Financial social work is a specialization that crosses into all areas of social work. Financial literacy is a key driver of overall financial well-being, and Illinoisans from every demographic and cultural background can benefit from the knowledge of a financial social work professional.
According to Social Work Today, an industry trade publication for social work professionals, “financial social work is at the intersection of social work, politics, gender, economic and social justice, and all inequity. It should play a significant role in each on the micro, mezzo, and macro levels.”
Sustainable financial health is the key focus of financial social workers. These practitioners strive to engage and educate their clients about spending and saving money and equip them with the skills and resources they need to independently manage their finances and lives.
What Does a Financial Social Worker Do?
Financial social workers support and empower their clients as they develop their financial literacy and learn to change negative attitudes and beliefs about money so that they can overcome the helplessness they feel in the face of financial problems and adopt a new set of financial skills and tools.
Social workers who specialize in the financial aspect of human psychosocial health and development apply financial interventions to broad social work practice to mitigate the stress, physical health problems, and destructive interpersonal behaviors that erode families and communities across Illinois.
Financial social work responsibilities include:
- Interviewing and assessing their clients
- Identifying high-risk populations in need of financial support and education
- Helping clients explore their financial values
- Providing counseling to address the psychological, emotional, and social triggers that affect a person’s financial beliefs and behaviors
- Working with individuals to align their goals and actions with their financial capability — their combined financial abilities and opportunities
- Helping clients create budgets
- Equipping individuals and families with the tools and knowledge to manage their finances
- Linking clients to resources and providing referrals
- Providing crisis intervention
- Supporting families in need of stability
- Contributing to policy and legislation that targets income inequality
- Collaborating with schools, agencies, professionals, and other social work professionals at the macro and mezzo levels to address systemic financial issues in the state
Financial social workers serve various vulnerable populations, including aging and geriatric clients, youth in the child welfare system, people who have been involved in the criminal justice system, immigrants and refugees, people with disabilities, mental health problems, or substance use disorders, and people experiencing homelessness.
It’s important to note that lack of income stability means that case management is often focused on crisis intervention, such as housing, food, and utilities.
Where Do Financial Social Work Specialists Work?
State and local government agencies and nonprofits in Illinois offer a range of financial services and products. From utility and prescription discounts to debt consolidation and college savings plans, Illinois programs and policies that serve vulnerable populations need skilled financial social workers to deliver integrated holistic services.
Financial social work professionals may work for any of the following Illinois agencies, organizations, or programs:
- Breakthrough Urban Ministries
- Chicago Commons
- Chicago Urban League
- Community Partners for Affordable Housing
- Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Northern Illinois
- Eviction Help Illinois
- Financial Opportunity Centers (FOC)
- Hope Center Foundation
- Illinois Housing Development Authority
- Illinois Department of Human Services
- Illinois Department of Revenue
- Illinois Equal Justice Foundation
- Illinois Legal Aid Online (ILAO)
- Jane Addams Resource Corporation (JARC)
- Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC Chicago)
- Money Management International (MMI)
- Navicore Solutions
- Northwest Center
- Phalanx Family Services
- Prairie State Legal Services – Bloomington, Galesburg, Joliet, Kankakee, Moline, Ottawa, Peoria, Rockford, Waukegan, West Chicago, and Woodstock
- The Neighbor Project
Low-income families, individuals facing racial and social discrimination, and underserved communities deserve the same financial opportunities enjoyed by Illinois citizens who started from a place of economic privilege.
Financial Social Work vs. Other Types of Social Work Practice
To improve equity, diversity, and inclusion for every Illinois resident, financial social workers leverage income supports, health care subsidies, education and employment services, legal assistance, and relevant financial resources in their practice.
Held to the same National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Code of Ethics as other social work specialists — namely, to practice competently within the field — financial social workers face unique challenges.
Their relationships with clients often begin with crisis counseling, but their clients need a higher level of engagement to progress beyond the crisis stage and into a state of sustained financial well-being and independence.
Thus, interventions in financial social work must be strategic, collaborative, and appropriate for the client’s state of mind at a given time. The sensitivity and cultural understanding inherent in any social work specialization practice is a key skill when counseling clients facing a health crisis, eviction, or lack of basic human needs.
Like other types of social workers, financial social workers are often part of an interdisciplinary team of professionals charged with delivering holistic, person-centered services.
