How to hire a social work case manager

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

Here's a step-by-step social work 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 work case manager job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new social work case manager
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a social work case manager do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   First, determine the employments status of the social work case manager you need to hire. Certain social work 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

   A social work case manager's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, social work case managers from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   This list presents social work case manager salaries for various positions.

   Type of Social Work Case Manager	Description	Hourly rate
   Social Work 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.	$15-29
   Case Manager For Children	Case managers focus on guiding clients in helping their needs, resolving problems, and provide support through coursing them to relevant welfare organizations and agencies. It is the case manager's job to create case studies on subjects, in this case, children, for a social worker to provide an assessment... Show more	$12-22
   Clinical Social Worker	A clinical social worker is a professional in social work, which provides help to individuals in need of improving their lives and their well-being. Clinical social workers must work with different individuals to help them address difficulties that they are trying to overcome... Show more	$20-44

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Social Work
   • Patients
   • Social Services
   • Discharge Planning
   • Acute Care
   • Patient Care
   • Psychosocial Assessments
   • Home Health
   • MSW
   • Support Services
   • Rehabilitation
   • Substance Abuse
   • Community Agencies
   • Utilization Review

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Collaborate with partners including public and private agencies to achieve permanency for children.
   • Facilitate resource management by making appropriate referrals to community agencies that help patients remain safe and independent in their home environment.
   • Review inpatient hospital medical records using InterQual criteria to determine that patient admission meet quality and utilization standards.
   • Adhere to rules and regulations pertinent to inpatient rehabilitation as defined by Medicare/Medicaid and other licensing and accrediting organizations.
   • Coordinate and schedule in home physician visits and transportation arrangements for patients to receive medical services in hospitals and clinics.
   • Respond to high volume telephone and walk-in inquiries regarding long-term placement, government entitlements, rehabilitation, and services provide.

   More social work case manager duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your social work case manager job description helps attract top candidates to the position. A social work case manager salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

   For example, the average salary for a social work case manager in Rhode Island may be lower than in California, and an entry-level social work case manager usually earns less than a senior-level social work case manager. Additionally, a social work case manager with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

   Average social work case manager salary

   $45,321yearly

   $21.79 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level social work case manager salary

   $33,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 30, 2026

   Average social work case manager salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$62,505	$30
   2	Washington	$57,962	$28
   3	New Mexico	$56,417	$27
   4	Alaska	$54,041	$26
   5	New Jersey	$53,406	$26
   6	Nevada	$53,388	$26
   7	Oregon	$51,879	$25
   8	District of Columbia	$51,132	$25
   9	Utah	$50,233	$24
   10	New York	$49,304	$24
   11	Maine	$48,736	$23
   12	New Hampshire	$48,002	$23
   13	Minnesota	$47,941	$23
   14	Texas	$47,495	$23
   15	Colorado	$47,358	$23
   16	Kansas	$47,120	$23
   17	Illinois	$45,405	$22
   18	Ohio	$44,673	$21
   19	Missouri	$41,662	$20
   20	North Carolina	$41,510	$20

   Average social work case manager salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Tenet Healthcare	$75,811	$36.45	74
   2	WakeMed	$70,714	$34.00
   3	Baptist Health	$68,514	$32.94	15
   4	HonorHealth	$68,291	$32.83
   5	Dignity Health	$67,073	$32.25	44
   6	Enloe Medical Center	$65,972	$31.72	5
   7	University of Maryland Medical System	$65,907	$31.69	62
   8	Careerstaff Unlimited - A Genesis Healthcare Company	$65,111	$31.30
   9	Baptist Health Home Care	$64,814	$31.16	13
   10	Mission Regional Medical Center	$64,695	$31.10	62
   11	Swedish Hospital	$64,038	$30.79
   12	Parkland Hospital	$64,030	$30.78
   13	Health Alliance	$63,912	$30.73	19
   14	Mount Sinai Health System	$63,122	$30.35	28
   15	Novant Health	$62,531	$30.06	21
   16	Bartlett Regional Hospital	$62,472	$30.03	2
   17	Montefiore Mount Vernon Hospital	$62,299	$29.95	3
   18	Emory Healthcare	$62,011	$29.81	5
   19	Garnet Health	$61,963	$29.79	1
   20	Children's Hospital Los Angeles	$61,608	$29.62	5

4. Writing a social work case manager job description

   A social work case manager job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. To help get you started, here's an example of a social work case manager job description:

   Social work case manager job description example

   PIH Health is a nonprofit, regional healthcare network that serves approximately 3 million residents in the Los Angeles County, Orange County and San Gabriel Valley region. The fully integrated network is comprised of PIH Health Hospital - Whittier, PIH Health Hospital - Downey and PIH Health Good Samaritan Hospital, 27 outpatient medical locations, a multispecialty medical (physician) group, home healthcare services and hospice care, as well as heart, cancer, women's health, urgent care and emergency services.
   
   The MSW interviews and evaluates patients and family members to identify social, emotional and economic factors which may interfere with obtaining maximum benefits from medical care; develops and implements a social work treatment plan to be offered to patients and family; selects and utilizes community resources as part of the treatment plan; makes referrals to and coordinates with other professional disciplines or agencies; provides psycho-social therapy using a variety of treatment methods; participates in multidisciplinary health team conferences to formulate the overall patient care plans by interpreting to the team the psycho-social aspects of the patient's illness; assists in the coordination of the discharge plan
   Required Skills
   
   
   Demonstrated skill in patient assessment, planning, intervention and evaluation.
   Strong communication skills, verbal, non-verbal, written and oral.
   Familiarity with regulatory agency requirements, policies and protocols.
   
   
   Required Experience
   Master's Degree from an Accredited School of Social Work.
   Registered as an Associate Clinical Social Worker issued by the California Board of Behavioral Science
   strongly preferred.
   Evidence of continuing education.
   Prior experience in a healthcare setting preferred.
   Familiarity with regulatory requirements related to reporting of child/elder abuse, substance use/abuse, child protective custody, adoptions, and other legal requirements.
   
   Certification:
   
   Current Basic Life Support (BLS) card from American Heart Association.
   LA City fire card within 6 months of employment
   
   The organization is recognized by Watson Health as one of the nation's Top Hospitals, and College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) as one of the nation's top hospital systems for best practices, cutting-edge advancements, quality of care and healthcare technology. PIH Health is certified as a Great Place to Work TM . For more information, visit PIHHealth.org or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right social work 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 work case managers they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit social work 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 work case manager job on Zippia to find and recruit social work 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 work 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 to see if they match your ideal candidate profile. If you think a candidate is good enough for the next step, you can move on to the technical interview.

   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 work case manager

   Once you've decided on a perfect social work 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.

   To prepare for the new employee's start date, you can create an onboarding schedule and complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9 forms, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Human Resources should also ensure that a new employee file is 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 work case manager?