What does a social work supervisor do?
Social work supervisors are licensed professionals who are responsible for providing administrative, clinical, and supportive supervision to inexperienced social workers. These supervisors are required to organize training to help their subordinates to develop their skills and promote career growth. They must respond to the conflicts occurring within the team and promote ethical behaviors among them as well as manage their schedules and expectations. Social work supervisors must also participate in research and studies which required opinion from social work organizations.
Social work supervisor responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real social work supervisor resumes:
- Collaborate with partners including public and private agencies to achieve permanency for children.
- Provide training and weekly supervision to MSW and BSW level staff in the traditional and therapeutic foster care programs.
- Provide ongoing adjustment to illness support to patients and families through hospitalization, bereavement counseling, and crisis intervention.
- Input data from assessments into the MDS system for submission to Medicare.
- Spearhead hospital-wide projects, including roll out of new CMS regulations and forms.
- Provide ongoing and current education regarding CMS issues like ABN process and implementation.
- Collaborate with outside agencies such as Medicaid, food stamps, OPWDD and other agencies.
- Direct a team of sixteen clinicians including social workers and professional counselors with oversight for over 50 clients.
- Plan content and conduct training sessions for orientation of newly assign workers (MSW's and case workers).
- Facilitate treatment mall groups gear toward normalization and rehabilitation.
- Assist families with Medicaid applications and hospice benefit election.
- Monitor and provide oversight for all negotiations and development of professional service contracts.
- Supervise social workers on the adult rehabilitation unit, neurological service and dialysis units.
- Create guidelines for the referral process and maintain a thorough database for patients receiving elective joint replacement surgery and post-operative care.
- Develop, monitor and maintain patient individualize treatment plans base on principles of ABA and in collaboration with a multidisciplinary team.
Social work supervisor skills and personality traits
We calculated that 31% of Social Work Supervisors are proficient in Social Work, Patients, and MSW. They’re also known for soft skills such as Compassion, Time-management skills, and Interpersonal skills.
We break down the percentage of Social Work Supervisors that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Social Work, 31%
Completed supervisory visits along with yearly and periodic evaluations of all social work staff; facilitated corrective action plans when needed/appropriate.
- Patients, 6%
Created guidelines for the referral process and maintain a thorough database for patients receiving elective joint replacement surgery and post-operative care.
- MSW, 5%
Created committees and new marketing strategies Donna R. Potts, MSW, CPG Resume to promote community support of Hospice program.
- Child Welfare, 5%
Develop and foster relationships with community stakeholders and child welfare/community based services providers (CW/CBSP).
- Social Services, 5%
Participate in consultation with other providers, in presentation/ in-service to educate other disciplines about basic knowledge of social services.
- Crisis Intervention, 4%
Facilitate group therapy sessions in an outpatient/inpatient alcoholism clinic; provide brief strategic, outcome oriented therapy and crisis intervention.
Most social work supervisors use their skills in "social work," "patients," and "msw" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential social work supervisor responsibilities here:
Compassion. The most essential soft skill for a social work supervisor 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 work supervisor resume shows how their duties depend on compassion: "deliver emergency and routine medical treatment to 700+ soldiers, responding with compassion and expediency in diagnosis and treatment. "
Time-management skills. Another essential skill to perform social work supervisor duties is time-management skills. Social work supervisors responsibilities require that "social and human service assistants often work with many clients." Social work supervisors also use time-management skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "ensured that social workers are meeting all bridges to health and agency mandates and paperwork requirements and deadlines. "
Interpersonal skills. social work supervisors are also known for interpersonal skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to social work supervisor responsibilities, because "social and human service assistants must make their clients feel comfortable discussing sensitive issues." A social work supervisor resume example shows how interpersonal skills is used in the workplace: "recognized for patient care, willingness to learn, and good interpersonal skills. "
Organizational skills. A big part of what social work supervisors do relies on "organizational skills." You can see how essential it is to social work supervisor responsibilities because "social and human service assistants must often complete lots of paperwork and work with many different clients." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical social work supervisor tasks: "developed monthly report card aligned with organizational values for use during individual coaching and development conversations to support annual performance reviews. "
Communication skills. Another crucial skill for a social work supervisor to carry out their responsibilities is "communication skills." A big part of what social work supervisors 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 work supervisor duties can be seen in an example from a social work supervisor resume snippet: "maintain communication with interdisciplinary teams and outside community agencies. "
Problem-solving skills. While "problem-solving skills" is last on this skills list, don't underestimate its importance to social work supervisor responsibilities. Much of what a social work supervisor does relies on this skill, seeing as "social and human service assistants help clients find solutions to their problems." Here is a resume example of how this skill is used in the everyday duties of social work supervisors: "attend, coordinate and present solutions to the concerns of the family in the process of hospitalization and discharge planning. "
The three companies that hire the most social work supervisors are:
- Good Shepherd Services9 social work supervisors jobs
- Sheltering Arms6 social work supervisors jobs
- Volunteers of America-Greater New York4 social work supervisors jobs
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Compare different social work supervisors
Social work supervisor vs. Adult case manager
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.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between social work supervisors and adult case manager. For instance, social work supervisor responsibilities require skills such as "msw," "child welfare," "clinical supervision," and "protective services." Whereas a adult case manager is skilled in "management services," "severe mental illness," "financial assistance," and "persistent mental illness." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Adult case managers earn the highest salaries when working in the health care industry, with an average yearly salary of $42,336. On the other hand, social work supervisors are paid more in the government industry with an average salary of $62,301.On average, adult case managers reach lower levels of education than social work supervisors. Adult case managers are 33.8% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 1.3% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Social work supervisor vs. Resident assistant
A Case Manager Lead is responsible for providing an assessment, implementation, and overall evaluation of individual patient needs. They also assess patients satisfaction and the quality of the care provided.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, social work supervisor responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "social work," "patients," "msw," and "child welfare." Meanwhile, a resident assistant has duties that require skills in areas such as "home health," "cpr," "vital signs," and "residential life." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
On average, resident assistants earn a lower salary than social work supervisors. 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 work supervisors have higher pay in the government industry, with an average salary of $62,301.In general, resident assistants achieve lower levels of education than social work supervisors. They're 43.4% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 1.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Social work supervisor vs. Case manager lead
A Foster Care Case Manager provides social work counseling to foster children, families, and foster parents. They plan and coordinate treatments for the required children in accordance with specified requirements.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, social work supervisors are more likely to have skills like "msw," "child welfare," "social services," and "clinical supervision." But a case manager lead is more likely to have skills like "veterans," "hmis," "social security," and "incident reports."
Case managers lead make a very good living in the health care industry with an average annual salary of $44,384. On the other hand, social work supervisors are paid the highest salary in the government industry, with average annual pay of $62,301.When it comes to education, case managers lead tend to earn lower degree levels compared to social work supervisors. In fact, they're 29.8% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.5% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Social work supervisor vs. Foster care case manager
Even though a few skill sets overlap between social work supervisors and foster care case managers, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a social work supervisor might have more use for skills like "patients," "msw," "child welfare," and "social services." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of foster care case managers require skills like "management services," "data entry," "biological parents," and "dcfs. "
In general, foster care case managers earn the most working in the professional industry, with an average salary of $40,491. The highest-paying industry for a social work supervisor is the government industry.foster care case managers reach lower levels of education compared to social work supervisors, in general. The difference is that they're 31.2% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 1.3% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of social work supervisor
Updated January 8, 2025
