Community Sentiment
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AI Automation Index
Will AI Replace Child, Family, and School Social Workers?
Task-level automation exposure for Child, Family, and School Social Workers: 21 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.
E-E-A-T Verified
Developed & audited by Gini Loh Automation Exposure
44%
weighted task index
21 of 21 tasks scored
Median Salary
$59,550 / year
BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation
Employment Level
Very High
392,550 people hold this job — size, not growth
Projected 2025–35
+4.4%
employment change
33,900 openings a year · BLS line item
Pay by state
BLS OEWS publishes 54 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.
$43,330 – $78,970
Highest medians
Connecticut $78,970
Maryland $76,390
New Jersey $76,280
Massachusetts $75,570
Washington $74,480
Lowest medians
Arkansas $43,330
Puerto Rico $43,620
Oklahoma $43,950
Mississippi $46,530
Alabama $46,660
State figures come from the 21-1021 row in the May 2025 state panel. States where the estimate was suppressed or too small to publish are absent.
What the score is made of
Each task is mapped to its work activities, scored for AI automation potential, and weighted by how important those activities are to the job. These are the components.
Automation potential 44%
Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.
Physical work 0%
Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.
Judgment & influence 70%
Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.
Routine administration 7%
Share in documenting, recording, and administrative activities.
Rewritten by O*NET 0%
Share of weighted tasks O*NET rewrote in a recent update. Reported, not folded into the score.
Consequence of error 48/100
Moderate
O*NET's own rating of how serious an uncorrectable mistake would be here — respondents, not us. Deliberately not in the index: the score measures what AI can do with the task content, and multiplying it by stakes would be our judgment dressed as data.
Constituent Task Mix
21 tasks for this occupation, weighted by work-activity importance. Shares below are of total task weight, not task count.
High exposure (≥ 60% of the task is automatable) 7%
1 tasks
Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 78%
17 tasks
Low exposure (below 35%) 16%
3 tasks
How would you survive?
Move your week away from the high-exposure tasks and toward the ones that need judgment. The simulator recalculates the index as you shift the mix.
Simulate Upskilling →Constituent Tasks
#237 · Core · 75% automatable
Maintain case history records and prepare reports.
text generation — Maintain client records; human verifies accuracy
Write reports or evaluations. Maintain client records.
#235 · Core · 30% automatable
Interview clients individually, in families, or in groups, assessing their situations, capabilities, and problems to determine what services are required to meet their needs.
interpersonal — Client background interviews are relational
Interview clients to gather information about their backgrounds, needs, or progress.
#250 · Core · 35% automatable
Serve as liaisons between students, homes, schools, family services, child guidance clinics, courts, protective services, doctors, and other contacts to help children who face problems, such as disabilities, abuse, or poverty.
interpersonal — Advocacy requires relationships and accountability
Advocate for individual or community needs.
#241 · Core · 52% automatable
Develop and review service plans in consultation with clients and perform follow-ups assessing the quantity and quality of services provided.
data analysis — Outcome data analysis with human interpretation
Evaluate the effectiveness of counseling or educational programs. Confer with clients to discuss treatment plans or progress.
#243 · Core · 40% automatable
Address legal issues, such as child abuse and discipline, assisting with hearings and providing testimony to inform custody arrangements.
decision support — Legal action recommendations need licensed accountability
Recommend legal actions.
#240 · Core · 30% automatable
Counsel parents with child rearing problems, interviewing the child and family to determine whether further action is required.
interpersonal — Client background interviews are relational
Interview clients to gather information about their backgrounds, needs, or progress. Counsel clients regarding interpersonal issues.
#239 · Core · 44% automatable
Consult with parents, teachers, and other school personnel to determine causes of problems, such as truancy and misbehavior, and to implement solutions.
decision support — Home/work hazard assessment needs in-person inspection and judgment
Evaluate potential problems in home or work environments of clients. Confer with family members to discuss client treatment plans or progress. Collaborate with other professionals to assess client needs or plan treatments.
#246 · Core · 45% automatable
Arrange for medical, psychiatric, and other tests that may disclose causes of difficulties and indicate remedial measures.
decision support — Arranging services involves human coordination and liability
Arrange physical or mental health services for clients.
