How To Become A Welfare Case Worker: What It Is and Career Path

What is a welfare case worker and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Jennifer Kukis

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a welfare case worker. For example, did you know that they make an average of $23.94 an hour? That's $49,799 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 9% and produce 64,000 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a welfare case worker?

Jennifer Kukis

Professor/Coordinate, Lorain County Community College

This is a scary time right now to be searching for a job, and especially, for someone new in the field. New graduates need to draw on the skills they developed in their education. Make a personal approach to the job search, it is going to be more about the connections you're making, and that includes leveraging your current network. Where you did your internship might not be able to hire you, but they have developed networks over the years and may be able to connect you to other people in the field to increase your ability to network.

Also look closer to home for networking possibilities. Do your parents know someone that might need some help right now? ... If not, maybe expanding that pool and reaching out to your faculty members? Are there any connections there that you can make to say to someone potentially, 'Hey, I know it's a difficult time right now, but these are the skills that I bring to the table.'

That leads me to, know your strengths and be comfortable talking about them. Social work is about building on a person's strengths. Everybody has strengths and available resources to help them take advantage of those talents. A social worker's job is, in part, to identify those strengths and help people take advantage of beneficial community resources. If you cannot do that for yourself how will you do it for others.

My last tip is that you might need to be open to work in a different area or population than you planned on while in school. First professional jobs are about gaining experience. You might find it easier to find a position with an agency working with the homeless or a food bank than a school or hospital at this time.
Social workers are needed more now than ever because they are helping vulnerable populations get the care they need during the global pandemic. With high levels of unemployment comes higher levels of stress and anxiety that can exacerbate abuse and neglect, and social workers across the country are helping families and communities get through this extremely challenging time.

ScoreWelfare Case WorkerUS Average

Salary

3.9

Avg. Salary $49,799

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

10.0

Growth rate 9%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

9.3

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.51%

Asian 2.67%

Black or African American 13.37%

Hispanic or Latino 15.12%

Unknown 4.19%

White 63.14%

Gender

female 68.24%

male 31.76%

Age - 42

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 42

Stress level

10.0

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.5

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.2

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a welfare case worker

Explore welfare case worker education requirements

Most common welfare case worker degrees

Bachelor's

67.5 %

Master's

13.8 %

Associate

8.8 %

Start to develop specific welfare case worker skills

Skills	Percentages
Child Abuse	29.08%
Community Agencies	26.52%
Court Reports	20.18%
Crisis Intervention	6.55%
Court System	5.63%

Complete relevant welfare case worker training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New welfare case workers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a welfare case worker based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real welfare case worker resumes.

Research welfare case worker duties and responsibilities

Review and research leads regarding personal injury cases by obtaining information from the Medicaid recipient's attorney and insurance adjuster
Co-Facilitate and facilitate weekly substance use groups to support veterans in their recovery process and provide clients education on relapse prevention.
Perform related adoptions and supervisory visits for state adoptions.

Prepare your welfare case worker resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your welfare case worker resume.

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