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Social Work Career Fields
- Case Manager: Social work case managers work in many settings, from aging to immigrant and refugee support services across all sectors. Case managers plan and monitor a variety of services on behalf of clients, parallel with ongoing advocacy.
- Child Welfare Social Worker: Social workers focusing on child welfare ensure children’s well-being and permanency and work to strengthen families. Often working with child welfare agencies, social workers in this field advocate for children on economic and social levels, incorporating relationships with teachers, law enforcement, medical professionals and others to keep children safe.
- Clinical Social workers, or sometimes referred to as licensed clinical social workers (LCSW) focus on assessments, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of mental illnesses and emotional and behavioral issues.
- Community Social workers work at micro, mezzo and macro levels in the community. Community social workers are sometimes employed at a state or local government level, and other times are contracted by nonprofits or grassroots organizations.
- Corrections Social Worker: Social workers in corrections work to reduce recidivism by holding programs and classes for inmates in a rehabilitation setting or addressing their mental health and behavioral concerns.
- Disability Social Worker: Social workers who focus on disabilities know the legal rights of clients with disabilities and help families, clients and communities find services that enable independence.
- Forensic Social Worker: Social workers in forensic settings are familiar with law and legal systems, acting as the mediator and educator between clients and justice systems, lawmakers and members of the public.
- Geriatric Social Worker: Gerontological social workers understand the issues older clients experience as they age. They are knowledgeable about legislation and social programs that impact the older adult population so they can advocate for care, address mental health issues and perform case management.
- Medical Social Worker: Providing support to patients and their families, medical social workers assist with the care of those in medical settings. Medical social workers may provide psychosocial assessments, education, crisis intervention, and help patients and their families understand treatment and available resources.
- Mental Health Social Worker: Spending their time assessing, diagnosing, treating and preventing mental, behavioral and emotional issues, mental health social workers play a critical role in improving overall well-being and mental health in our society.
- International Social Worker: Bringing their humanitarian work overseas, international social workers are familiar with many cultures, languages and domestic social work approaches.
- Military Social Worker: Working with active-duty and reserve military and veterans and their families, military social workers understand the military culture and provide services to address mental or behavioral issues. They also provide support during deployments.
- Psychiatric Social Worker: These social workers support patients who suffer from depression, severe anxiety, psychotic or substance-related disorders and other conditions.
- Public Health Social Worker: Bridging the gap between public health and social work, these professionals use their clinical and community knowledge to support public health.
- School Social Worker: A school social worker advocates on behalf of students. They work with students, parents and teachers to set students up for success in the classroom and at home.
- Substance Abuse Social Worker These social workers are trained to help people experiencing problems with their mental health and addiction. Common modalities they use include individual and group therapy and crisis intervention.
- Trauma Social Worker: Some social workers choose to focus on trauma-informed practice, working with all types of populations by intervening at the micro and mezzo level.
