One of the best things about a career in social work is that there are so many rewarding paths to explore. And with a Master of Social Work (MSW), your horizons can be that much broader and brighter. In fact, the MSW is increasingly becoming the gold standard because of the advanced education graduate students receive.
For instance, the National Association of Social Workers (NASW), the biggest social work organization in the country, says that 90% of its members have an MSW. In Illinois, many high-level jobs for social workers require an MSW, especially for jobs that include clinical duties. Fortunately, their salaries often reflect their complex responsibilities.
As you map out your own career and establish your own goals, you’ll be faced with one important question — is an MSW right for me? To help you answer that for yourself, here are a few career options for social workers with MSWs, employers in Illinois to consider, and insights into the career preparation process.
Child Welfare Social Worker
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Illinois employs almost 16,000 child, family, and school social workers making them the most numerous type of social worker in the state. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for more.
In 2023 alone, the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services worked on over 73,000 cases. Many didn’t involve just one child, but whole families. With an MSW, you can give these people the sometimes life-saving but always complex care they deserve.
Child welfare social workers typically:
- Assess children, their home life, and anything else that affects their wellbeing.
- Investigate suspected abuse and neglect.
- Connect families with services like financial aid, childcare, and housing.
- Provide counseling and behavioral intervention to children and their families.
- Remove children from dangerous living situations when necessary and find suitable permanent or temporary arrangements.
- Advocate for children in court.
- Coordinate with everyone in a child or family’s support network including teachers, doctors, and other family givers.
- Offer parenting classes.
- Perform routine follow-up evaluations.
Though jobs for social workers in child welfare are primarily about protecting children, they’re not solely focused on separating them from their parents or doling out punishment. Their number one goal is to strengthen families by any means necessary.
Career Preparation
Because child welfare is one of the biggest specialties in social work, many MSW programs offer degree tracks specifically for future child welfare professionals. You can enter this field in Illinois after becoming a Licensed Social Worker (LSW), but if you would like to perform mental health assessments and provide behavioral interventions, you’ll likely need to earn a clinical license.
Potential Employers
With local offices across the state, the IDCFS is one of Illinois’ biggest child welfare social worker employers. However, other career opportunities can be found through charity organizations, adoption agencies, nonprofits, and independent foster care agencies. In many cases, these organizations work closely together.
School Social Worker
When people think of school social workers, they often imagine someone similar to a counselor. But while supporting students’ mental health is a big part of being a school social worker, that’s not all they do.
Some of the typical duties of a school social worker include:
- Connecting parents to resources like childcare and family counseling.
- Helping teachers develop and implement individual education plans.
- Training staff about mental health, abuse, and other difficult topics. They may also organize in-service days and certification courses.
- Acting as a liaison between the school and the community, local social service agencies, and other stakeholders.
- Informing district-wide policies and advocating for equitable educational services.
- Intervening in dangerous situations at school and at home.
With such wide-reaching responsibilities, the role of school social worker is one of the most dynamic jobs for social workers.
Career Preparation
To become a school social worker in Illinois, you’ll need to earn a Professional Educator License (PEL) with a school social work endorsement through the Illinois State Board of Education (out-of-state applicants can also apply). This requires earning an MSW, passing a state-administered exam, and completing a 600-hour internship in a school setting. Many MSW programs in Illinois have programs dedicated to helping students complete these steps.
Potential Employers
In the public school system, school social workers are often employed by school districts instead of individual schools. Illinois is home to over 800 school districts. Each district is supported by one of the state’s 45 Regional Offices of Education (ROE). ROEs often hire school social workers, as well.
However, these aren’t the only places to find jobs for social workers. Individual private schools also hire school social workers. There are also a number of staffing agencies for school behavioral health professionals that connect candidates to partner schools.
Forensic Social Worker
From victims of violent crimes to the incarcerated, everyone involved in the criminal justice system has rights. Forensic social workers are responsible for protecting them.
The exact job duties for a forensic social worker vary greatly between agency, but some of the more common ones are:
- Connecting people to substance abuse and mental health services. Some social workers can provide this support themselves.
- Ensuring the court acts in the best interest of victims. Many become court-appointed advocates — especially for young people.
- Running support groups for victims, prisoners, and other at-risk groups.
- Counseling justice-involved youth and their families.
- Helping probation officers monitor probationers and helping probationers complete the program successfully.
- Finding emergency housing for victims of domestic violence and other vulnerable people.
- Performing crisis intervention in situations that involve law enforcement officers.
The criminal justice system has room for social workers of all kinds, but it particularly needs the talents of Licensed Clinical Social Workers (LCSWs) who can diagnose and treat mental health conditions.
Career Preparation
Like other specialities, becoming a forensic social worker in Illinois requires earning a degree in social work and a state-issued social work license. Many MSW programs in Illinois offer degree specializations in forensic social work.
Depending on the population you want to serve, you may also want to seek certifications in mental health counseling, addictions counseling, crisis intervention, and trauma-informed care.
Potential Employers
Despite being one of the most specialized areas of social work, forensic jobs for social workers can be found in an impressive number of organizations. Those interested in victim advocacy may want to investigate roles at law firms, county and state courts, and nonprofits dedicated to serving specific populations.
If you’re interested in serving offenders and people at-risk for law enforcement contact, you can find jobs for social workers at probation offices, city and county jails, or one of Illinois’ 28 state prisons. The Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice also employs social workers for a wide variety of roles.
