What is it like being a Child Social Worker?

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One of the many areas a social worker can specialize in is working with children. There are several ways they can serve the younger population. One job a child social worker may find themselves in is Children Services Division (often referred to as CPS) and this is perhaps what people think of most when they hear the phrase “Child Social Worker.”

The Children Social Workers Career

A CSD (Children’s Services Division) worker’s job is to respond to reports of neglect and abuse of anyone under the age of eighteen. These reports can come from a variety of places. There are mandated reporters like counselors, doctors, teachers, and other health care workers, who through most state laws are required to file a report anytime anyone states that a child is being or will be hurt in any way. Reports can also come through concerned family members, neighbors, business owners or anyone in the community. A CSD worker is required by law to follow up on any report no matter how small or singularly mean spirited it seems.

Protective services’ main goal is to ensure the safety of a child, but it is also to help families be able to be together. To that end, very often, they will contract with other agencies to provide supportive services to families.

This is where other types of children social workers come into play. Social Workers can work with children and families in the home to provide modeling of good parenting and give feedback on how parents are doing through programs like Intensive Care Coordination or Therapeutic Foster Care. This is a “wrap-around” service that provides intensive in home care and modeling for families in crises with the intention of having accountability for a coordinated effort of service. Basically, the coordination of many agencies is overseen by one caseworker, but many are involved in helping the family work. This is especially helpful as oftentimes, many families have parents who did not themselves have anyone modeling good communication and parenting.

Social Workers also can work with children at schools. There are many different areas of need for kids in school from help with socialization to keeping their behavior under control in order for them to learn. These types of social workers can work in special classrooms or be assigned to help children in integration to “regular” classrooms. Generally, school officials, school psychologist, parents, teachers and social workers agree on behavioral plans; the educational plans are known as IEP’s (Individualized Educational Plans).

Social Workers work with young people and children in hospital and clinic settings in a range of services from dealing with a diagnosis of cancer to teen pregnancy. Ideally, hospitals keep social workers on staff to help meet the needs of patients for which they see regularly; i.e.: a cancer specializing hospital will have specially trained social workers to meet with kids and their families or a Planned Parenthood will have a social worker follow up on anything from general reproductive health questions to pregnancy prevention and management.

Social work is a rewarding field that has many different areas of emphasis to choose from. This ensures that people with many different personalities are able to find occupations that suit them and those they work with.