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Social services specialist skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read
Quoted experts
Matt Grace,
Michelle Kelley Shuler Ph.D.
Social services specialist example skills
Below we've compiled a list of the most critical social services specialist skills. We ranked the top skills for social services specialists based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 25.0% of social services specialist resumes contained social work as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a social services specialist needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 social services specialist skills for your resume and career

1. Social Work

Here's how social services specialists use social work:
  • Provided crisis intervention, individual and family therapy where skilled social work judgment was required.
  • Provided Child Protection Services using skilled social work techniques/intervention and case management for abusive families.

2. Patients

Here's how social services specialists use patients:
  • Collaborate with Interdisciplinary Team to facilitate discharge planning of adult patients admitted to the hospital.
  • Assessed potential patients for clinical appropriateness and funding; provided intake for appropriate patients.

3. Substance Abuse

Here's how social services specialists use substance abuse:
  • Provided assertive community outreach treatment to consumers with mental illness and/or retardation and substance abuse.
  • Conducted family assessments for families experiencing substance abuse, mental health disorders, sexual abuse, and sexual offending behaviors.

4. Discharge Planning

Here's how social services specialists use discharge planning:
  • Facilitate discharge planning for residents and provide community resources as needed to ensure successful transitions to community.
  • Participate with interdisciplinary team in developing patient care plans, discharge planning and overall coordination of care.

5. Term Care

Here's how social services specialists use term care:
  • Conducted comprehensive assessments to determine client functional eligibility for Long Term Care Medicaid programs.
  • Ensured residents have information about community long-term care options.

6. MDS

Minimum Data Set or MDS refers to a standardized assessment tool used in Medicare and Medicaid-certified nursing facilities. It assists social services specialists with developing, organizing, and conducting programs to resolve and prevent problems relevant to substance abuse, human relations, or dependent care.

Here's how social services specialists use mds:
  • Conducted patient, family, and staff interviews and ensured that relevant MDS sections (i.e.
  • Completed MDS 3.0 Training Maintain ongoing communication with all disciplines; physicians, dietary and rehab.

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7. Community Resources

Community resources are a set of resources that are used in the day to day life of people which improves their lifestyle in some way. People, sites or houses, and population assistance can come under the services offered by community resources.

Here's how social services specialists use community resources:
  • Developed and implemented specialized treatment programs within the community; utilizes community resources; initiated projects with foster or adoptive parents.
  • Assisted in providing information regarding community resources and executed comprehensive plans that enabled consumers to resolve daily and life conflicts.

8. Social Service Agencies

Here's how social services specialists use social service agencies:
  • Counseled individuals to effectively manage financial and home lives while issuing appropriate contact information for other social service agencies.
  • Provide community education to various other social service agencies.

9. Child Abuse

When a child who is under 18 is mistreated by an adult, it is considered child abuse. There are many forms of intentional harm and mistreatment for example physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, medical abuse, and neglect in providing adequate basic life necessities.

Here's how social services specialists use child abuse:
  • Participated in investigations w/ Law Enforcement as determined by Child Abuse Protocol.
  • Investigated child abuse/neglect complaints within hourly limitations as directed by law.

10. Child Care

Child care means the care, supervision, or guidance of a child by a person other than the child's parent, guardian, or custodian for periods of less than 24 hours. Childcare could be either center-based such as a daycare or a nursery or home-based care such as nannies or family daycare.

Here's how social services specialists use child care:
  • Interviewed and determined eligibility according to funding for child care services.
  • Assisted the community with lifestyle needs such as state and federally funded medical benefits, food stamps, and child care benefits

11. Nursing Home

Here's how social services specialists use nursing home:
  • Determine eligibility for assistance for nursing home and advantage clients.
  • Interviewed clients and families, conducted home & nursing home visits, processed all related paperwork, and determined financial eligibility.

12. Social Service Programs

Here's how social services specialists use social service programs:
  • Worked with family preservation- intervention of social service programs to strengthen families.
  • Managed a caseload requiring both broad and specialized knowledge of all social service programs.

13. Foster Care

Here's how social services specialists use foster care:
  • Performed intensive case management to children placed in regular and therapeutic foster care placements.
  • Provided referrals to community services, family services/preservation unit, and foster care system.

14. Crisis Intervention

Here's how social services specialists use crisis intervention:
  • Provided crisis intervention through assessment of allegations of children reportedly at risk of abuse/neglect.
  • Provided crisis intervention and counseling services for individuals needing mental health counseling.

