Adoption social worker is a job that involves helping people with adoptions. Adoption is the process of taking custody of a child who is not biologically related to you, and it can be done through adoption agencies or by private parties. It’s a complicated process, because there are so many factors involved in making sure that everyone is happy and healthy throughout the whole thing.

This job requires an adoption social worker to have a master’s degree in social work, which means they have a lot more knowledge than someone who doesn’t have this degree. This knowledge can help them help families find their perfect match for adoptive children, or help parents choose which children would be right for their family structure.

The average salary for an adoption social worker with a master’s degree is $71,000 per year, but there are some factors that affect this number; for example, if you work in California or New York City then you will probably earn more than if you worked outside these areas.

Adoption Social Worker Salary With Masters

Social workers help people work through challenging situations in their lives. They work in different environments including human service agencies, schools, hospitals and mental health clinics. Social workers will often have to do what’s best for the client while working a case, including:

• Helping people apply for food stamps.
• Finding shelter for those experiencing homelessness.
• Locate counseling for people affected by domestic violence.
• Counseling hospital patients who have chronic or acute illnesses.
• Helping students who have special challenges at school.
• Assisting social services in applying for grants.

Social workers are often the primary connections between people with a need and the government departments or local services that offer help. Social workers should consider themselves as advocates for their clients.

A typical job description for a social worker includes:

• Interviewing clients to assess their needs.
• Making judgment decisions about proper options and community resources.
• Obtaining and organizing the needed assistance.
• Helping clients set goals.
• Monitoring and documenting the client and situation over time.
• Being knowledgeable about and complying with federal, state and local rules and guidelines.
• Maintaining client confidentiality.
• Helping the client apply for grants or other funds.
• Compiling data into reports for analysis.

Many social workers are employed by nonprofit agencies. Some work primarily in an office, while others are out in the field. An example would be a social worker who makes home visits as a child or family services worker.

How Do I Become a Social Worker?

Earning a bachelor’s degree is the first step to becoming a social worker. Typically you will need a bachelor’s degree in any subject from an accredited school, but some students pursue a Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) degree, in which the study focus has been such topics as human behavior, cultural diversity and social welfare policy. A psychology or sociology degree is helpful for many employers, too.

A bachelor’s degree is enough for some entry-level social work jobs, such as behavioral management aides, case managers and court liaisons. For clinical work, however, the BLS notes that a master’s degree (MSW) is required, along with two years of post-master’s work in a supervised clinical situation; you must also have a state license.

Social workers must pass an examination from the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB)External link:open_in_new, which are given in five categories (though not all categories are available in every jurisdiction): associate, bachelor’s, master’s, advanced generalist and clinical. Some states require additional hours of supervised training in clinical practice before social workers earn their licenses.

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How Much Do Different Kinds of Social Workers Earn?

That $51,790 median salary number from the BLS is a general number for workers whom the BLS describes this way: “Social workers work in a variety of settings, including mental health clinics, schools, child welfare and human service agencies, hospitals, settlement houses, community development corporations and private practices. They generally work full time and may need to work evenings, weekends and holidays.”

The median is the middle; it means that half of the salaries paid are higher (as much as $85,820 in this case) and half are lower (as low as $33,020External link:open_in_new).

While it seems that social workers all do the same tasks, once you get out of the general and into specifics, it’s easy to understand why there’s a wide range of salaries for social workersExternal link:open_in_new. According to 2020 data from the BLS:

• Mental health and substance-abuse social workers had a median salary of $48,720.
• Child, family and school social workers had a median salary of $48,430.
• Health care social workers had a median salary of $57,630.
• All other social workers (some are in private practice) had a median salary of $64,210.

Clearly, the “all other” category includes some employers who bring the median up. These higher-paying jobs are primarily in government with these respective median salaries:

• Social workers in local government, excluding education and hospitals, earned a median salary of $57,660.
• Social workers in state government, excluding education and hospitals, earned a median salary of 49,860.

Here are the industries that employ the most social workers, along with their median salaries:

• Individual and family services: $43,820
• State government, excluding education and hospitals: $49,860
• Ambulatory health care services: $52,850
• Local government, excluding education and hospitals: $57,660
• Hospitals (state, local and private): $57,660

The BLS lists further breakdowns within health care, child/family/school, community/social service, mental health/substance abuse and human services workers:

Health care social workersExternal link:open_in_new, mean wage in 2020

• Skilled nursing care facilities: $53,930
• Individual and family services: $52,480
• Grantmaking and giving services: $55,260
• Outpatient care centers: $59,880.
• Home health care services: $60,850
• General medical and surgical hospitals: $64,910
• Management of scientific and technical consulting services: $66,130
• Professional, scientific and technical services: $66,760
• Religious organizations: $68,960
• Junior colleges: $70,810

Child, family and school social workersExternal link:open_in_new, mean wage in 2020:

• Residential care facilities: $43,610
• Community food/housing, emergency and other relief services: $41,740
• Individual and family services: $45,360
• Social advocacy organizations: $44,570
• State government, excluding schools and hospitals: $52,000
• Local government, excluding schools and hospitals: $58,350
• Elementary and secondary schools: $65,080

Community and social services workersExternal link:open_in_new, median wage in 2020:

• Social and human services assistants: $35,960
• Rehabilitation counselors: $37,530
• Substance abuse/mental health: $47,660
• Health educators and community health workers: $48,140
• Marriage and family therapists: $51,340
• Probation officers and corrections specialists: $55,690
• School and career counselors: $58,120

Mental health and substance abuse social workersExternal link:open_in_new, mean wage in 2020:

• Residential mental health and substance-abuse facilities: $41,300
• Individual and family services: $48,550
• Outpatient care centers: $54,380
• Psychiatric and substance-abuse hospitals: $57,840
• Local government, excluding schools and hospitals: $60,790
• Health practitioner offices: $65,040
• General medical and surgical hospitals: $65,530
• Specialty hospitals: $70,240
• Universities and professional schools: $59,670
• Insurance carriers: $71,460

Human services social workersExternal link:open_in_new, mean wage in 2020:

• Community food/housing, emergency and other relief services: $39,060
• Individual and family services: $47,380
• Other residential care facilities: $50,970
• State government, excluding schools and hospitals: $53,670
• Local government, excluding schools and hospitals: $61,270
• General medical and surgical hospitals: $64,900
• Insurance carriers: $67,800
• Other insurance-related industries: $72,450

What Is the Economic Outlook for Social Worker Jobs?

The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects growth (or reduction) in all occupations and classifies any growth (or reduction) in those occupations as slower than average, about average, faster than average and much faster than average when compared to all other occupations.

According to the BLS, the social work industry overall is expected to grow 12% from 2020 to 2030External link:open_in_new, which is classified as much faster than average. For social workers in the health care industry, the projected growth is 17%; for those in the mental health/substance-abuse arena, the projected growth is 18%.

Here are the projections for all social work occupations, including the number of new jobs and the average increase compared to all other occupations:

Occupation	New jobs 2020–2030	Percent increase
All social workers	89,200	12%
Child, family, school	42,200	3%
Health care	24,400	13%
Mental health/substance abuse	18,500	15%
Others	4,100	6%