A caseworker is someone who helps people get the support they need during difficult times. They work with individuals and families to understand their challenges and connect them with services like housing, food, counseling or healthcare.
You can find caseworkers are helping and making a difference in many different scenarios in your community, including social services, schools, hospitals and nonprofit organizations. Wherever they are, their goal is always to make sure clients get the right help at the right time.
What is a caseworker in human services?
Caseworkers play a big role in helping people access services that improve their lives. They typically work with individuals and families who are facing difficult circumstances, such as financial hardship, domestic violence, housing instability or mental health challenges.
Their daily work includes some combination of planning, coordinating and providing support to whomever they serve.
Common responsibilities of a caseworker1
- Assessing needs: Caseworkers meet with clients to understand their situations and identify what kind of support is needed.
- Developing service plans: They create a plan that outlines which services or resources could help improve the client's situation.
- Coordinating with other professionals: Caseworkers often work with social workers, medical staff or housing specialists to make sure the client receives complete support. They may also work with representatives for government agencies or legal services.
- Connecting clients with services: This could include helping someone apply for housing, food stamps, counseling or job training programs.
- Monitoring progress: Caseworkers follow up with clients, adjust service plans and make changes when needed to keep clients moving forward.
Where do caseworkers work?2
Caseworkers support individuals and families across a wide range of environments. They can work under non-profits or any place social work is happening.2 While the settings vary, the goal is always the same: helping people overcome challenges and access the appropriate support they need.
Government agencies
Many caseworkers are employed by state or local social services departments. They help clients access public assistance programs such as housing, food stamps, and healthcare. In these roles, caseworkers may manage large caseloads and assist vulnerable populations with navigating bureaucratic systems.
Nonprofits and community centers
In community-based organizations, caseworkers often provide client-centered services such as crisis intervention, transportation coordination, or job training referrals. They may also work closely with other professionals to organize community outreach or advocate for underserved groups.
Mental health clinics and hospitals
In mental health clinics and healthcare settings, caseworkers focus on discharge planning, psychosocial support and coordinating follow-up care. They ensure patients have access to medication, counseling or housing—especially those dealing with mental illness, substance abuse, or chronic conditions.
Foster care agencies and child welfare programs
In child welfare roles, caseworkers monitor home environments, conduct home visits and investigate cases of child neglect or abuse. They work with families to create service plans and help ensure children are placed in safe, supportive environments.
Some caseworkers in these settings focus specifically on family support and advocacy. These professionals are often referred to as family services workers, a specialized role within the broader casework field. For more on that, check out What Is a Family Services Worker? A Closer Look at This Community Support Career.
Schools and correctional facilities
In schools, caseworkers collaborate with educators, counselors and families to address behavioral health issues and provide support for at-risk students.
In correctional facilities, they help individuals develop plans for reintegration and connect them with housing, employment and counseling resources upon release.
Licensing requirements for caseworkers
While some caseworkers have degrees in social work, others do not need to be licensed social workers—especially in roles that don’t involve clinical counseling or mental health diagnoses. Roles in this area include non-clinical social workers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.4
Requirements for licensing primarily come down to each state. “All states require clinical social workers to be licensed. Some states also require nonclinical social workers to have a license or credential,” the BLS writes.4 Licensure for caseworkers is dependent upon the type of work they do and the regulations for the state in which they work.
Caseworkers primarily support individuals and families by coordinating services, assisting with case management and connecting clients with essential resources like housing, food assistance or mental health support. They play a key role in helping people overcome challenges and navigate complex systems.
Licensed clinical social workers (LCSWs), on the other hand, are trained and licensed to provide psychotherapy, assess and treat mental illness and deliver other types of clinical practice care.4 According to the National Association of Social Workers (NASW), LCSWs must earn a master’s degree, complete specialized training and pass a licensure exam to practice at the clinical level.3
Rasmussen University’s Human Services Associate’s Degree, and Human Services Bachelor’s Degree programs are not designed to meet, and do not meet, the educational requirements for professional licensure as a therapist, counselor, social worker, psychologist, or other similar licensed careers, in any state. These programs have not been approved by any state professional licensing agency. For further information on professional licensing requirements, please contact the appropriate board or agency in your state of residence.
How does Rasmussen prepare students for this field?
Rasmussen University does not offer programs that lead to licensure as a social worker. However, it does offer training that prepares students for meaningful, entry-level roles in the human services field, especially as social services assistants.
What is a social services assistant?5
Social services assistants often work alongside caseworkers and social workers to support clients’ well-being. They help with tasks like tracking client information, scheduling appointments and ensuring individuals and families receive the services outlined in their plans. These paraprofessionals play a key role in helping caseworkers manage their caseloads and deliver consistent care.
Rasmussen’s Human Services programs are designed to equip students with core skills needed for these roles, including:
- Effective communication and active listening
- Organizational and case documentation abilities
- An understanding of advocacy, ethics and professional boundaries
- Cultural competency and the ability to work with vulnerable populations
Graduates are prepared to pursue work in diverse settings like government agencies, nonprofits, healthcare facilities and community centers, where they can begin making a difference in clients’ lives.
Looking into the field of human services
A caseworker is ultimately someone who will come alongside someone who needs their help to find resources and navigate extremely difficult situations. They (and the team they work with) take on hard situations to reduce barriers and find resources for people who need help.
Taking up someone’s case to help them heal and thrive is a very rewarding profession for the right kind of person.
And it’s one of many roles in the human services industry. To get a larger picture of what human services covers, who it helps, and what careers you could consider, check out What Can You Do With a Human Services Degree.
Rasmussen University’s Human Services Associate’s Degree, and Human Services Bachelor’s Degree programs are not designed to meet, and do not meet, the educational requirements for professional licensure as a therapist, counselor, social worker, psychologist, or other similar licensed careers, in any state. These programs have not been approved by any state professional licensing agency. For further information on professional licensing requirements, please contact the appropriate board or agency in your state of residence.
1Case worker job description (2015). Women Aware. https://womenaware.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Case-Worker-job-description-2015.pdf
2Types of Social Work, National Association of social workers, https://www.socialworkers.org/News/Facts/Types-of-Social-Work
3National Association of Social Workers. (n.d.). Clinical Social Work. https://www.socialworkers.org/Practice/Clinical-Social-Work
4Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, (accessed May, 2025). https://www.bls.gov/ooh/community-and-social-service/social-workers.htm#tab-4 Employment conditions in your area may vary.
5Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, Social and Human Service Assistants, (visited April 18,2025)https://www.bls.gov/ooh/community-and-social-service/social-and-human-service-assistants.htm#tab-2. Employment conditions in your area may vary.
