How to Become a Social Worker

How to Become a Social Worker in the US

Do you have a knack of helping the needy and the less fortunate? Then, becoming a social worker, away from the trend, is your ideal career path. Realizing that human existence has a purpose of fulfilling and humanity is above luxury, things get sorted. If you have always been up to helping people solve their life-problems by providing them a basic living, social work is your cup of tea. So, make use of this guide to get at work in uplifting the status of below the line and fighting for their needs.

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Social work is a distinguished way to help individuals, groups, and communities in improvising their lives and to know and accept their self-worth. Social work also brings in social changes and solves problems between human relationships. The motto of social work is to follow human rights principles and social justice.

Who is a Social Worker?

A social worker is a person who cares for underprivileged and needy people. On becoming a social worker, they help those who need a little uplifting and betterment in their lives. Social workers leave all their inhibitions aside and concentrate on understanding people’s difficulties. Social workers try their best to find solutions that are life-changing to many people.

Roles and Duties of a Social Worker

Social workers are professional helpers who focus on developing nations and helping underprivileged. Social workers get global recognition and respect for their compassionate deeds towards humankind. Becoming a social worker is a way for those who have a strong will and desire to help others to find happiness. They help families who are deficit and help those who have personal issues with their families. Furthermore, they help those who have social problems, face unemployment. Also, they feed the poverty-stricken, help those who have a critical illness, and care for the disabled.
 
They are always around to serve and direct people who are in need and those who were stricken by misfortunes. A social worker also place orphans in homes of families who do not have children and help the homeless through government funding. Also, these workers help families who face severe domestic quarrels that lead to spousal or child abuse. Social workers do intensive researches to learn new methods to improvise their services, plan, and make policies.
 
There are various types of social workers who work in different settings and specializes in only helping a certain group. If these social workers have the appropriate state’s licenses, they are referred to as licensed clinical social workers.

Different Tpes of Social Workers

The Public Health and Medical Social Workers

They focus on helping people, communities, or families in coping up with acute or chronic illnesses. These workers work with a patient from the beginning of treatment to the time they get discharged. They counsel patients and chalk out plans on what care they would need after getting discharged. If required, these social workers also arrange home care and food for such patients.
 
On becoming a public health and medical health workers, they ought to work with kinds of medical professionals. In the course, they examine different kinds of patients, such as the elderly or ones who got an organ transplant. They help such patients with transportation, homes, and long term care.
 
These work in medical care settings, family service agencies, or state government agencies. Their prime task is to keep monitoring and coordinating the dispersal of the right service at the right time.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Social Workers

Becoming such a social worker demands to work with the mentally ill or drug addicts. They help these addicts with therapy or set them up in social rehabilitation. They teach them vocational skills so they could make a living post the curing of their addictions. These social workers do not restrict themselves to working with only addicts but also help their families.
 
If a person is mentally ill, they ensure that they receive all the facilities for treatment. Later, they get treatment and all supportive services before getting back into the community to be able to live normal lives again
 

The Family, Child, and School Social Workers

These social workers help families and children with psychological and social problems. Their main job is to help the abandoned, abused, or neglected children by their parents in finding suitable foster homes. They also help single parents find daycare centers for their children during their working hours. Such social workers work in service areas such as adoptions, domestic violence, the homeless, and foster care.
 
For the disabled student or has been facing family problems, they restore the connection between a parent, the child, and the school. They would help a child who is stricken with harsh circumstances to get educated and know their potential School social workers work with pregnant teenage girls by either rape or through innocent acts. Also, they look after children who’re drug addicts, an absence from the classes, or misbehaves.
 
There are other types of roles too that you can adopt on becoming a social worker. But, the above listed social workers are the core members amongst the un-listed social workers.

Eduucational Qualifications to Become a Social Worker 

Social work can be strenuous and challenging.  Also, there are a few moments where you will witness sad situations that will bring you a lot of pain and heartache. But, some moments will bring you joy and the feeling of fulfillment, too, especially when you see life-changing for many. On becoming a social worker, they look after the welfare of a million out there. Even social workers need the proper education to be able to deliver the compassion they have to help others through a proper channel and method. So, they need proper education and training to seek a position that’d help them pass a few laws.
 
In an entry-level social work job, the education needed is a four-year bachelor’s degree in social work (BSW), accredited by CSWE (Council of Social Work Education). Most of the other positions of social workers involve working in clinics and hospitals. For this, you’ll need a two years master’s degree in social work (MSW). A doctorate (DSW, Ph.D.) in social work is for those who want to get into research, post becoming a social worker.
 
After the completion of your education, you would need 3000 hours of work experience or two years of work experience. By getting this, you’d gain experience as a licensed social worker to sit for the licensure exam to be a social worker.

How Much Do Social Workers Earn?

A social worker only focuses on the betterment and uplifting of others. It’s never about them. Their only motive in life is to ensure the welfare of a needy and provide a fair chance in what this world has to offer.
 
Social workers look into every possible problem that needs their help, such as:-
  • domestic violence
  • addictions
  • fatal diseases
  • disabilities
  • teen pregnancies
  • rape cases
  • child abuse
  • physical and mental abuse on spouses
  • unemployment
  • homeless
 
Any social worker can earn a decent amount of salary. But, what remains unknown is what they do, how much they do, where they are performing their duties, and for how long they have been doing it. The starting salary for a newcomer would be $35,000 avg per year, which can go up to ($80,000 avg per year) after a few years of experience
 
Social work can be more interesting if you specialize in a certain area that would relate to you better. Also, it would be an added advantage if you knew two other languages apart from English.

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