Adoption Social Worker Job Description

Adoption social workers evaluate homes and families for adoptive or foster children.

People get into the field of social work because of a desire to improve the lives of others. Adoption social workers are concerned for the welfare of children and families and work to help parents and children build healthy family units, even if they are not related by blood. Adoption social workers work for nonprofit organizations, for private adoption agencies, and for city, county or state-run agencies or programs.

Clerical Work and Travel

Part of an adoption social worker's job is creating and maintaining files on each of her cases; paperwork is a huge part of social work, and could take up at least as much time in the day as home visits. Adoption workers are required to travel to the home of potential adoptive and foster families and to visit children and families who have recently been placed together. State and county agencies and nonprofits will most likely only provide services to clients in a certain geographic range, but adoption social workers for private agencies may occasionally have to travel far from home.

Home Studies

Home studies are an integral part of an adoption social worker's job. Home studies involve visiting with potential adoptive or foster parents in order to assess the stability of their home and lifestyle and how a new child would fit into both.

Monitoring Placements

Adoption social workers provide post-placement supervision of adopted children and children placed in foster care. This supervision involves visiting with families to see how they are settling in and if they are having any serious problems adjusting to their new life as a family. It is the responsibility of the placement social worker to follow up with the new family for a certain period of time---especially if the child has moved to a new location to be placed---until a new social worker can be matched with the family.

Counseling

Accepting a new child into the home requires considerable adjustments on the part of the adoptive/foster family and the child. It can be extremely difficult for the child to adjust to new parents, and for parents to understand and relate to the experiences of the child. Children whose mothers consumed drugs while pregnant can experience significant physical and mental health issues, which can be trying for new families to deal with. Adoption social workers are there to provide counseling to members of these families and to help new parents and children adjust. They may put them in touch with local support groups or provide additional information.

Stress

The variety of roles that adoption social workers have, the situations they regularly encounter and the range of responsibilities they have can lead to significant emotional stress.

References

• Adoption: Caseworker
• City Town Info: Career Story: Foster Care And Adoption Social Worker
• The Guardian: A working life: The adoption social worker

Resources

• Bureau of Labor Statistics: Social Workers