Therapeutic support staff vs social worker

The differences between therapeutic support staff and social workers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 6-12 months to become a therapeutic support staff, becoming a social worker takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a social worker has an average salary of $50,102, which is higher than the $34,086 average annual salary of a therapeutic support staff.

The top three skills for a therapeutic support staff include autism, social work and rehabilitation. The most important skills for a social worker are social work, patients, and patient care.

Therapeutic support staff vs social worker overview

	Therapeutic Support Staff	Social Worker
Yearly salary	$34,086	$50,102
Hourly rate	$16.39	$24.09
Growth rate	12%	9%
Number of jobs	192,172	77,340
Job satisfaction	-	4.5
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 79%	Bachelor's Degree, 59%
Average age	43	45
Years of experience	12	2

What does a therapeutic support staff do?

A therapeutic support staff member specializes in providing guidance and counseling to individuals with emotional support needs, mainly children. They are primarily responsible for building rapport with clients while assessing their different conditions and needs. Through this assessment, therapeutic support staff can develop specific treatments in collaboration with mental health practitioners. One may directly work with schools, clinics, and other medical health facilities. Furthermore, it is essential to maintain all clients' records and monitor their progress, regularly updating the assigned physician or caseworker.

What does a social worker do?

Social workers help their clients get through problems that they may be facing. Social workers help identify individuals or groups of people, usually families, who may need assistance, generally through a set of pre-determined criteria. They then determine the best ways to help their clients by interviewing them, getting to know them, and understanding the context of their lives. They create plans that will help their clients become better, such as integrating into a new environment, assisting them in their needs, or even rescuing them from their current place. Social workers have good interpersonal skills and communication skills.

Therapeutic support staff vs social worker salary

Therapeutic support staff and social workers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Therapeutic Support Staff	Social Worker
Average salary	$34,086	$50,102
Salary range	Between $27,000 And $42,000	Between $37,000 And $67,000
Highest paying City	-	Portland, OR
Highest paying state	-	Oregon
Best paying company	-	Health Advocates
Best paying industry	-	Government

Differences between therapeutic support staff and social worker education

There are a few differences between a therapeutic support staff and a social worker in terms of educational background:

	Therapeutic Support Staff	Social Worker
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 79%	Bachelor's Degree, 59%
Most common major	Psychology	Social Work
Most common college	California State University - Long Beach	University of Pennsylvania

Therapeutic support staff vs social worker demographics

Here are the differences between therapeutic support staff' and social workers' demographics:

	Therapeutic Support Staff	Social Worker
Average age	43	45
Gender ratio	Male, 25.4% Female, 74.6%	Male, 19.5% Female, 80.5%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.5% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 12.5% Asian, 5.5% White, 65.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.9%	Black or African American, 19.9% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 12.3% Asian, 3.3% White, 58.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage	11%	13%

Differences between therapeutic support staff and social worker duties and responsibilities

Therapeutic support staff example responsibilities.

Earn reputation for working with some of the most trouble adolescents in district using compassion and patience to achieve goals.
Observe patients and strategically prepare and manage clinical analysis of individuals and their progress in conjunction with formulate behavior goals.
Provide one-on-one interventions, including crisis intervention, behavior management support, emotional support, time-structure activities, and psychological rehabilitation.
Implement specific ABA therapeutic interventions that are developed to stabilize and improve the child's behavior.
Experience working with children with ADHD, autism, and a variety of other behavioral health disabilities.
Provide behavioral interventions within the community and home to children with autism or other emotional support needs

Social worker example responsibilities.

Assist clients in achieving treatment goals such as anger, ADHD, grief, social skills, and manners.
Lead and co-le CBT and DBT skills-base groups with participants, as well as relapse prevention, mindfulness and process groups.
Support patient questions and issues regarding Medicare ESRD entitlement and Medicaid and assist in the completion of the appropriate documentation.
Coordinate IPU discharge planning patients to SNF, ALF, PCH or in-home care with necessary support for care.
Facilitate relationships with AKF and other patient assistance programs, VA, Medicare, Medicaid and other insurance providers.
Complete Medicaid and Medicare applications as needed.

Therapeutic support staff vs social worker skills

Common therapeutic support staff skills

Autism, 12%
Social Work, 10%
Rehabilitation, 8%
Emotional Support, 6%
Mental Health, 6%
Compassion, 5%

Common social worker skills

Social Work, 30%
Patients, 15%
Patient Care, 5%
MSW, 4%
Discharge Planning, 4%
Home Health, 4%

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Therapeutic Support Staff
Therapeutic Support Staff vs Social Worker

Updated January 8, 2025

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