But one of the most exciting opportunities for forensic social workers in Illinois is relatively new.
In 2022, Governor Pritzker signed the Co-Responders Pilot Program into law. Through this groundbreaking legislation, police officers can respond to calls with social workers to determine if a person is experiencing a mental health crisis and connect them to agencies that can help in lieu of putting them behind bars. The law also includes a budget for police departments across the state to hire police social workers.
Healthcare Social Worker
Recently, Illinois has made healthcare access a top priority. In 2023, legislators passed a law that gives state agencies the power to review and reject health insurance price hikes. But despite this progress, hundreds of thousands of Illinois residents remain un- and under-insured. The healthcare social workers and advocates who helped pass this law continue to push for a more equitable system.
However, advocacy is only one part of a healthcare social worker’s job. Every day, they also:
- Coordinate between doctors, nurses, and other professionals when patients need ongoing care.
- Counsel patients, their caregivers, and their families when faced with life-changing prognoses.
- Advocate for patients’ medical rights on an individual level — especially for patients with diminished capacity.
- Help patients transition to and from different medical facilities and their own homes.
- Teach patients about their care and financial options.
- Ensure all facility policies remain equitable and patient-centered.
Because healthcare social workers have so many subspecialities to choose from, this is perhaps one of the most dynamic jobs for social workers with MSWs. Some choose to work in pediatrics while others go into gerontology, hospice care, and more.
Career Preparation
Fortunately, healthcare social work is one of the biggest specialties in the field. Many MSW programs in Illinois offer healthcare degree tracks, graduate certificates, and dual degrees in areas like public health. You may also want to investigate programs that offer gerontology specializations.
Additionally, while many social workers in this field are Licensed Social Workers (LSWs), more advanced career opportunities are often reserved for Licensed Clinical Social Workers due to their advanced training in assessment, diagnosis, and administration.
Potential Employers
The Illinois Department of Health reports that the state is home to over 100 hospitals. These facilities, along with the specialty clinics, assisted living communities, and community-based service providers that populate Illinois, hire healthcare social workers. The Illinois Department of Human Services also employs specialists to help people sign up for and access state-funded healthcare programs.
Clinical Social Worker
Licensed Clinical Social Worker are some of the most versatile, highly-trained, and highly-respected professionals in the field. And while they’re the only type of social worker in Illinois that can diagnose and treat mental illnesses without supervision, jobs for social workers with a clinical license aren’t limited to mental health. They can be administrators and frontline professionals in just about every kind of agency.
As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, you might:
- Supervise other social workers and various client-facing professionals.
- Work directly with clients, especially those with complex needs.
- Refer clients to other professionals as needed and remain a major part of their support team.
- Assess and create programs.
- Conduct and oversee research that impacts your own agency and social work as a whole.
- Serve as a consultant for private, non-profit, and government agencies.
Your exact duties may change depending on your employer. But no matter where they go, LCSWs are leaders.
Career Preparation
To become an LCSW in Illinois, you must have an MSW from an accredited program, complete additional fieldwork hours after graduation, and apply for a license through the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. Before enrolling in a school of social work, ask staff if the program prepares students for clinical work.
Potential Employers
If an organization offers any sort of social service, they likely employ LCSW. This includes government agencies, nonprofits, hospitals, community-based agencies, and more. However, LCSWs can work for an employer LSWs can’t — themselves.
According to the Illinois Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers, LCSWs can operate a private practice and even bill their clients’ insurance companies. That means you can define the scope of your own career, serve the people you’re most passionate about helping, and deliver accessible services where they’re needed most.
Social Justice and Nonprofit Social Work
Many jobs for social workers are all about serving clients directly. But that’s not your only option. If righting systemic wrongs is your passion, you can make a rewarding career out of nonprofit advocacy and social justice reform.
Because this is such a wide field, common duties vary widely. However, you might:
- Help an agency coordinate volunteer initiatives.
- Conduct outreach in specific communities.
- Conduct research and present it to lawmakers.
- Help small, grassroots social justice organizations find the resources they need.
- Advise organizations of all kinds (hospitals, businesses, government agencies, etc.). This might include helping them address internal issues or provide more inclusive services to the general public.
- Assess communities and neighborhoods and help them address their needs.
- Run media campaigns that make the general public aware about certain issues.
- Apply for grants and elicit funding from private donors.
All in all, your duties will be defined by your organization’s purpose whether it’s serving the LGBTQ+ community, racial and ethnic populations, immigrants, or other groups.
Career Preparation
Earning an MSW with an emphasis in Advanced Generalist practice can be a great way to start your career in nonprofit advocacy. However, some MSW programs offer degree specializations in areas like social justice and nonprofit administration.
Keep in mind, though, that not all roles in the nonprofit sector require a social work license. For instance, administrators and grant managers may not need a license but those who administer services directly to clients may.
Potential Employers
Jobs for social workers in the nonprofit sector come in all shapes and sizes. Small grassroots organizations typically address issues in specific communities. Large organizations at the state and national level often conduct research, assist smaller agencies, and lobby for legislative reform.
According to the Independent Sector, an organization made up of nonprofits across the country, there are over 6,000 nonprofit agencies in Illinois. By their estimates, this sector employs almost 600,000 people. Though not all of them are social workers, people with social work experience have the skills, knowledge, and drive to help their organizations make an impact.