Careers in Social Services – Jobs, Salaries, and Education Requirements

Community health work offers a pathway into social services for high school graduates. The position serves as an intermediate between health and social services providers and people with limited access to them. Successful community health workers build ties to their communities and function as advocates and links to counselors, registered nurses, and social workers.

The largest employers of community health workers comprise social assistance organizations; ambulatory healthcare services; local government agencies; hospitals; and religious, grantmaking, civic, and professional organizations.

Social and human service assistant positions offer an entry-level career in social services, assisting counselors, psychologists, or social workers. Clients may include children and families in need of resources, elderly people needing home care, people seeking help overcoming addictions, and military veterans reentering civilian life.

Nearly a third of social and human service assistants work in individual and family services. The remaining top employers span state and local government agencies, nursing and residential care facilities, and community and vocational rehabilitation services.

Focusing on behaviors that promote wellness, health education specialists develop events, materials and programs that teach health topics and how to find health services. Specialists also collect and analyze community health data and advocate for health resource improvement and policies.

Employers include healthcare facilities, non-profit organizations, and public health departments, along with middle and high schools. Professionals in this social services career may train medical staff in health instruction and developing workplace wellness programs.

Working with individuals, couples, families, and groups, mental health counselors help clients struggling with anxiety, depression, grief, and stress. They also address emotional health issues and relationship difficulties. Counselors provide evaluation, assessment, and treatment services and recommend additional resources and services.

Mental health counselors may specialize in a client population, such as children, families, or older adults. Workplaces include outpatient mental health centers, individual and family service organizations, offices of other health practitioners, hospitals, residential mental health facilities, and correctional facilities.

Probation officers and correctional treatment specialists assist with the rehabilitation of clients in custody or on parole. Typical duties include evaluating inmates, working with parole officers to develop release and parole plans, and aiding inmates’ reentry into society with housing assistance and job training and placement. Parole officers oversee people on parole rather than in prison. They make frequent home visits to track clients’ rehabilitation progress.

These specialists may work with adults or juveniles, and the majority are state and local government employees.

Social and community service managers coordinate and oversee public wellness services organizations, such as individual and family services, nursing and residential care facilities, and local government agencies. They hire, train, and supervise staff, work with stakeholders to identify needed services, analyze data to measure program success, and secure funding.

Some managers focus on a demographic, such as children, unhoused people, older adults, or veterans. Others may specialize in substance use, mental health, or food insecurity.

Master’s degree-holders can choose social service careers as addictions or substance use counselors. These professionals conduct individual and group counseling sessions and may collaborate with physicians, psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers in clinics, family services, hospitals, and residential facilities.

Counselors help people develop skills and behaviors that facilitate recovery from addictive behaviors, such as alcohol and drug use. They also advise family members on how to support their clients’ recovery and provide outreach to help people identify and avoid addictions.

Social workers practice generalist, specialty, or clinical social work to help clients prevent or cope with problems in their everyday lives. They may focus on assisting children and families, K-12 students, people dealing with illness and disease, or those struggling with mental health or substance use issues. Clinical social workers can offer psychotherapeutic services to help clients make behavioral changes or manage difficult situations.

Social workers often collaborate with other social services and healthcare professionals. Top employers include individual and family services, government agencies, and schools.

Marriage and family therapists use therapeutic methods and techniques to help people navigate relationship issues. They diagnose and treat behavioral, cognitive, and emotional disorders, create treatment plans, and provide referrals to specialists and services.

More than half of marriage and family therapists work in individual and family services and offices of other health practitioners. Other top workplaces include outpatient care centers, private practice, and state government.

Employed at public and private K-12 schools, colleges and universities, and healthcare and social assistance facilities, school and career counselors or advisors guide students, graduates, and job seekers. School counselors help students with academic and social skill-building and exploring career paths. College advisors assist students with selecting a major, gaining financial aid, and preparing for the job market. Career counselors advise people already in the workforce on resolving workplace issues, achieving goals, and advancing their careers.

Rehabilitation counselors help clients live independently and maintain employment, including people experiencing developmental, emotional, mental, and physical challenges. Rehabilitation professionals offer counseling, arrange outside services, advise employers about clients’ abilities and needs, and advocate for the rights of people with disabilities. They also consult with doctors, psychologists, and therapists to develop treatment plans.

More than 30% of these counselors work in community and vocational rehabilitation services. Other employers include nursing and residential care facilities and individual and family services.

Psychologists study behaviors and brain functions, identify issues and diagnose disorders, and administer tests for understanding and predicting behavior. Nearly a third of psychologists work in private practice, with the remainder employed in K-12 schools, ambulatory healthcare services, government agencies, and hospitals.

Major specialty areas include clinical and counseling psychology, school psychology, industrial-organizational psychology, forensic psychology, and rehabilitation psychology. Psychologists may focus their practice on children, families, couples, or corporate executives and employees. Other paths lead to post-secondary teaching and research.