A professional who aids parents with child rearing problems and children and youth with difficulties in social adjustments. Responsibilities include:

• Investigates home conditions to protect children from harmful environment.
• Evaluates children's physical and psychological makeup to determine needs.
• Refers child and parent or guardian to community resources according to needs of child.
• Evaluates foster home environmental factors and personal characteristics of adoption applicants to determine suitability of foster home and adoption applicants.
• Places and is responsible for children and their well-being in foster or adoptive homes, institutions, and medical treatment centers.
• Counsels children and parents, guardians, foster parents, or institution staff, concerning adjustment to foster home situation, plans for child's care, interactional behavior modifications needed, or rehabilitation.
• Places children in adoptive homes and counsels adoptive parents pending legal adoption.
• Provides service to unmarried parents, including care during pregnancy and planning for child.
• Arranges for day care or homemaker service.
• Employed in establishments such as child placement (foster care or adoption), protective service, or institution.
• Maintains case history records and reports.
• Usually required to have knowledge and skill in casework methods acquired through degree program at school of social work.
• May specialize in specific area of child-directed casework and be designated according to work performed as Caseworker, Child Placement; Caseworker, Protective Services.
• May interview clients for purpose of screening to determine eligibility for agency services and be designated Caseworker, Intake.