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Six Rewarding Careers in Social Services

By Clare Kaufman
Learning & Life Columnist

Social services professionals provide a lifeline to people facing serious personal challenges. They help clients turn their lives around through healthier habits, stronger relationships, and essential life skills.

Compassion, communication skills, and a degree in counseling or human services can get you started in the rewarding field of social services. Social services workers may lend a hand at a food bank, a halfway house, psychiatric or rehabilitation clinic, or community recreation program. Here's a look at some of the careers available in social services:

• Social Worker. Develop a plan to meet a client's social and emotional goals, using available community resources.
• Program Director. Lead a community social services organization, implementing programs and managing staff.
• Case Manager. Help clients stay focused by developing a service plan, providing regular assessments, and advocating for client resources.
• Counselor. Provide counseling on specific issues such as career development, substance abuse, life skills, and family interaction.
• Psychologist. Evaluate and support clients' mental health, developing treatment plans and providing crisis intervention assistance.
• Development Director. Develop fundraising programs and strategies for community groups.

Learning to Serve

An associate's degree in social work or human services is the minimum qualification for social service assistant careers. Counseling, case management, and administrative roles require a bachelor's or master's degree. Most social services professionals have a degree in human services, social work, psychology, counseling, or rehabilitation. Human services programs offer applied training in conducting patient interviews, crisis intervention, case management, referral procedures, and more.

A Bright Future

The outlook for social and human services careers is "excellent," reports the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Opportunities should be strongest in private agencies, especially those serving the growing elderly population. Social services assistants earned a median salary of $24,270 in 2004. Social workers with a bachelor's degree averaged significantly more, at $34,820.

Few professions offer such a direct route to helping others as social services. Social workers, counselors, and social services administrators combine forces to strengthen communities and help individuals make the most of their lives.

Sources

• Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Social and Human Service Assistants"
• Human Services Career Network

About the Author
Clare Kaufman is a freelance writer specializing in education and career advice. She has a graduate degree in English.

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