Anyone who is considering a career in the social service world is going to come across the phrase: Case Manager.
It’s a bit of a catch all term that is used to describe a wide variety of jobs. However, while these jobs are often times very different when it comes to the population (mentally ill, foster children, juvenile offenders, homeless) the work itself is very similar.
At it’s core, a case manager job requires someone to manage someone else’s affairs and file paperwork for them. That paperwork might be applications for free housing, drug treatment, or manage their appointments with court ordered doctors or other case workers.
Since the job is both very basic and somewhat broad in description, I will go into a bit more depth about what exactly a case manager is, how they get the job of case manager, what education is required, and how much a case manager can expect to be paid.
But first, let’s discuss the difference between a case manager and a social worker.
What is the role of a Social Worker Case Manager?
The first mistake is to lump social workers into the same field as case managers. Generally speaking, case managers are those who have associates or bachelor degrees. Social Workers tend to have at least a Masters and are tasked with more complex work.
Social workers still often file papers and do generic case work, but they are usually those with higher degrees. Non-Profits and For-Profit hospitals and clinics employ Social Workers because Medicaid and other insurance programs will often times reimburse and provide grant money for Social Workers in excess of case managers.
But, if you’re looking for a quick distinction, here it is:
What’s The Difference Between a Social Worker and a Case Manager
Social Workers are those who have at minimum a Masters Degree. Many organizations will require them to also be licensed. This means that when you see advertisements for Social Workers, they are usually looking for LMSW or LCSW, though in some cases an MSW will suffice.
Also, as we will cover in more depth later, case managers do not necessarily need to have studied social work.
Case managers often study something less academic such as Criminal Justice or Social Work. It’s not necessary for someone who is looking to work in social services to study psychology or sociology. Those are two different things.
In general, people who are aiming for a career in social work study non-academic, less theoretical work and instead purse degrees which are more practical and hands on such as social work or criminal justice, education, or even public policy.
What Education Does a Case Manager Need?
In order to work as a case manager, it’s sometimes not even necessary to have gone to college. While many case managers have an associates degree or even a bachelors, it’s not required.
Also, the concentration of study is not as strict as those who want to be social workers.
Case managers often study something less academic such as Criminal Justice or Social Work. It’s not necessary for someone who is looking to work in social services to study psychology or sociology. Those are two different things.
In general, people who are aiming for a career in social work study non-academic, less theoretical work and instead purse degrees which are more practical and hands on such as social work or criminal justice, education, or even public policy.
There are plenty of huge non-profits that hire high school graduates to work as case managers. If you were to check Indeed virtually any day of the week you would see ads in all major cities with large social service organizations.
Sheltering Arms, Good Sheppard, Praxis, Step Up on Second, Weingart Center, The People Concern.
In virtually every city you will find case managers who have graduated high school and are out there working in the field. Of course, the pay is better if you have a bachelor’s degree.
However, the good news for people looking to work as a case manager, it’s not a career path where you will be in school for a long time. You can basically graduate from a community college with a degree in criminal justice and you’ll be able to find a case manager job in any major city.
Case Manager vs Social Worker Salary
Case managers make significantly less than social workers. That’s primarily for one reason: Medicaid reimbursement.
The other reason, of course, is that case managers work is less involved, or rather it requires significantly less training. The role of a case manager is one that is, essentially, filing and paperwork.
For instance, a case manager might be tasked with making sure their clients all have pre-paid government cash assistance cards. That would require them to keep track of a list of all of the people who are receiving government subsidies through the non-profit and then mark their name once they received the cash assistance card.
Other case managers might handle Medicaid and other hospital bill issues for those who receive benefits from the city or state. The principal is the same, it’s a role that requires excellent data entry skills as well as diligence when it comes to keeping track of expense.
This is one of the reasons that even in major cites like Los Angeles and NYC, the salary for a case manager is so low.
This is also why turnover is so high in case management. People who work in case management tend to move from job to job with some regularity.
Part of this is the low pay, part of it is due to the harsh work environments.
This is especially true for case managers who need to make home visits. These are visits made to people who receive government benefits and services. They might be:
- -Mentally Ill Social Service Recipients
- -Seniors
- -Foster Children / Families
- – HIV Patients
- -Ex-Offenders
- -MICA (Mentally Ill Chemical Abusers)
It’s not uncommon for case managers to have to enter the home of people who have been involved in criminal cases. This concern for their safety
What Does a Case Manager Make ?
This totally does depend on location and city. As we’ve seen from the above, case managers do not make a lot of money. In cities such as L.A or NYC, you can expect a case manager to make around 40k.
Well, as most would tell you, that’s not a lot of money. Even if you do not compare it to professional salaries in corporate America, it’s low. Nurses make six figures. And government employees such as Police and Public School teachers also make 100k in large cities such as NYC, Boston and Chicago.
The reason that case managers do not make this is because of unions. The Nurses, Teachers, and Police—all non-professional career tracks—make high living wages thanks to their strong unions.
Case managers do not have a strong union. Many who work in the field themselves were in the care of case managers and went into the line of work because it was familiar and suggested by their case manager.
So, you could approximate the salary to 20 an hour in the big cities, less in cities that do not have as strong social service nets.
The main advantage to working as a case manager is that the work is so available. They are always hiring for case managers online in every large city. All social service programs that administer welfare and subsides benefits are in need of good case managers. So, that is why so many people enter the field. It’s a field with a low barrier to entry.
That said, many case managers get burnt out and end up leaving the field or trying to do something else.
If that’s possible is a topic for another article.
Hey I’m Chris . 20+ years in the industry. I’ve worked every role from Executive recrutier to Agency founder and consultant. If you want to learn more or reach me,vist the about page or use my contact form.