Also called: Director of Children & Family Services, Child Welfare Administrator
Leads a county or state agency, or a large nonprofit, responsible for child protection and foster care.
A child welfare director manages hundreds of caseworkers, testifies to lawmakers about budgets, and answers to the public when a tragedy makes the news. Days mix data reviews, crisis calls, and meetings with judges.
Estimate; state directors earn the most.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Master's degree, about 12 years after high school. Master's in social work or public administration plus many years in child welfare.
Ways in: 4-year college, Graduate school. Training cost: $60k – $150k.
Majors to look at: Social Work, Public Administration.
Growing faster than average (about 6% over 10 years). Tracks social and community service managers (2024-34).
Low risk for 10 years. AI helps with data reviews and budget reports; answering for kids' safety to lawmakers and the public stays human.
Classes: Government, Sociology, Speech or debate.
Official data: O*NET occupation 11-9151.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.