#245 · Core · 53% automatable
Refer clients to community resources for services, such as job placement, debt counseling, legal aid, housing, medical treatment, or financial assistance, and provide concrete information, such as where to go and how to apply.
decision support — Program matching aided by AI; human executes referral
Help clients get needed services or resources. Refer individuals to educational or work programs. Refer clients to community or social service programs.
#236 · Core · 37% automatable
Counsel individuals, groups, families, or communities regarding issues including mental health, poverty, unemployment, substance abuse, physical abuse, rehabilitation, social adjustment, child care, or medical care.
interpersonal — Client health advice needs relationship and accountability
Advise clients or community groups on health issues. Counsel clients or patients with substance abuse issues. Counsel clients regarding interpersonal issues.
#244 · Core · 50% automatable
Provide, find, or arrange for support services, such as child care, homemaker service, prenatal care, substance abuse treatment, job training, counseling, or parenting classes to prevent more serious problems from developing.
decision support — Resource navigation aided by AI; human owns case
Help clients get needed services or resources.
#242 · Core · 45% automatable
Collect supplementary information needed to assist client, such as employment records, medical records, or school reports.
interpersonal — Client info gathering needs human relationship and trust
Collect information about clients.
#251 · Supplemental · 40% automatable
Place children in foster or adoptive homes, institutions, or medical treatment centers.
decision support — AI drafts plans; clinician assesses and owns treatment
Develop treatment plans for patients or clients.
#253 · Supplemental · 40% automatable
Recommend temporary foster care and advise foster or adoptive parents.
decision support — Healthcare advice carries liability; human owns it
Advise others on healthcare matters. Counsel family members of clients or patients.
#238 · Supplemental · 48% automatable
Counsel students whose behavior, school progress, or mental or physical impairment indicate a need for assistance, diagnosing students' problems and arranging for needed services.
interpersonal — Counseling needs trust and accountability
Arrange physical or mental health services for clients. Counsel clients regarding educational or vocational issues.
#249 · Supplemental · 55% automatable
Evaluate personal characteristics and home conditions of foster home or adoption applicants.
decision support — Home/work hazard assessment needs in-person inspection and judgment
Evaluate potential problems in home or work environments of clients. Evaluate characteristics of individuals to determine needs or eligibility.
#255 · Supplemental · 45% automatable
Conduct social research.
data analysis — Analysis aided; study design and fieldwork human
Conduct research on social issues.
#252 · Supplemental · 28% automatable
Supervise other social workers.
interpersonal — Client/patient service supervision is relational
Supervise workers providing client or patient services.
#256 · Supplemental · 36% automatable
Lead group counseling sessions that provide support in such areas as grief, stress, or chemical dependency.
interpersonal — Personal counseling needs live emotional presence and accountability
Counsel clients or patients with substance abuse issues. Counsel clients or patients regarding personal issues.
#257 · Supplemental · 43% automatable
Serve on policy-making committees, assist in community development, and assist client groups by lobbying for solutions to problems.
interpersonal — Program collaboration needs human consensus-building
Collaborate with other professionals to develop education or assistance programs. Advocate for individual or community needs.
#254 · Supplemental · 55% automatable
Determine clients' eligibility for financial assistance.
decision support — Eligibility judgment from records, but accountability stays human
Evaluate characteristics of individuals to determine needs or eligibility.
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How this was scored
- 1. Tasks. O*NET task statements for this occupation, from a release whose newest record is dated 08/2026.
- 2. Work activities. Each task maps to 1–5 Detailed Work Activities; each activity belongs to one of 41 Generalized Work Activities that O*NET rates for importance (1–5) in this occupation.
- 3. Automation potential. Every work activity carries one score for how far current AI can perform it end-to-end. Tasks inherit the mean of their activities.
- 4. Weighting. Task weight = 0.35 + 0.65 × (importance − 1)/4, scaled by how often the task is performed and by 0.7 for Supplemental tasks. Importance is the task's own O*NET rating where it exists (18,369 of 18,838 tasks); the rest inherit their work activities' importance. The index is the weighted mean.
Check: across the 910 occupations where O*NET also rates how far machine speed sets the pace, this index moves opposite to it (Spearman ρ = -0.49). The more a job is paced by equipment, the less of its task content AI can address — the relationship you would expect if the scoring is working.
Sources · O*NET 31.0 (task records to 08/2026) · BLS OEWS May 2025 · BLS projections 2025-2035 · rubric v2.1 · tasks for O*NET, not a forecast
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