Duties

• The child welfare case manager will help with duties, such as adoptions, foster home placement and protection of neglected and abused children. They assist as welfare social workers, in child protective services, with children's healthcare agencies and in family services. Most child welfare workers are found in government agencies, non-profit organizations and in some private institutions.
  
  

Skills Required

• Because most welfare workers carry large caseloads of clients, time-management and the ability to make decisions on one's own are valuable skills. They need to conduct interviews, engage in planning, negotiating and collaborating with others. General communication skills are critical for working with children, parents and other clients, co-workers and agencies. Additionally, it's important that the individual have excellent writing skills for writing reports.
  
  

Education

• Generally a bachelor of arts degree in social work is the required undergraduate training sought for welfare workers; however, many come from related fields of psychology and sociology. A simple bachelor's will suffice in this field, but more and more welfare workers are coming from competitive positions with graduate degrees in related fields. Degrees in social work and related fields can be obtained in conventional colleges, universities and accredited distance learning institutions.
  
  

Informal and Formal Systems

• Case managers may be involved with various community organizations to help fulfill the needs of those they serve. The more-formal systems may include organizations, such as churches, schools, mental health groups, health care agencies and child welfare groups. The informal systems are more often run by volunteers. The informal services work primarily in areas not filled by the formal systems, such as tutors, mentors and transportation.