Child, Family, and School Social Workers
Provide social services and assistance to improve the social and psychological functioning of children and their families and to maximize the family well-being and the academic functioning of children. May assist parents, arrange adoptions, and find foster homes for abandoned or abused children. In schools, they address such problems as teenage pregnancy, misbehavior, and truancy. May also advise teachers.
Most important skills
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Critical Thinking
- Social Perceptiveness
- Reading Comprehension
- Service Orientation
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Monitoring
Key knowledge
- Customer and Personal Service
- Psychology
- Therapy and Counseling
- English Language
- Administrative
- Sociology and Anthropology
- Education and Training
- Law and Government
What the work involves
- Interview clients individually, in families, or in groups, assessing their situations, capabilities, and problems to determine what services are required to meet their needs.
- Counsel individuals, groups, families, or communities regarding issues including mental health, poverty, unemployment, substance abuse, physical abuse, rehabilitation, social adjustment, child care, or medical care.
- Maintain case history records and prepare reports.
- Consult with parents, teachers, and other school personnel to determine causes of problems, such as truancy and misbehavior, and to implement solutions.
- Counsel parents with child rearing problems, interviewing the child and family to determine whether further action is required.
- Develop and review service plans in consultation with clients and perform follow-ups assessing the quantity and quality of services provided.
- Collect supplementary information needed to assist client, such as employment records, medical records, or school reports.
- Address legal issues, such as child abuse and discipline, assisting with hearings and providing testimony to inform custody arrangements.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Social, Conventional, Investigative.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Bachelor's Degree (68.7% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years (32.4%)
- On-the-job training
- Anything beyond short demonstration, up to and including 1 month (23.7%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 4: Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Child, Family, and School Social Workers is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Very high | Higher on contact with others than 95% of occupations compared | 95% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Very high | Higher on dealing with the public than 82% of occupations compared | 52% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Teamwork | Very high | Higher on teamwork than 92% of occupations compared | 77% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | High | Higher on freedom to make decisions than 77% of occupations compared | 48% of surveyed respondents chose “A lot of freedom” |
| Time pressure | Very high | Higher on time pressure than 83% of occupations compared | 58% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Conflict situations | Very high | Higher on conflict situations than 99% of occupations compared | 63% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Very high | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 98% of occupations compared | 58% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Consequence of error | High | Higher on consequence of error than 76% of occupations compared | 48% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: very high
- Conflict situations: very high
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: very high
- Consequence of error: high
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 0%
- Contact with others about half the time: 0%
- Contact with others most of the time: 4.83%
- Constant contact with others: 95.17%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2018
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 4.97%
- Fairly important: 0.23%
- Important: 8.92%
- Very important: 34.31%
- Extremely important: 51.57%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2018
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 0%
- Important: 0%
- Very important: 22.67%
- Extremely important: 77.33%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2018
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 0.23%
- Limited freedom: 3.76%
- Some freedom: 47.61%
- A lot of freedom: 48.4%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2018
Time pressure
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 4.83%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 14.65%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 22.89%
- Every day: 57.63%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2018
Conflict situations
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 0.23%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 9.26%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 27.61%
- Every day: 62.9%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2018
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 0.57%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 9.25%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 32.25%
- Every day: 57.93%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2018
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 18.81%
- Fairly serious: 8.25%
- Serious: 11%
- Very serious: 14.34%
- Extremely serious: 47.6%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2018
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O*NET-SOC 21-1021.00 · SOC 21-1021 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8