9 Social Work Competencies and Responsibilities
| 10 Min Read
When it comes to competencies and responsibilities for social workers, the field turns to two documents. The competencies outlined by the Center for Social Work Education (CSWE) detail nine core competencies of social work that impact essential responsibilities of social workers, which are described by the National Association of Social Workers.1,2 These social worker responsibilities and roles, also detailed in this article, serve critical purposes in mental health care for at-risk individuals. It is essential for social workers to earn the right qualifications to properly prepare them to meet the field’s expectations. The online MSW from Widener University is ranked as one of the best schools for social work and prepares you to become a licensed social worker.
What are the Duties and Responsibilities of a Social Worker?
The NASW’s Code of Ethics for Social Workers explores responsibilities for social workers, including cultural competence, privacy, conflicts of interest and informed consent.2 Read more about how five of these ethical responsibilities influence the day-to-day actions of social workers.
Responsibility 1: Maintain Cultural Competence During Assessment
Assessment involves getting to know clients on a multidimensional level to determine the most effective way to work toward positive change. In this stage, social workers gather information about the client’s situation within their individual, organizational, and societal systems, allowing them to learn the details of their family and medical histories, friendships, schools, jobs, and issues they’ve had in each system.
Using cultural competence to conduct assessments allows social workers to understand how clients’ situations are embedded in cultural contexts. A myriad of cultural influences can affect how clients perceive their situation, which areas they wish to address, and what strengths they bring to therapy. When a comprehensive assessment is complete, you’ll have a stronger idea of how to develop an effective treatment plan with your client.
Skills Needed
Social workers who perform culturally sensitive assessments must have a keen perception of elements of culture, such as societal expectations, religious practices, and the perception of mental health. As they work with their clients, social workers should remain objective and analytical, always avoiding judgment. The NASW stated that critical self-reflection can help social workers understand their own bias and make appropriate corrections.2
Responsibility 2: Create and Implement Ethical Treatment Plans
Once assessment is completed, it’s time to work on a treatment plan that will empower clients to overcome, recover from, or adjust to their situation. At this stage, social workers must practice client-focused communication in social work, listening to them as they strive to jointly define the goals and criteria that establish wellness. Empathy and flexibility go a long way when determining a treatment plan.
Treatment plans generally include continued one-on-one individual therapy sessions to help your client move toward their desired goal. You might also hold group or family sessions geared toward a specific challenge they’re dealing with. Flexibility in treatment plans is necessary.
Skills Needed
One of the most important ethical concerns in social work is informed consent, meaning that clients know what to expect from their treatment. The NASW explained that informed consent includes information about the treatment plan plus its risks and limitations, which is also true if treatment is involuntary.2 In addition to showing respect and dignity to clients, informed consent protects both social workers and clients if any questions about treatment arise.
Responsibility 3: Provide Access to Resources
By employing your social work competencies, you can create and implement a treatment plan with both talk therapy and access to resources. Clients often benefit when connected to community resources and government agencies, including food banks, health care services, unemployment services, and benefits programs, such as food stamp programs.
Clinical social workers may also refer clients to medical professionals for further treatment, support groups specifically geared to their clients’ issues, job-placement recruiters, and child-care resources to help them successfully meet their wellness initiatives.
Skills Needed
Social workers should maintain awareness of available resources for their clients and help facilitate access to those resources. This becomes especially important when the goal is to empower marginalized individuals and groups, according to the NASW.2 In these cases, social workers are often some of the best advocates for their clients.
Responsibility 4: Serve as a Client’s Advocate
Whether social workers think of advocacy on a local, community, or administrative level, they have a strong calling to make the world a better place by representing those who cannot effectively represent themselves. Social workers can become an individual’s advocate, engage in advocacy within organizations and communities, or promote advocacy at a policy or research-based level. These initiatives aim to benefit individuals and the field of social work at local, state, and national levels.
Responsibilities for advocacy can include referring clients to additional resources and professionals with diverse qualifications, such as support group services and medical professionals. Social workers are key points of contact between individuals and resources.
Skills Needed
In addition to an obligation to foster the well-being of their clients, the NASW stated that social workers must “take action against oppression, racism, discrimination, and inequities, and acknowledge personal privilege.”2 In pursuit of these goals, social workers must be courageous, impactful, and persistent.
Responsibility 5: Monitor Improvement While Respecting Privacy
Once treatment is underway, you’ll continuously evaluate whether your client is moving toward their goals according to the criteria established when you created their treatment plan. The objectives involve determining how you can continue supporting your client and if your current methods effectively serve their purpose.
As social workers create records of treatment and improvement, privacy is imperative. Not only does this protect clients’ confidentiality, it’s also legally required if/when social workers interact with government, media, and other third parties. If sharing or publishing information is relevant, social workers must obtain informed consent from their clients.
