of the programs. They usually take care of administrative or clerical activities while also getting exposure to actual program management. Program assistants get trained to handle agendas from inception, to sourcing, to implementation, to evaluation. They may also handle documentary support for business cases or other presentation materials that the team may need for a specific part of the program management cycle.

Program assistants tend to earn a lower pay than social services managers by an average of $20,580 per year.While both social services managers and program assistants complete day-to-day tasks using similar skills like patients, community resources, and facebook, the two careers vary in some skills.While some skills are required in each professionacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities, there are some differences to note. "social work," "discharge planning," "mental health," and "digital marketing" are skills that commonly show up on social services manager resumes. On the other hand, program assistants use skills like customer service, data entry, hr, and data collection on their resumes.program assistants enjoy the best pay in the government industry, with an average salary of $41,993. For comparison, social services managers earn the highest salary in the health care industry.In general, program assistants hold lower degree levels compared to social services managers. Program assistants are 11.5% less likely to earn their Master's Degree and 0.1% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of social services manager

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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