For example, financial social workers may work closely with healthcare providers in hospice and palliative care facilities or hospitals and medical centers, such as the University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System.
The financial case management unit (FCMU) at the University of Illinois Hospital in Chicago, or any of the UI Health Mile Square Health Centers across Chicagoland — including Back of the Yards, Englewood, South Shore, Auburn Gresham, Cicero, and Rockford — assesses patients’ eligibility for UI Health’s financial assistance programs and helps them navigate the application process.
UI Health Financial Assistance Programs
- Medicaid/Marketplace/Allkids/ABE
- SSI/SSDI Enrollment Assistance
- Crime Victim's Compensation
- Uninsured Patient Discount Program
- The Charity Care Program
Financial social workers may also work with lawyers and other legal professionals, such as paralegals, accountants and tax professionals, IT specialists, public relations managers, directors, volunteers, and board members. Illinois pro-bono and nonprofit law firms include:
- Prairie State Legal Services (Chicago)
- Law Center for Better Housing (Chicago)
- Legal Aid Society of Metropolitan Family Services (Chicago)
- Pro Bono Network (Oak Park)
- Land of Lincoln Legal Aid (Alton)
- North Suburban Legal Aid Clinic (Highland Park)
- Life Span Center for Legal Services (Chicago)
As an integrative model, financial social work relies on behavioral and psychosocial approaches to change clients’ relationships to money. It requires long-term support and motivation to instill good financial habits. This practice intersects with mental, physical, emotional, educational, societal, and cultural needs throughout a person’s lifetime in a symbiotic manner.
How to Become a Financial Social Worker in Illinois
Financial social workers require the same foundational education and experience as generalists, which they can obtain through a pathway that includes a bachelor’s degree and a master of social work (MSW) degree, both from accredited programs.
MSW programs must be accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) and include relevant field education or a practicum that provides a set number of supervised experience hours.
The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation offers two professional social work licenses. Social workers who specialize in financial welfare service can apply for licensure as a licensed social worker (LSW) or a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW).
Neither of these professional licenses is unique to financial social work, but depending on their position and employer, financial social workers in Illinois are licensed and qualified to practice with either an LSW or an LCSW.
Few BSW and MSW programs offer concentrations in financial social work, but the movement to integrate it into the social work curriculum has been gaining momentum for some time now.
The NASW recently approved the financial social work certification from the Center for Financial Social Work. According to CFSW, applicants earn contact hours for passing the certification exam in 38 states, including Illinois.
Illinois Universities prepare students for generalized social work practice and a variety of specializations at the micro, mezzo, and macro level.
The University of Illinois Chicago’s MSW program offers a concentration in Organization and Community Practice, which focuses on advanced organizational development and community practice in urban communities. The program takes a macro approach to advancing social justice by building “physically, socially, economically and environmentally healthy” communities.
The University of Chicago’s Social Work, Social Policy, and Social Administration MSW program teaches students to “recognize and understand the diverse and intersecting causes of distress: psychological, biological, familial, political, economic and social,” using a person-in-environment framework to emphasize core competencies, including advancing social and economic justice.
Loyola University’s Social Justice and Social Work (MA/MSW) dual degree program prepares students to apply “theories of human need and social justice and strategies to promote social and economic justice and human rights” with a curriculum that includes courses such as Power, Oppression, Privilege, and Social Justice and Assessment of Client Concerns in Context.
Aurora University’s Online Dual MSW/MBA program aims to give students a “deep understanding of how social service and business knowledge connect” to prepare them to serve their communities with a focus on public and individual welfare in direct-service roles or leadership positions, including overseeing corporate social responsibility initiatives for positive social impact.
Specialized Social Worker Salaries in Illinois
Data from the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics as of May 2022 show that community and social service occupations in the Chicagoland area earned an average annual salary of $55,830.
Social workers (all other) earned $64,890 on average per year. Career counselors and advisors in Illinois earned $60,660 annually — with Chicago employees averaging $63,100 per year. Illinois ranked fifth for states with the highest level of employment for these professionals.
The growing field of financial social work offers practitioners in Illinois many opportunities for career success. With the right education and experience, social workers specializing in serving clients who seek economic and family stability, financial empowerment for underprivileged communities, and large-scale community development can thrive in the Prairie State.