I am interested in becoming a Child/Family Welfare Social Worker.

Hi there Ari!

I'm so glad your question showed up in my email just now. I actually had to add "Social Work" to my fields of interest here on Career Village since it's not obvious simply from my current activities.

However, later in life, I discovered the joy of helping others through positions in Social Work. While rare, I was lucky enough to find two organizations that hired me based on my life experiences, and weren't strictly basing hiring decisions on someone necessarily having a degree in the field. (If this were to happen for anyone, besides being rare, it would really require years of working in fields related to the "additional" job requirements, as you'll see I what I explain.)

While my degree is in Music Merchandising, and couldn't seem further from Social Work, I had roughly 20 years experience in business... sales; manufacturing; management; boards of directors; and, teaching online courses with a university.

Beginning "gently" in Social Work, in my late 30's, I first became a Case Manager Assistant. This was a stepping stone to the position I absolutely loved. In a few years, I moved to another non-profit agency when they were seeking to start a "Back to Work" program for clients on SSI or SSDI, (Social Security Income) to get off of disability and back into the workforce into positions that their disabilities would allow them to undertake.

Here's where my advice to you for now comes in: VOLUNTEER!

VOLUNTEER positions will ALWAYS be impressive points on any resume. The thing is... relatively few candidates ever list them. Or, more crucially, they don't have any volounteer experiences to list!

Just about any non-profit agency desperately needs volunteers. From helping with clerical work in their offices, to being a "Buddy," visiting clients and helping with minor things they may not be able to do themselves. Doing a load of laundry; vacuuming a floor... Or, simply spending an hour a week with them, getting to know them... becoming that "buddy" they may desperately need.

Buddy Programs train you. They'll never simply assign you a client and set you out on your own. There are "do's" and "don't's"... HIPPA laws to learn, understand and follow as if someone's life depends on it. In many cases, it does.

But that's my "other" advice you asked for... Volunteer.

The almost magical additional benefit is that you'll probably find yourself feeling as if you're getting more out of it than you're giving your client. It's almost selfish how wonderfully fantastic it feels to help others strictly for wanting to help someone, when financial gain isn't even a factor.

In fact, this feeling WILL carry over even when you have your MSW and get hired as a Case Manager or other such Social Worker... that is IF you're doing it right! No Case Manager or Social Worker gets rich doing their job. If you love your work for that love of helping, and see the money as simply the way you take care of your own health, welfare and financial responsibilities, your true compensation will be the joy of doing what you do for others.

Also, be warned... it's a field that can be so subject to burnout. Take care of yourself and pace. Don't go above and beyond, as tempting as it will be.

The greatest advice a supervisor ever gave me will apply whether as a volunteer or a degree'd, employed Social Worker. And, it applies not just to your career, but to EVERY aspect of your life. It is...

"Rule of thumb: Never work harder than your client is willing to work. Meet them halfway, or simply give them that nudge when they need it. But never work MORE than they will... (provividing, of course, and considering their physical and mental capabilities or legitimate limitations.")

Now go find someplace to volunteer! And start
compiling and listing those volunteer
positions on it, so you don't forget and
leave out a single one of them!

Best of luck!
Colin

Hi Ari!

Child welfare social work is a field of social work that involves making sure children’s needs are taken care of. First and foremost, professionals in this field keep the best interests of all children in mind. They work hard to protect them from deplorable situations and make sure that their needs are met.

Working as a child welfare social worker can be both rewarding and very heart wrenching at times. In most cases, for example, you will be assisting children and families in need of assistance and support. On the other hand, however, you will inevitably run across at least a handful of heartbreaking cases in your career. These are the cases in which you may have to remove children from their homes, or worse yet, cases in which you witness children tolerating deplorable and even dangerous living situations. you will also find yourself working with children with special needs and behavioral problems as well.

One of the first duties of a child welfare social worker is to identify children or families that may be in need of their services. This might happen when the social worker receives a report of possible problems from such sources as mandated child abuse reporters, teachers, or simply anonymous citizens. In some cases, a child welfare may be able to spot a possible child in need, particularly if she works in a school or other facility that caters to children.

Partnership Projects

• Some colleges require students with an interest in the child welfare branch of social work to enroll in a partnership between the school and the local or state child welfare agency. For example, M.S.W. students at the University of Wisconsin can apply to the Child Welfare Education and Advancement Program. This type of program requires students to take the school's required social work curriculum and participate in field placement courses in local child welfare agency offices. These programs also typically include a tuition stipend or payment that the social services partner agency provides. Students may also have an additional requirement to work for the partnering child welfare agency for a specified period of time after graduation.

College Certificates

• Some colleges offer a master's-level certificate in child welfare social work. This type of degree requires a general social work course load for the M.S.W., as well as specific child welfare-focused classes for the certificate portion. For example, the University of Pittsburgh's Children, Youth and Families certificate program requires students to take general social work classes as well as a course in child and family policy and children and families at risk. Additionally, students must take electives in areas relating to working with children and families, such as family-based interventions, permanency, child maltreatment and family group decision making.

Read more in: http://careersinpsychology.org/become-a-child-welfare-social-worker/
http://classroom.synonym.com/college-requirements-child-welfare-social-worker-8443.html

In the link http://www.thebestschools.org/blog/2012/04/16/25-master-social-work-degree-programs/
you cand find the best schools in social work programs.

Regards.