Family Social Workers

A Day in the Life

As a child, family and school social worker, you love helping individuals of all ages and particularly enjoy working with kids. You have an office at your county's social services department, but you spend most of your time in the field working with kids at local schools. If you work in a small school district, you'll likely talk with kids in all grades. If you work in a large school district, you'll have the option to work with students in a certain age group. You enjoy working with teenagers, so you spend most of your time at the local high school.

Before you start working with kids, you check in with the school's counseling office. The head counselor lets you know that a student was referred to the office this morning because she's struggling in class. The counselor suspects that the student is abusing drugs and asks you to talk to her. You quickly review the student's cumulative file and introduce yourself to her. You talk to her in your on-site office and determine that it's a good idea to get in touch with her parents. You place a call to her parents and arrange to visit them at home. You'll help this student work through her problems with her family so that she can have a successful future.

After you've wrapped up with the student, you head out to a freshman health class to give a presentation about conflict management. You talk to students about how to manage anger and how to work out their problems with others. As part of the presentation, you lead students through a role playing activity. You're pleased with how well the students understood your presentation and let them know that they did a great job. You let students know that you are always available to talk with them and their families and tell them that they can get in touch with you through the counseling office.

You grab a quick lunch and then head back to your on-campus office. During the afternoon, you meet with several students who have been struggling academically. One of the students has a learning disability and you are helping him develop skills to cope with his disability. His parents also come to your session so that they can support their son and learn skills to help him. You set an appointment for the whole family to visit you again in a few weeks.

You grab a quick lunch and then head back to your on-campus office. During the afternoon, you meet with several students who have been struggling academically. One of the students has a learning disability and you are helping him develop skills to cope with his disability. His parents also come to your session so that they can support their son and learn skills to help him. You set an appointment for the whole family to visit you again in a few weeks.

Depending on where you work, you may be known by several different titles. You might be called a school social worker or a youth services specialist. If you work primarily with troubled families, you might be a child and family services social worker or a family protection specialist.