Families in Context

The study of families offers information that is useful for a number of careers or career settings related to helping families. These include:

Aging and Adult Services-As caseworker or community educator.
Attorney (family law) or family or divorce mediator.
Positions with Children’s Defense Fund.
Faith-based service and outreach organizations (Many religious denominations offer family and human services, including such things as adoption, family planning, and crisis counseling services).
Planned Parenthood (positions in family planning services and counseling, counseling with HIV patients, as well as community outreach in schools regarding sex education).
Crisis centers/hot lines and shelters for domestic violence or other types of family violence.
Eckard Youth Alternatives-As youth counselor, recreation therapist, experimental educator, therapist for individuals or groups. EYA is a not-for-profit national organization that works with youth ages 8-18.
Caseworkers or administrators in state human services departments (focusing on youth services, foster care, child welfare, TANF program delivery, aging services, mental health, etc.
Family support centers.
Homeless shelters.
Transition facilities (working with formerly incarcerated mothers, recovering addicts).
Head Start/Early Start (teachers, parent coordinators, administrators).
Child life specialist (work in medical settings meeting the emotional and psychological needs of hospitalized children and their families).
Hospital liaison between patient, families, and medical personnel.
Placement coordinator for long-term care facilities.
University outreach and extension staff who deliver programs to individuals and families, as well as share research-based knowledge on family-related topics.
Resident hall directors in university settings (assist students transitioning to college, and design and deliver programs that promote positive adjustment to college life).
Victim’s advocate with the courts (assist victims of rape, abuse and violence through the recovery process and the legal prosecution of the offenders).
Not-for-profit organizations or agencies.
Teaching (at all levels: pre-school through college).
Social worker.
Director of group homes (for individuals with disabilities, juvenile offenders).
Direct, implement, or evaluate family life education or parent education programs, such as Parents as Teachers, court-mandated divorce education programs, or marriage preparation classes.
Hospice services (work with families who have a terminally ill member).
Alzheimer’s Association (caseworker, community educator, or outreach worker who serves institutional facilities and individual families).
Home-school facilitator (more common in at-risk neighborhoods where parents tend to be less engaged in the school and connections between home and school are critical).
Child advocate or lobbyist for the interests of children and families within state or federal government.