Human Services Education in Minnesota

Minnesota has a tremendous need for human services worker, whether in the St.Paul-Minneapolis metro area or one of its many smaller towns or municipalities. Whether it is in the form of helping patients fill out Medicaid applications as a medical social worker, working within Minnesota’s school system as a school social worker, or acting as a mental health therapist, there are a wide variety of jobs for the well-educated human services worker. If you want to give back to your community a career in human services is a perfect fit.

To help you determine your educational path to the career of your dreams you will need to figure out exactly what that dream career is. To help you figure out what your dream career is, we have built a database of common careers in human services that include overviews of human services jobs. Within each overview you will find information on career descriptions, duties, salary ranges, educational and licensure requirements. If you wish to have greater responsibilities in your career you will need to have an advanced degree and in many cases field experience for licensure. Below you will find a sampling of some of the jobs you might be able to hold in Minnesota and their degree requirements.

After you have attained a Bachelor’s degree from an Minnesota university or college Human Services program, you can begin to look for work in one of the following positions in Minnesota:

• Licensed Social Worker (Bachelor of Social Work from a CSWE accredited school)
  • In order to understand the licensure process you can familiarize yourself with the rules and regulations which you can find here:
• Community Outreach Worker (Bachelor of Social Work, Sociology, Psychology)
  • There is tremendous diversity amongst the different kinds of corporations, government agencies and non-profits who employ Community Outreach Workers. Here is a Non-profit that has an intense focus on Community Outreach:
• Behavioral Management Aide (Bachelor of Social Work, Sociology, Psychology)
  • Minnesota is home to over 200 school districts for its children. If you want to be an important part of children’s lives by helping them with emotional and behavioral problems this is a great career for you. You will want to spend some time researching at the Minnesota Department of Education website:
• Probation Officer (Bachelor of Sociology, Social Work, Psychology or Criminal Justice)
• Case management aide (Bachelor of Social Work, Sociology, Psychology)
• Juvenile Court Liaison (Bachelor of Social Work, Sociology, Psychology or Criminal
  • Both of these careers are part of the Justice System and their primary employer is the Department of Corrections. You can learn more about the Department as well as careers in Criminal Justice here:
• Minnesota Substance Abuse Counselor (Bachelor of Sociology, Social Work or Psychology)
  • You can learn about the specific requirements of Minnesota for certification for this career here:
• Rehabilitation Case Worker (Bachelor of Social Work, Sociology, Psychology)
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When you have completed your studies and been awarded a Master’s degree from an Minnesota college or university human services program, you can begin applying for jobs in a human services career of your choosing. Here are some examples:

• Social and community service manager (Masters in Business Administration, Social Work, Psychology or Sociology)
• Licensed Graduate Social Worker ( Master of Social Work from a CSWE accredited school + field experience)
• Child welfare case manager (Masters in Business Administration, Social Work, Psychology or Sociology)
• Licensed Clinical Social Worker (Master of Social Work from a CSWE accredited school + field experience)
• Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (Master of Social Work from a CSWE accredited school + field experience)
• Marriage and Family Therapist (Master’s in Counseling, Psychology or Marriage and Family Therapy)

Does a career in research or academia in the human services sector interest you? Perhaps you would like to move directly into management in a human services agency? Would you like to attain the highest levels of licensure and open a private mental health practice? If you answered yes to any of those questions, you will want to continue your schooling until you have earned your Ph.D. Having your doctorate will open many doors for you from being an expert in your field to vastly increased earning potential. It is a long journey towards getting your doctorate but the payoff is tremendous.

To begin your academic journey, you will first need to determine what your goal for a final career is. By exploring our career overviews section you can learn in-depth information about possible careers in human services. You will find not only a description of how the job impacts society, the individual and the family, but also information on salaries, educational and licensure requirements. With this information you can make an informed decision on what career is the best fit for you given your talents and goals. When you know what the required education for your career is, you can check our database of online and local schools in Minnesota for accredited programs that meet your needs. You will want to contact your school to learn about its specific application process. Remember, if you plan on getting an advanced license, you will want to know what the field experience requirements are and make a plan for your post-graduate employment.