By definition, a pediatric social worker is a professional who works with children in a helping role. However, there are many different areas in which social workers can work with children. These can include any setting in which the social worker is working directly with children, such as in the areas of social services, mental health, school-based services, hospice, healthcare, and many other settings.
Pediatric social workers must receive specific training to understand typical childhood development as well as family dynamics that can typically occur in stressful situations. They may conduct family therapy to help both the family and the child learn to function more successfully at home, may arrange community services to benefit the child and family, or provide individual counseling or therapy to the child as a way of helping him or her work through difficult situations.
In many circles, the term “pediatric social worker” typically refers to social workers in healthcare settings. Pediatric social workers often work in hospitals or health clinics, and work with families to help them understand the extent of a child’s illness or injury. Often, these pediatric social workers are given the task of working with the family of a child with a chronic or terminal illness. Pediatric social workers can also help arrange resources that the family of a sick child may need, such as financial help, transportation, health insurance, language interpretation, and an explanation of advanced directives in the case of severe illness or injury. Pediatric social workers may also provide a family with counseling and psychoeducational services to help process feelings of grief and loss.
Another task is that they may conduct assessments of families and their children to determine major stressors in the environment as a way of fully determining the needs of the child and family. There is a recent move for children suffering from terminal or chronic illnesses to receive care in the home rather than in the institutional setting, and pediatric social workers must work closely with families to ensure children are receiving appropriate and sufficient care. Most pediatric social workers have a Master of Social Work (MSW) degree and are clinical social workers, depending on the state where the social worker is living.
Several associations exist for the sole purpose of uniting pediatric social workers and providing appropriate and relevant training for this group of professionals. The Association of Pediatric Oncology Social Workers, for example, serves all social workers working with children diagnosed with cancer and blood disorders, and provides trainings and resources to its members.