Also called: Relative Search Specialist, Kin Search Specialist
Uses people-search databases and old records to locate grandparents, aunts and other relatives of foster children who might care for them.
She types a foster boy's father's name into a people-search database and finds a great-aunt in Georgia nobody knew about. She calls, explains who she is, and the aunt starts crying. By Friday the boy has his first phone call with family he has never met.
Estimate.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 4 years after high school. Bachelor's in social work or a related field, plus training in the Family Finding model.
Ways in: 4-year college, On-the-job training. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Social Work, Human Services, Criminal Justice.
Growing faster than average. Federal law favors placing children with relatives, so agencies keep adding search staff.
Medium risk for 10 years. Search databases and AI already do much of the hunting; making careful first contact with relatives stays human.
Classes: Psychology, English, Computer applications.
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.