What sort of education do you need to become a Child (welfare) Case Worker?

Don’t quote me on this, cuz I’m not 100%, but I BELIEVE you need at least a 4 year degree in some kind of sociology, psychology, or similar field. I have a friend who is getting into this work and she started with an English degree, and did work as a school counselor. She’s getting her masters in psychology or something to that effect and becoming a case worker full time.

BA or BS in sociology, psychology or a related degree. Then you’d need a Master of Social Work degree. This is only in the US. I wouldn’t know in other countries, but I imagine it’s something similar.

I have an honors BA (psych) and a Bachelor of Ed.

At the very least a Bachelor’s in some kind of social science to start. A Master’s in Social Work or some kind of counseling are beneficial, you can get those without having to have a BA or BS in a social science field.

Look at the local municipality that is hiring this type of worker and see what the Human Resources Department lists as the requirements. There’s probably a civil service test to be taken, and you can read the requirements there, and sign up for the test.

Thanks, @all.

@Jude : I wouldn’t recommend going through the Psychology route, because if you go and get your BSW through Social Work (this is what I’m doing), then you’ll be able to work faster. You can’t do much with a Bachelors in Psychology. I’m getting my LCS/W which will enable me to work faster.

Hopefully I got that all right…

In the municipality that I work for (a county in NY, and I took this test and did this for over 8 years) it did not matter what your Bachelor’s was in, as long as you had one. You could major in anything, as long as you had the degree.

@aprilsimnel has it. I looked into this when I was in college. As a sociology major I wanted to see what jobs sociologists had. Social worker was a HUGE one and a lot of other soc majors I talked to were interested in pursuing a job in that field. I think you can find jobs as a case worker with a BA in a social science, but it is strongly encouraged (and preferred) that you have either a MA in your field or in social work. Also, as with most jobs, they like it if you have some kind of experience – internships, previous employment, so forth.