Skills Needed
Privacy and confidentiality are becoming even more important as the field moves toward electronic record keeping. Electronic health records can be stored in databases, spreadsheets, web-based platforms and more, so the NASW suggested that social workers should know best practices for securing those records.2 To meet this responsibility, social workers should be perceptive, organized, and analytical.
Increase Your Impact Through the 9 Core Competencies of Social Work
Dividing the social worker’s role into five major responsibilities helps to simplify the work of practitioners. As you consider each one, remember that they require different activities for each client. After all, there is no “one size fits all” therapy plan, just as no two clients are the same. Choosing an MSW program that helps you master the core social work competencies will aid you in meeting your responsibilities in accordance with each client’s needs.
In a social work program, you’ll likely explore CSWE’s 2022 Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards,1 which provide nine key competencies for all social workers.
Competency 1: Demonstrate Ethical and Professional Behavior
By learning this competency, you will acquire an ethical framework that guides your social work practice.
Competency 2: Advance Human Rights and Social, Racial, Economic, and Environmental Justice
Developing this competency enables you to advocate for human rights and support social, racial, economic, and environmental justice.
Competency 3: Engage Anti-Racism, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (ADEI) in Practice
This social work core competency requires you to demonstrate cultural humility and engage in anti-racist and anti-oppressive practices as a social worker.
Competency 4: Engage in Practice-Informed Research and Research-Informed Practice
Through this competency, you will use research to grow as a social worker and account for biases common to studies.
Competency 5: Engage in Policy Practice
Build an understanding of how policies underpin the methods of delivering services and apply your expertise to champion new justice-oriented policies.
Competency 6: Engage with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities
Learn to develop engagement strategies for social workers to become culturally responsive practitioners versed in human behavior.
Competency 7: Assess Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities
Use your knowledge of human behavior, culturally responsive practice, and other concepts while working closely with clients during assessments. Strive for equal buy-in for plans by promoting client self-determination, an ethical standard outlined by The National Association of Social Workers (NASW).2
Competency 8: Intervene with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities
Meeting this requirement will enhance your social work engagement skills for performing culturally responsive interventions when supporting client goals and advocating on their behalf.
Competency 9: Evaluate Practice with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities
Through this competency, you will evaluate outcomes using culturally responsive methods and become more effective by analyzing outcomes and findings from evaluations.
An Overview of the Social Work Profession
Although there are many competencies and responsibilities to consider, social work is a gratifying profession that allows you to say at the end of each day, “I made a difference in someone’s life.” Though it’s demanding work, more than 750,000 people are currently dedicating their lives and careers to this field, and its projected 7% growth rate between 2023 and 2033 means many more will continue to do so.3
On a daily basis, you’ll be challenged to apply skills in social work roles as you help people navigate a wide range of positive and negative stressors, such as supporting parents with the emotional challenges of adopting a child, helping a professional navigate a new career, or working with someone who’s trying to exit an abusive relationship, overcome an addiction, or contemplating divorce. The tasks you’ll complete in the course of your work will fall into most, if not all, of the five responsibilities explored in this article— cultural competence, ethical treatment plans, access to resources, advocacy, and privacy. By learning the social work core competencies, too, you’ll be ready to meet those responsibilities in ways that consider each client’s needs while committing to justice and the advancement of this essential field.
Make a Difference in Others’ Lives
After developing the nine social work competencies outlined by CSWE, you will become a culturally responsive practitioner ready to fulfill your responsibilities to clients, constituents, and your community. With the online Master of Social Work from Widener University, you’ll take trauma-focused courses that prepare you to address the root cause of mental health challenges and increase your impact in this growing career field. To talk to a program manager about our online MSW, call 844-386-7321 or request more information.
While breaking down the role of a social worker into one of the five major responsibilities below seems to simplify the work at hand, they are richly different activities for each client and every social worker. There is no “one size fits all” plan for therapy — no two treatment plans or clients are the same. These steps in mental health care each serve a critical purpose, and only a social worker with the right qualifications and a degree in mental health care can provide them.
Sources
- Council on Social Work Education. “2022 Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards for Baccalaureate and Master’s Social Work Programs.” September 1, 2022. Retrieved April 18, 2025, from https://www.cswe.org/getmedia/bb5d8afe-7680-42dc-a332-a6e6103f4998/2022-EPAS.pdf.
- National Association of Social Workers. “1. Social Workers’ Ethical Responsibilities to Clients.” Retrieved April 18, 2025, from https://www.socialworkers.org/About/Ethics/Code-of-Ethics/Code-of-Ethics-English/Social-Workers-Ethical-Responsibilities-to-Clients.
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor. “Social Workers.” Occupational Outlook Handbook. August 29, 2024. Retrieved April 18, 2025, from https://www.bls.gov/ooh/community-and-social-service/social-workers.htm.