Social Service Worker at Lambton College

Students in Lambton College's Social Service Worker program will develop the skills, knowledge, and values required to support diverse individuals, families, groups and communities. With practical experience both in and out of the classroom, as well as through ongoing reflective practice, students will develop the skills to assist in empowering clients to learn to help themselves and to face the challenging work of being a Social Service Worker.

Small class sizes, technology in the classroom, role play and simulation exercises as well as a variety of personal, hands-on experiences, will result in a deeper understanding of self, which will ultimately benefit clients. 

Individuals considering the Social Service Worker program are asked to carefully evaluate their reasons for entering this field. The work calls for a person mature enough to examine his/her own values and beliefs while focusing upon the needs of vulnerable populations.

Students will complete approximately 650 hours of supervised experiential field placement while in the program. An additional 60+ hours of volunteer work in the community is required over the course of the program. Students' theoretical and practical experience will be enhanced by group work, leadership and participation in a capstone community project that is determined by a real social issue that benefits a non-profit community organization in the Sarnia-Lambton area.

Any applicant entering this program must meet employment entrance criteria set by individual employers and provide a vulnerable sector criminal reference check, in order to apply for placement opportunities. A criminal record could limit a student's ability to successfully secure placement opportunities which are a requirement of graduation.

Employment Opportunities

Graduates of the Social Service Worker program are successful in finding employment working with a variety of populations and in a number of different social service and government organizations. These opportunities include employment at Lambton County Social Services (Ontario Works), associations for the developmentally disabled, homeless shelters, poverty reduction and food stability organizations, women’s shelters, sexual assault centres, long-term care homes and senior's facilities, job training/employment services and school boards.

Graduates of the Social Service Worker program will meet the educational requirements for registration as a Social Service Worker in the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers.