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Boston Career Explorer

Community and Social Service

Child, Family, and School Social Workers

Provide social services and assistance to improve the social and psychological functioning of children and their families and to maximize the family well-being and the academic functioning of children. May assist parents, arrange adoptions, and find foster homes for abandoned or abused children. In schools, they address such problems as teenage pregnancy, misbehavior, and truancy. May also advise teachers.

Also called: Adoption Social Worker, Case Manager, Case Worker, Child Protective Services Social Worker (CPS Social Worker), Family Protection Specialist, Family Resource Coordinator

Median pay in Greater Boston
$77,420
$37.22/hr
Jobs in Greater Boston
7,070
Massachusetts 2024–2034
+4.2%
930 openings a year
Typical U.S. entry requirement
Bachelor's degree

Greater Boston: Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area, May 2025. Growth and openings: Massachusetts statewide projection.

Pay range in Greater Boston

Yearly pay in Greater Boston by percentile
10th25thMedian75th90th
$49,970$62,150$77,420$97,860$108,810

10% of workers earn less than the first figure and 10% earn more than the last.

What you’d do

  • Maintain case history records and prepare reports.
  • Interview clients individually, in families, or in groups, assessing their situations, capabilities, and problems to determine what services are required to meet their needs.
  • Serve as liaisons between students, homes, schools, family services, child guidance clinics, courts, protective services, doctors, and other contacts to help children who face problems, such as disabilities, abuse, or poverty.
  • Develop and review service plans in consultation with clients and perform follow-ups assessing the quantity and quality of services provided.
  • Address legal issues, such as child abuse and discipline, assisting with hearings and providing testimony to inform custody arrangements.
  • Counsel parents with child rearing problems, interviewing the child and family to determine whether further action is required.

AI and this job

AI exposure: how much of this job’s work AI tools can do or help with, based on national research. It is not a forecast of job loss.

Moderate exposure62 of 100

The index averages three national research measures, each shown as a percentile of all jobs:

  • AIOE 65
  • Language-model AIOE 73
  • GPTs-are-GPTs 49

Observed AI use today: Little or none (Anthropic Economic Index)

This job has moderate AI exposure, so AI tools may help with some of the paperwork, such as case records and reports. Little AI use has been observed so far. Interviewing families, working with schools and courts, and testifying at hearings still rely on people.

Likely to change

  • Drafting case history records and reports
  • Organizing service plans and follow-up notes

Still relies on people

  • Interviewing children and families in person
  • Connecting families, schools, and courts

Written with AI from the data on this page. Check with a career coach before making a decision.

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Training near Boston

College and school programs in the Boston metro area that lead to this job, with 2023-24 completions (IPEDS).

11 programs near Boston (plus 19 graduate)

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