15. Rehabilitation

Here's how social services specialists use rehabilitation:
  • Educated clients on programs as well as encouraged rehabilitation practiced attentive and active listening skills critical to each client/customer/case.
  • Provided intake services and evaluated individuals for admissions to residential rehabilitation centers.
top-skills

What skills help Social Services Specialists find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What skills stand out on social services specialist resumes?

Matt Grace

Assistant Professor, Hamilton College

I have never been in a position to hire, but I do think there are some skills that all employers value. Foremost are oral and written communication skills. Regardless of the specifics of a job, chances are that you'll need to know how to effectively convey information, whether that's in the form of a presentation, a report, or even an email. Having worked in an office job prior to entering academia, I can't tell you how many of my co-workers were unable to craft a simple, coherent e-mail. This might seem trivial, but e-mail miscommunication can slow down a project or lead to internal tensions on a team. Second, while many higher education institutions are pushing students to learn to code, I think data literacy is just as important. The ability to distill trends and tell a story from data are vital skills for any company seeking to connect with the public.

What hard/technical skills are most important for social services specialists?

Michelle Kelley Shuler Ph.D.

Department Chair: Human Services, Austin Community College

a. Must have strong basic computer skills and knowledge of software such as excel spreadsheets, google docs, etc. Most, if not all, agencies use electronic health records and treatment planning, so it is necessary to be competent in this area.
b. A degree and additional certifications will assist you in seeking employment. It will also increase your level of competency and diversify the communities you serve. For example, at Austin Community College, we offer our students a chance to complete a certification in Mental Health First Aid Training. This increases their marketability and skill level.

What soft skills should all social services specialists possess?

J. Brian Atwood

Visiting Scholar in International and Public Affairs, Brown University

The most important "soft" skills are empathy, listening carefully, and interpreting what is presented accurately.

What social services specialist skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Lillian Wichinsky Ph.D.

Associate Dean, University of Nevada - Reno

The need for social workers with expertise in mental health care, school-based social work, health and substance misuse are particularly important. Sixty percent of mental health care in the US is provided by social workers and the need is growing.

What type of skills will young social services specialists need?

Samantha Fletcher Ph.D.Samantha Fletcher Ph.D. LinkedIn profile

Executive Director, National Association of Social Workers, New York State

The core skills of social work do not change over time. These skills include empathy, active listening, critical thinking, assessment, intervention, evaluation, advocacy, policy analysis, and adaptability. Social workers also need to evaluate the organizations they work in to assess for oppressive practices and policies. One of the profession's core values is social justice, which directs social workers to "pursue social change, particularly with and on behalf of vulnerable and oppressed individuals and groups of people. Social workers' social change efforts are focused primarily on issues of poverty, unemployment, discrimination, and other forms of social injustice" (National Association of Social Workers, 2017). As a profession, social workers aim to dismantle racist, sexist, heterosexist, xenophobic, ableist, classist, and religiously biased systems and structures.

What technical skills for a social services specialist stand out to employers?

Dr. T. Thao Pham Ph.D.Dr. T. Thao Pham Ph.D. LinkedIn profile

Associate Professor, MSW Program Director, California University of Pennsylvania

Agencies are looking for graduates with leadership skills, collaborative skills, grant-writing skills, clinical skills, and good organization skills. Graduates are expected to meet high expectations from employers early on and those who may find themselves moving quickly in the organization as administrators. We have many recent graduates who are now managers, supervisors, and coordinators within 3 years of graduating.
Do you want to know more?
Read more about what experts have to say about social services specialist

List of social services specialist skills to add to your resume

Social services specialist skills

The most important skills for a social services specialist resume and required skills for a social services specialist to have include:

  • Social Work
  • Patients
  • Substance Abuse
  • Discharge Planning
  • Term Care
  • MDS
  • Community Resources
  • Social Service Agencies
  • Child Abuse
  • Child Care
  • Nursing Home
  • Social Service Programs
  • Foster Care
  • Crisis Intervention
  • Rehabilitation
  • Mental Health Agencies
  • Home Health
  • DHS
  • Protective Services
  • Child Protective
  • Community Agencies
  • Law Enforcement
  • Medicaid
  • Risk Assessments
  • Compassion
  • Community Services
  • Child Safety
  • History Data
  • CPS
  • Court System
  • Support Services
  • Court Reports
  • Domestic Violence
  • Early Intervention
  • Assistance Program
  • TANF
  • Casework Services
  • Face-To-Face Interviews
  • Provide Emotional Support
  • Comprehensive Assessments
  • Medical Professionals
  • Psychosocial Assessments
  • Child Victims
  • Court Hearings
  • Collateral Contacts
  • ABD
  • Sexual Abuse
  • Court Proceedings
  • Crisis Situations

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.

Updated January 8, 2025

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