What does a Child, Family, and School Social Worker do?

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. Day to day that includes work like maintain case history records and prepare reports and Interview clients individually, in families, or in groups, assessing their situations, capabilities, and problems to determine what services are required to meet their needs.

What skills should a Child, Family, and School Social Worker put on a resume?

O*NET rates Active Listening, Speaking, Critical Thinking, Social Perceptiveness, and Judgment and Decision Making among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.

What software should a Child, Family, and School Social Worker list?

Software recorded for this occupation includes EasyCBM, Microsoft Access, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office software, and Microsoft Outlook. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.

What other job titles cover Child, Family, and School Social Worker work?

O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation, including Case Manager, Family Protection Specialist, Family Service Worker, and School Social Worker. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

What qualifications does a Child, Family, and School Social Worker need?

In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 69% reported their level of education as "Bachelor's Degree". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

Will this resume pass an ATS for a Child, Family, and School Social Worker role?

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Child, Family, and School Social Worker resume example

A resume for a Child, Family, and School Social Worker needs to show the work itself: 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. Day to day that means work like this: maintain case history records and prepare reports; interview clients individually, in families, or in groups, assessing their situations, capabilities, and problems to determine what services are required to meet their needs. Recruiters and applicant tracking systems both read for the tasks and tools this role actually involves, so the strongest resume names them in your own experience rather than describing the job in the abstract. Below are the tasks O*NET records for this occupation, the software and tools it uses, the titles it is advertised under, and the skills worth naming if they are genuinely yours.

Also advertised as

The same job is posted under many titles. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

Case Manager
Family Protection Specialist
Family Service Worker
School Social Worker
Adoption Social Worker
Case Worker
Child Protective Services Social Worker
CPS Social Worker
Family Resource Coordinator
Foster Care Social Worker
Youth Services Specialist
C-CYFSW
Adolescent Counselor
Adoption Agent
Adoption Coordinator
Adoption Counselor
Adoption Specialist
Adoption Worker

O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation in total.

What this work actually involves

Tasks recorded for this occupation, in O*NET's words. If your experience covers one of these, it belongs on your resume in your own words.

Maintain case history records and prepare reports.
Interview clients individually, in families, or in groups, assessing their situations, capabilities, and problems to determine what services are required to meet their needs.
Serve as liaisons between students, homes, schools, family services, child guidance clinics, courts, protective services, doctors, and other contacts to help children who face problems, such as disabilities, abuse, or poverty.
Develop and review service plans in consultation with clients and perform follow-ups assessing the quantity and quality of services provided.
Address legal issues, such as child abuse and discipline, assisting with hearings and providing testimony to inform custody arrangements.
Counsel parents with child rearing problems, interviewing the child and family to determine whether further action is required.
Consult with parents, teachers, and other school personnel to determine causes of problems, such as truancy and misbehavior, and to implement solutions.
Arrange for medical, psychiatric, and other tests that may disclose causes of difficulties and indicate remedial measures.
Refer clients to community resources for services, such as job placement, debt counseling, legal aid, housing, medical treatment, or financial assistance, and provide concrete information, such as where to go and how to apply.
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.
Provide, find, or arrange for support services, such as child care, homemaker service, prenatal care, substance abuse treatment, job training, counseling, or parenting classes to prevent more serious problems from developing.
Collect supplementary information needed to assist client, such as employment records, medical records, or school reports.

21 tasks are recorded in total; these are the most central.

Example bullets for this role

Built from this occupation's own tasks. The brackets stay empty on purpose: we will not invent a number for you, and a fabricated metric is the fastest way to lose an interview you had already won.

Maintain case history records and prepare reports, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Interview clients individually, in families, or in groups, assessing their situations, capabilities, and problems to determine what services are required to meet their needs, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Serve as liaisons between students, homes, schools, family services, child guidance clinics, courts, protective services, doctors, and other contacts to help children who face problems, such as disabilities, abuse, or poverty, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Develop and review service plans in consultation with clients and perform follow-ups assessing the quantity and quality of services provided, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].

Software used in this role

Recorded for this occupation by O*NET. An applicant tracking system matches the exact product name, so write the tool the way the posting writes it.

EasyCBM
Microsoft Access
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Office software
Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft PowerPoint
Microsoft Word
Patient electronic medical record EMR software
Student information systems SIS software
Web browser software

Tools and equipment

The physical equipment this occupation is recorded as using. Worth naming when a posting asks for it by name.

Computer laser printers
Desktop computers
Laptop computers
Laser facsimile machines
Multi-line telephone systems
Personal computers
Photocopying equipment

What this job rates as most important

O*NET rates every skill for importance to this occupation. These are the highest rated, in order.

01Active Listening
02Speaking
03Critical Thinking
04Social Perceptiveness
05Judgment and Decision Making
06Reading Comprehension
07Service Orientation
08Complex Problem Solving
09Monitoring
10Coordination

Knowledge areas

The subject knowledge this occupation draws on, rated by importance.

Customer and Personal Service
Psychology
Therapy and Counseling
English Language
Administrative
Sociology and Anthropology
Education and Training
Law and Government

What qualifications people in this job have

From O*NET's survey of people doing this work. This is what postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

69%Bachelor's Degree
26%Master's Degree
6%Associate's Degree

What level this role is pitched at

O*NET places this occupation in “Considerable Preparation Needed”. Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.

Common questions

What does a Child, Family, and School Social Worker do?: 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. Day to day that includes work like maintain case history records and prepare reports and Interview clients individually, in families, or in groups, assessing their situations, capabilities, and problems to determine what services are required to meet their needs.
What skills should a Child, Family, and School Social Worker put on a resume?: O*NET rates Active Listening, Speaking, Critical Thinking, Social Perceptiveness, and Judgment and Decision Making among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.
What software should a Child, Family, and School Social Worker list?: Software recorded for this occupation includes EasyCBM, Microsoft Access, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office software, and Microsoft Outlook. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.
What other job titles cover Child, Family, and School Social Worker work?: O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation, including Case Manager, Family Protection Specialist, Family Service Worker, and School Social Worker. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a Child, Family, and School Social Worker need?: In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 69% reported their level of education as "Bachelor's Degree". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.
Will this resume pass an ATS for a Child, Family, and School Social Worker role?: No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Related roles

Occupations O*NET records as closest to this one, and worth looking at if this search is not moving.

What this page cannot tell you

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer’s ATS is configured, including ours.
This page makes no claim about pay, demand or how many people hold this job. O*NET does not publish that here and we will not estimate it.
Keyword overlap is one input to a resume’s score, not a verdict on you. A resume that names skills you do not have is worse than one that names fewer.

If this is the job you are aiming at, the guide to tailoring a resume covers how to aim one posting properly, and building and exporting a resume here is free.

Occupation data from the O*NET 29.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. SpartanResume is not endorsed by USDOL/ETA.